Tigers Jaw • Lost on You • 2026

tigersjaw.com

Abronia • Shapes Unravel • 2026

Abronia’s addition of pedal steel to doomy psychedelic rock makes for a hallucinogenic racket leavened by folk’s tonal warmth and understated dynamics. Flanking the aforementioned instrument with organic percussion, thick, hazy electric guitars, and the odd melodica and tenor sax line, the Oregon sextet’s debut is fuzzy experimental guitar music with a stoned feel and a palpable wanderlust; desert psych adapted for a continental climate. BC

 

54-40 • I Go Blind • 2021

"I Go Blind" was written and composed by Neil Osborne, Philip Comparelli, Brad Merritt, and Darryl Neudorf of the Canadian rock band 54-40.

The song enjoyed success not only once but twice: the first time as recorded and released by the band in 1986, and the second time a decade later when a cover by Hootie & The Blowfish unexpectedly became a Billboard Top 5 hit. 

"I Go Blind" was performed by 54-40 at the legendary El Mocambo in Toronto, as part of the song's induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

ifitbeyourwill S06E22 • Rubber Band Gun

There’s a point where trying to sound like your heroes stops being useful. For Kevin Basko, that moment didn’t lead to reinvention so much as release. Under the name Rubber Band Gun, Basko has built a body of work that values motion over mythology—records that feel lived-in, slightly unfinished in the right ways, and unconcerned with landing in any single genre lane. Rubber Band Gun moves freely between indie rock, psych textures, and playful concept albums, but the sound is held together by process. Basko works with a hybrid analog setup—tape machines, outboard gear, and an aging computer that forces decisions instead of postponing them. These aren’t aesthetic choices so much as practical ones. Limits speed things up. Speed keeps the songs honest.

That instinct was sharpened early. Basko went from writing lyrics in backyards to getting an unexpected elevator text that pulled him out of music school and into Foxygen’s touring band. The jump offered a close-up look at how records move through the world, but it didn’t replace his DIY core. If anything, it reinforced it: whatever the scale, the work still had to feel alive. The clearest expression of that philosophy came with RBG25, a self-imposed challenge to release a flood of albums in a single year. What could have read as excess became a reset. Working fast forced Basko to trust his ear, commit to arrangements, and learn when a song was finished—not perfect, just done. Mic placement mattered more. Tempo became a quiet organizing force. The songs stopped asking for permission.

Tempo comes up often in Rubber Band Gun’s world, less as a technical detail and more as a mindset. Faster tempos discourage fussing. They keep doubt from settling in. The music moves forward before self-editing can flatten it. Basko is openly skeptical of the blank page. Total freedom, he argues, is a trap. Constraints—time limits, concepts, arbitrary rules—give songs something to push against. That’s how En Passant, a chess-themed record written in a three-day sprint, came together. The idea wasn’t precious; it was functional. Influence shows up here as method, not mimicry. Dylan’s presence is felt in motion and reinvention, not sound-alike gestures. Film and comedy shape pacing and structure. The goal isn’t to reference, but to absorb.

Rubber Band Gun doesn’t sell a grand theory of creativity. It just keeps making the case, record by record, that momentum matters. Keep projects moving. Release often. Let listeners meet the work halfway.

Sometimes the fastest route to your own voice is simply refusing to wait for it.

https://earthlibraries.com/collections/rubber-band-gun

ifitbeyourwill S06E09 • Living Hour

The first spark was private: long walks, headphones on, and albums that asked for total attention. From there, Living Hour grew into a band that treats dynamics like storytelling—opening with noise that dissolves into hush, letting melodies carry both weight and warmth, and trusting listeners to lean in. We sit down with Sam and Gil to trace the arc from university jams in Winnipeg’s DIY rooms to a studio session that captured the bold confidence of Internal Drone Infinity, their new record dropping October 17.

We unpack how ambient influences—Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Explosions in the Sky, and the Social Network score—shaped a patient, spacious approach to songwriting. Sam explains how ideas begin as fragments and vowel sounds, how a riff earns its place by refusing to fade, and how lyrics stepped forward across albums until the new songs felt fully owned. Gil maps the shift from guitar‑forward interplay to arrangements built around Sam’s melodies, and what happens when a new drummer changes the band’s gait in the best way. Touring comes to life here too: the van routines, modular setlists that fit quiet rooms and rock clubs, and the small onstage transitions that make the show breathe.

You’ll hear why release season feels like nesting and training, how social media becomes part amplifier, part chore, and why November’s run is designed like a marathon. We also look ahead: February dates on the West Coast, hopes for Europe and Australia, and a folder of demos that might become an EP. Sam’s ambient side project, Pure Pulp, threads back to the beginning—proof that the private room where songs start remains the core of the band’s voice. If you love indie rock steeped in ambient textures, slow‑core dynamics, and heartfelt vocals, this conversation will lock you in. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs new music, and leave a review to help more listeners find the show.

livinghourband.com

On Internal Drone Infinity, Winnipeg’s Living Hour transforms the passage of time into something both urgent and sacred. Anchored by Sam Sarty’s vivid lyricism, shaped by years as a projectionist conjuring stories in a dark theater, the band explores the quiet magic hidden in everyday life. Their fourth album drifts between dreamy noise rock, folky slowcore, and fuzzy indie-pop, coining a genre all their own:“yearn-core.”With wistful vocals, textural distortion, and poetic detail, Living Hour capture the ache of memory, the mess of feeling, and the beauty in what remains.

Red Ribbon • Crying My Car • 2024

There's a blazing fierceness that permeates Red Ribbon, Danner's most unflinching work to date, informed in part by her recent foray into martial arts -- something she studied while making the record. Her time spent in the boxing gym and the studio were undeniably intertwined, each experience working in tandem to empower her to express anger, salacity and passion unabashedly. "I couldn't help but learn how to be 'a lady' growing up: always polite, always friendly, always likable. So it felt nice and necessary to finally exhale against all of that," she says. "I've always censored myself, but on Red Ribbon, I let myself be more free. This record feels visceral.”

Las Nubes • Tormentas Malsanas • 2024

“Las Nubes are far and away the hottest band in Miami, and the most socially relevant. Like the children and the young at heart across North and South America, they rock from the soul, covered in tattoos and attitude. They represent an uncompromising lifestyle trend that is the future. They’re fucking loud, too.”

ifitbeyourwill Podcast S03 E30 with Las Nubes rocks!

Fellow Robot • Rabbit • 2023

“Stuffed silly with energy but incredibly accessible for fans of all genres”- Gigwise

BabyJake • We Got To Get Together To Be Free • 2023

"BabyJake is embracing his grittier rock side"
- Variance

"Creating his own lane dabbling in rhythmic pop with a love and focus on alternative, the Fort Myers, Florida native has been making major strides within the music industry”."
- Flaunt Magazine

"Few artists are able to bounce so seamlessly from genre to genre than BabyJake."
- Wonderland Magazine

ifitbeyourwill most listened to songs of 2022

see you on the other side xo

 

MAGIC GIANT • On The Pacific • 2021

Lead singer Austin Bisnow adds: Sometimes I wonder if I'm really here living, if I'm dreaming or if I'm floating somewhere between life and afterlife. When we're gone, we think we’re free of the burden we put on ourselves, but we have the power to unleash ourselves of that burden while we’re living. There's a hopefulness in tomorrow, but in the moment, when our world's crumbling, we hold on for dear life. The metaphor of the hurricane disturbs everything but also gives way for a new beginning. Even though it may feel contrary in the moment, the chaos and pain never last forever.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

The Baboon Show • Have A Party With Me • 2022

Steakhouse Records • You're Gonna Be Great 2 - A Compilation in Support of Fund Texas Choice • 2021

All proceeds from this compilation will be donated to Fund Texas Choice. 

fundtexaschoice.org 

SHR_C06 

Released by Steakhouse Records 

Exactly 3 hours and 53 minutes worth of good music.

The Allman Betts Band • Magnolia Road • 2020

https://www.allmanbettsband.com

‘Pale Horse Rider’ was a really fun one to write,” Devon Allman, told Rolling Stone Country, “Duane had this almost vertigo-inducing descending melodic pattern that was so unique. Once I started the lyric about a man feeling so lost and isolated with the world out to get him, the story just kind of wrote itself. The Wild West seemed like the perfect to setting to tell the tale.”

Sister Sparrow - Gold - 2019

SisterSparrow.com

"One of the biggest voices in rock music." – NPR

"Lush... fiery... almost mischievously playful." – Billboard

“A sterling stampede of elemental proportions.” – The Aquarian

Frankie Rose - Red Museum 7" - 2017

http://www.frankierose.info

Morgan Delt - Phase Zero - 2016

The invocation of classic west coast psychedelia that permeates Morgan Delt's Sub Pop debut LP feels like a continuous sunrise, never concealing its influences yet perfectly putting its songs through a gauzy lens that blurs and obscures. Is such a thing even possible after witnessing umpteen reverb-jockeys creating their own take on the genre? Can anything truly different be done in the realm of being both original and reverent, wearing favorite records and artists' moves on one's sleeve? Definitely the case with our man here. After releasing a 6-song cassette in 2013 followed by a full length for the Trouble In Mind label, the California native now fine-tunes his sound world outwardly rather than honing in on a specific trajectory, allowing all of said influences to coexist together in a unique yet undoubtedly Californian vision.

Stick Fingers Studio Sampler 2016

stickfiguremusic.com

perfect summer album for lazing about the poolside, lakeside, dockside… great reggae vibe to smooth you through the days. Nice Comp.

The Hayman Kupa Band - Someone to Care For - 2016

Hefnet.com

The first single from the Hayman Kupa band even though the single follows on from Darren and Emma's first single 'Boy' Look at What You Can't Have Now.' 

Horse Jumper of Love - Horse Jumper of Love - 2016

Simon Don't know how to describe this. It's one of those albums that you can put on and drift away to another place. I could have this on repeat for a week

Camryn Marquez I really enjoy this record. This band knows that at the essence of slow, indie rock lies the ability to make the listener feel a very contemporary version of morose that stems from a very pragmatic source- whatever that source is. Listen to this and explore those emotions creeping underneath your every day routine. 

Nick Vidal sprawled on the floor, not sleeping, though not quite awake, feeling the breeze and the cold ground, the sun moves out from behind the trees to bathe you in light. you didn't ask for this; you might have enjoyed your darkness, but you enjoy it nonetheless.

4/21 Northeastern University w/ Elvis Depressedly, Florist 

4/22 Mid East up w/ IAN, Ovlov, Florist 

5/14 Shea Stadium BK w/ Siuox Falls 

5/21 Mid East up w/ Adult Mom, Forth Wanderers 

5/27 Laughing Dog Bicycles, Amherst MA w/ Peaer, Hot Dirt 

5/29 Lyric Hall Theater, New Haven CT w/ Peaer, Queen Moo 

6/12 Northside festival BK 

6/18 Shea Stadium BK