Spook School

This week’s Notable Releases include Scottish indiepop/punk band The Spook School, metal boundary pushers Tribulation, Migos’ hugely anticipated ‘Culture II,’ and more.

Get your cardigans out: NYC Popfest is upon us and here’s an exhaustive guide to the weekend’s goings-on, including The Chills, Trashcan Sinatras, Allo Darlin’, The Railway Children, The Primitives & more.

This year marks the 10th edition of NYC Popfest which will happen May 19 – 22 at venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The lineup was just announced and the Popfest folks have really outdone themselves for this benchmarck year, with performances, Trash Can Sinatras, Allo’ Darlin, ’80s-era Factory Records band The Railway Children, Sarah Records labelmates Secret Shine, , and Even As We Speak, plus The Chesterfields, The Primitives, Alpaca Sports, Mercury Girls, The Hermit Crabs, Spook School, the live debut of Lake Ruth, and more…

Philadelphia’s Mercury Girls won the battle over use of their name (Toronto’s Mercury Girls are now called Pavilion). With that settled, look for a 7″ out early next year on venerable indiepop label Slumberland…

Beverly just played NYC Popfest where they were headliners at the kickoff show at Cake Shop on May 28. It was a different lineup than I’d seen before, with The Drums member Johnny Aires on bass, and they played a few new songs as well, all of which I thought were good and Bev just sounded terrific in general…