Question: What record are you most looking forward to this year?
Joe Sutkowski
Dirt Buyer/This Is Lorelei
A: To be so honest, I don’t really know very much about upcoming releases, but I do know that Gorillaz is putting out a new record and I hope that it’s good. The singles have been pretty cool. The thing that I appreciate about Damon Albarn is that he’s a serial collaborator and just kind of does whatever he wants, and that’s Gorillaz. It’s always been his weird version of pop music that nobody else can touch.
Sutkowski’s extremely unique “Jesus Strat,” which he snagged off of Craigslist in New Jersey.
Obsession: Right now I’m totally obsessed with old Pokémon cards. I have a pretty huge collection at this point. I have binders full of slabs and top-loaders; some of my favorite cards from the vending series from 1998. The art is mostly all crudely drawn and looks like it was made by a child. There’s this Onyx (a big and long rock-snake Pokemon) card where he’s crying and taking refuge from a storm inside of a cave. There are so many cool cards like that and I’m so passionate about it. Scalpers are ruining collecting, but you can still find affordable gems.
Photo by Eric Lee
Augusta Koch
Gladie
A: My most anticipated record this year would have to be a new rumored release from Aldous Harding. It’s been four years since her last release, Warm Chris, which was a masterpiece in my book. Her albums are always such inspirations to me. She builds these incredibly beautiful sonic worlds you can dive into. Fingers crossed these rumors are true.Obsession: My current obsession these days is watching videos on projection mapping and trying to figure out how to do it, and staying in on weekends working on all my little projects.
Jom Grana
Reader of the Month
A: I don’t really stay up to date on upcoming releases, plus I have my own bands (Mindless Pop, Warpten, Irrevocable) busy trying to record and release hopefully this year, too. But! I do know that most of the bands I’ve been listening to since forever are still alive and kicking: Streetlight Manifesto are dropping The Place Behind The Stars on June 24 so I’m hoping this doesn’t jinx them, and while a new RX Bandits record isn’t coming anytime soon, their vocalist Matt Embree is releasing his solo album Orion this March 7.
Obsession: HBO Max’s The Pitt.
Richard Bienstock
Editorial Director
A: The new Black Crowes album, A Pound of Feathers. I’m a day-one Crowes fan. Sure, they work within a very specific lane, but they do it with overwhelming personality. You can hear the Stones, the Faces, and a dozen other classic-rock touchstones, but that kind of swagger and soul can’t be carbon-copied. You either have it or you don’t. The Robinsons have it. I was genuinely psyched when they got back together (again!) a few years back, and thought 2024’s Happiness Bastards was a strong, if somewhat straight-ahead, comeback. Even better was last year’s Amorica reissue, a deep dive into what’s arguably their creative peak.
Based on the two songs they’ve released from A Pound of Feathers so far—which dropped the day I’m writing this, actually—I’m fully in. “Profane Prophecy” in particular opens with a killer Keith Richards-style riff, features some smoking slide guitar, and finds the band sounding looser and more playful (those call-and-response backing vocals) than they have in years. Plus, they always kill it onstage.
Obsession: Billy Corgan’s The Magnificent Others podcast. Corgan as a host, like Corgan as a musician, is very much a love-it-or-hate-it proposition. I love the music, and I think I love the podcast, too. Yes, he sometimes dominates the conversation, and yes, almost anything a guest says somehow ends up looping back to his own experiences—but the upside is a run of surprisingly great, weird, and revealing conversations. Steve Vai, Vernon Reid, and particularly Dale Bozzio, were excellent. But so were Chazz Palminteri, Corey Feldman, and freakin’ Carrot Top. It’s a wild mix, and absolutely worth an hour or so of your time.
