"Fear of the Fear is the ninth album by Great Lakes, my long-running band and recording project. I think of it as my Memphis Record, since the bulk of it was written and recorded there. Like 2022's Contenders, Fear of the Fear was mixed by Luis Leal. In fact, while thematically it is very different, aesthetically it could almost be considered Contenders II, even though 2025's Don't Swim Too Close came out in between. It features two musicians I've been working with for nearly 20 years, drummer Kevin Shea and vocalist Suzanne Nienaber. It also benefits from the contributions of two of my favorite go-to multi-instrumentalists, David Gould and Petter Folkedal. Some talented Memphis-based musicians grace the record, as well, including Leah Keys, Andrew Geraci, Seth Moody, and John Whittemoore. Finally, my old friends Kyle Forester and Steve Silverstein each play on a few songs. Fear of the Fear is a collection of songs mostly about the death of my close friend, Ryan Trammel. As such, it deals thematically with loss and grief. A very personal album, it touches on feelings of anxiety, brokenness, and the role of the subconscious in our lives-be it subconscious memory or subconscious knowledge/wisdom ("there is a truth we have known without knowing it" is how I put it in the album opener). This is an idea I find especially potent. Maria Montessori wrote that as babies we are as smart as we are ever going to be. When I read that in one of her books, it immediately felt self-evident to me. As we age, of course we all also come to realize, and most of us all too well, that wisdom and knowledge are wholly different from intelligence. That's another theme of the record: "you don't get smarter with age" is how I put it in one song."

The past isn't real, the future ain't happening, all we've got is right now and Go Public and You Are Traffic: Hey now, don't dream it's over. An Atlanta band naming a record after traffic might be like dropping a two-ton anvil right on the biggest Bozo-red clown nose imaginable, but there are levels to every parking deck. Maybe it's a gridlock of the soul? The close-together shame of becoming a stranger, a slow motion accident of skeleton details? This band's business—skronky contortions and nope wave deconstructions, prickly wisdom and post-punk pith—is ageless yet absolutely right this very moment, distilling the cosmically unique pointlessness of this number that never should've become a year, and magnifying the microscopic glimmer of hope at its furthest corner. Call it dice-roll politics: a saving throw at a craps tempo—bleakly vibrant jams for endtime dance parties.

These men have been in bands. You have maybe heard those bands, if you live in Georgia, or are their friends. Their bands were good; this band is great. Go Public can drop names, a whole catholic education of influences and inspirations, from every acre of the radio dial; but what matters is what comes out, not what goes in. You Are Traffic has few peers; brittle but hard-boiled, it's a swinging splatterhouse of booksmart, tough guy art with the jittery anxiety of Talking Heads and the restless musicality of This Heat in equal measure. The guitar sounds like a dayglo glass sword, for Christ's sake. Sean Rawls and Adrian Finch yelp and squelch frantic findings while Sam Gunn and Jay Domingo hold everything down with one-mind chops and muscle memory, culminating in a crucial half-hour of modern American noise unrestrained by any boundaries, be they stylistic or terrestrial. You Are Traffic and you're reading this on whatever day this is and it's the perfect time to get personal with Go Public. --Garrett Martin

The Early Music Vol. 1 by Black Swan Network is a collection of songs and sketches by Elephant 6 co-founder Will Cullen Hart written between the hiatus of The Olivia Tremor Control in 1999 and before the formation of Circulatory System in 2000. Side A features tracks from the HHBTM Records 7" singles club single and side B features 8 tracks from those same sessions that have been unreleased until now.  The Early Music Vol. 1 tells a story of an artist working through a million ideas via a 4-track blending textures and tiny melodies pulling from ambient soundscapes and field recordings while working out tiny vocal melodies falling between the baroque psychedelic pop of his previous Olivia Tremor Control work and the long ambient minimalist passages of The Black Swan Network. These songs would be the blueprint for the start of Will's next project Circulatory System. These songs will feel different in each place and way you play them. The label heavily suggests listening loudly through speakers, through headphones, and via the download card, play them through your computer and in your car. Each listening experience will bring different elements to the forefront. This release is being pressed on black vinyl with no banding between tracks and intended to be listened to as one continuous side.

On February 20, 2026, one of indie rock’s most enduring and vibrant figures will reintroduce herself to the world. Tammy Ealom, best known as the snarling frontwoman and creative force behind Denver’s legendary Dressy Bessy, presents her debut solo album as The Tammy Shine, Ok Shine Ok. Released via Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records (HHBTM), the album marks a pivotal moment in Ealom’s three-decade career. Ok Shine Ok is the first time she has taken complete command—writing, performing, engineering, producing, and mixing the record entirely on her own.

The Tammy Shine presents a collection of songs that are as gritty as they are glossy, embodying the DIY ethos that has defined her life since childhood. To understand the raw energy of Ok Shine Ok, just look back to Ealom’s upbringing. Born to two very young, late-teen parents, Tammy entered a world already steeped in rock and roll. Her father was a Mod with dreams of being in a band, a record collector who instilled a reverence for the British Invasion in his daughter. However, the rock lifestyle took its toll on him, and a struggle with drug addiction led him to clean up by enlisting in the U.S. Army.

What followed was a transient decade that shaped Tammy’s resilience. The family bounced from Colorado to Germany and eventually to Hawaii. It was in the schoolyards of Hawaii that Ealom forged the toughness that would later define her stage presence. At fourteen, she was a paradox: a cheerleader dating the school’s star quarterback, yet an outsider in a rough social climate.

“We live in a different world now, but late 70’s, early 80’s high school in Hawaii required fighting skills to get through the day,” Ealom reflects. Initially rejected by the local girls, she didn’t retreat; but stood her ground. She learned to fight—literally—and eventually won the respect of her peers, becoming one of them. It was a lesson in tenacity that would later serve her well in a male-dominated music industry. When her father was transferred back to Colorado, a heartbroken Tammy begged to stay behind. “There was no chance,” she recalls. She returned to the mainland, bringing with her a resilience that would eventually manifest in her music.

Ealom’s songwriting on Ok Shine Ok is a masterclass in blending disparate genres, a skill she developed through her father’s eclectic record collection. Her first personal purchase was Michael Jackson’s Off The Wall, a polished masterpiece of pop production. Seeing her enthusiasm, her father gifted her a stack of vinyl that included the album Hang On Sloopy by The McCoys.

These two records—one a slick, rhythmic pop odyssey, the other a garage rock classic—formed the blueprint for Ealom’s musical DNA. She became fascinated by the intersection of melody and raw energy. Later she discovered the burgeoning indie and alternative scenes in the jangle-pop of R.E.M. and the swirling lyricism of 10,000 Maniacs. Natalie Merchant became an early influence, inspiring Ealom to step behind the microphone for the first time as the lead vocalist of the Denver band 40th Day.

However, another catalyst guided her evolution from singer to songwriter in 1995, when she met her future husband and musical partner, John Hill of the Elephant 6 collective’s The Apples in stereo. Hill introduced a heavier hard rock and punk-infused palette to Ealom’s listening rotation.

“We used to sit around the living room listening to records that would range from punk to 60’s bubblegum pop and everything in between,” Hill says. “The Ramones, Buzzcocks, the art-rock of the Talking Heads and B-52s into The Monkees, The Kinks, and The Cowsills. Tammy’s dad had a record store where we could pick and choose almost anything.”

Hill bought Ealom a guitar just before leaving on tour, taught her a few chords, and gave her a crash course on his cassette 4-track machine. It was a challenge, and Ealom responded with the same determination she had shown in Hawaii. When Hill returned three weeks later, she hadn’t just practiced; she had written and recorded ten songs!

For over twenty five years, Ealom channeled that songwriting into Dressy Bessy, creating a legacy of high-energy, "clutter-punk" anthems (a term Tammy herself coined). Yet, the desire to explore a singular, undiluted vision began to grow. The seed for The Tammy Shine was planted in 2017, during a solo performance at the Athens Popfest in Athens, Georgia (curated by Mike Turner of HHBTM Records)

“I played a solo show and felt a certain freedom in it,” Ealom explains. “I love my band, especially now, but just being up there and doing it exactly how I want, makes me feel really free and excited.”

“I think with Dressy Bessy she didn’t try to make it anything specific, it just panned out with all of our influences sprinkled in,” Hill notes regarding the band’s evolution. “But The Tammy Shine is different. It’s intentional, a continuation of those same influences—the bubblegum hooks, the punk grit, the R&B groove—but filtered through her singular and unique vision.”

Perhaps the most compelling narrative of Ok Shine Ok is Tammy’s role as the technical architect of the album. In an industry where female artists are often assumed to be just the "voice" or the "face," she has quietly become a formidable studio engineer.

“For most of Dressy Bessy’s recording it’s been a DIY operation, where John records the basic tracks and then I’ll record almost everything else, engineering more than half of each album,” Ealom reveals. “I feel like I’ve gotten good at the technical end of things and wanted that to be on display.” Ok Shine Ok is the proof of that expertise. There is no producer interpreting her vision; there is only the vision itself.

Set for release on February 20, 2026, Ok Shine Ok finds the perfect home on Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records (HHBTM), a label known for championing idiosyncratic and authentic indie pop. The album title itself serves as a mantra—an affirmation of positivity amidst the chaos, a nod to the "shine" Tammy has always brought to her visual art and stage persona.

Fans of Dressy Bessy will still find the undeniable hooks and melodic sensibilities that are Ealom’s trademark. However, they will also discover a new depth—a vulnerability that comes from the singular approach and the confidence of a woman who has lived through the changing tides of the music industry and emerged even stronger.

To support the release, The Tammy Shine will hit the road in February 2026. Tammy will be joined by bassist Mike King, transforming her solo vision into a dynamic live experience. The tour promises to be a celebration of independence, featuring songs from the new album alongside reimagined favorites from her vast catalog.

From fighting in the schoolyards of Hawaii to engineering tracks in her Denver studio, Tammy Ealom has always been a force of nature. With Ok Shine Ok, The Tammy Shine steps out of the band and squarely into the spotlight, proving that after thirty years of making noise, she might just be getting started.

(Recommended if you like: The Beths, Alvvays, The Breeders, Veruca Salt, The Pretenders)

Great Lakes’ Ben Crum returns with a fantastic new album, Don’t Swim Too Close.

Over 25 years and eight records, Crum has built a reputation for sharp songwriting and interesting stylistic shifts. Don’t Swim Too Close is no exception, as Crum draws from a classic rock tradition, echoing both the Americana spirit of Neil Young and The Band and the proto-indie rock of Television and The Velvet Underground.

Immediately accessible, its songs land with the ease of lived-in classics. Themes of empathy and regret (“Carry the Message”), mental health struggles (“Don’t Swim Too Close”), disillusionment (“Meant to Fly”), and the lone journey of the writer (“On the Way Back”) weave through the record. But this isn’t a bleak listen. Crum’s dry, gallows humor bubbles up throughout, balancing heaviness with wit. He’s the kind of writer who can sing, “the future’s out there, waiting like an open grave,” and leave you smirking instead of sinking—or deadpan, “there’s nothing sexy about Spread Eagle, Wisconsin, or Tightsqueeze, Virginia.” The characters in Crum’s songs are soul-searching, making for a compelling and thought-provoking listen. But there’s tenderness too: “Seeing Through Her” is a love song without pretense, while “Song for the Old Man” pays moving tribute to Crum’s late father. The closing track, “Are We Here Accidentally,” takes on existential purpose—or the lack thereof—in the face of life’s mundane demands: “there’s always someone on the phone / always someone we’re supposed to owe / well, I guess, if you say so.”

Don’t Swim Too Close is that rare record that blends superb lyrics with the subtle smoke of melody, and delivers it all in an instantly enjoyable format.

For Don’t Swim Too Close, Great Lakes are: Ben Crum (vocals, guitar, bass), Kevin Shea (drums), Kyle Forester (piano, organ), Sam Cohen (drums, guitar, pedal steel), James Richardson (guitar, bass, organ), David Gould (bass), San Fadyl (drums), and Suzanne Nienaber (vocals).