Here comes the full lineup for Rocky Mountain Riff Fest 2025, fresh off the social media hellscape and set to take place April 19 in Kalispell, Montana, as per tradition. This is the sixth edition of the all-dayer fest (plus a pre-party the night before), which brings Kadabra and Sorcia to town as headliners with support from local spearheads Wizzerd, as well as Mother Root, Doomboyz, Cruel Velvet, Scavenger, Swamp Ritual, Surfbat, Loin Hammer and Superplex. No word on if Superplex sound anything like Suplecs, only, you know, more. I’ll keep you posted on that.

Of the confirmations, at least Sorcia, Loin Hammer, Swamp Ritual, Wizzerd and Surfbat have featured on past Rocky Mountain Riff Fest editions, which tells you there’s a family developing. The only band on this bill I’ve ever seen is Kadabra, and I’ll gladly confirm that they’re something you want to check out when the opportunity presents itself, and certainly other names ring familiar, whether it’s Mother Root or Wizzerd (who had two records out last year) or Sorcia, who also have their own affiliated festival in Washington. Must be nice.

I don’t for one second imagine I’ll be there to see it, but Rocky Mountain Riff Fest has grown over the last few years into its own thing. It’s never struck me as wanting to be huge or some mega-event. It’s an all-dayer with good bands, likely good friends and good times. I like fests with 100,000 people as much as the next guy — so long as the next guy’s also crippled by anxiety in that kind of crowd — but this is more of a hometown showcase for locals and others coming in. Maybe one of these years I’ll get there too. If this is your year, right on.

Here’s info:

FULL LINEUP IS HERE

SEE YOU IN APRIL!

Art by @impillustration

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@kadabra_band
Sorcia
Wizzerd
Mother Root
Doomboyz
Cruel Velvet
Scavenger MT
Swamp Ritual
@surfbatband
Loin Hammer
@superplexrulez
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Children of Atom
The Lucitones
@freedrugsusa

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Kadabra, Umbra (2023)

Sorcia, Lost Season (2023)

Spokane, Washington, garage-psych rockers Children of Atom released their aptly-titled EP four-songer Aug. 2021 on limited tape and (unlimited) digital. The clip you see premiering below for “Bloodlust Boogie” is actually the second for the track in question. It’s a lyric video, so I guess if you want to say it counts differently, fine, though I’m not sure why the ‘rule’ remains that a song can only have one video anyway in this brave new world in which anyone with a phone is also a cameraperson. But either way, clearly it’s a song they believe in, and listening, it’s not hard to hear why.

Alongside the rampant — rampant. — sleaze and exploitation vibes, “Bloodlust Boogie” offers a likewise rampant instrumental earworm set to a classic shimmy. It brings together psychedelia, early punk attitude and garage-style raw strum, electric organ and, topped off with twisting lead guitar, it makes its five-minute runtime feel about half that long and burns, baby, burns with readily apparent fervor. It’s sweaty, smoky, and likely too intoxicated to drive, yet “Bloodlust Boogie” steers through its course fluidly with its tale of a murderous she-devil serving as lyrical accompaniment.

Kids’ll be kids, right? I guess. I’m too exhausted to go on a rant or some shit about how even the story of a succubus, which seems to put a woman in a position of power — in this case, she does the killing, at least — still dehumanizes women, and I would for what? Who’s that gonna help, except my liberal guilt? It is what it is. What caught my ear here was the blend of retro and modern in the band’s style and production, that slight edge of almost rockabilly in the vocals and the interplay of the organ and guitar. More than a year after the EP’s release, I’m honestly not sure what the motivation behind making the new video is, but if it’s just to bring more attention to EP, then fair enough since it apparently got mine.

The full EP EP stream is down near the bottom of the post, and the (new) “Bloodlust Boogie” clip follows here.

Enjoy:

Children of Atom, “Bloodlust Boogie” video premiere

Michael Fenris on “Bloodlust Boogie”:

“Rock ‘n’ roll needs more good dance songs. That’s what Bloodlust Boogie is. A rock ‘n’ roll dance song about sex and murder. It’s inspired by classic ’70s revenge flicks; all those trashy cult films always have a theme song, and that’s what Bloodlust Boogie is, but for a movie that doesn’t exist.”

The Pacific Northwest-based Children of Atom is a “Psy-Fi Rock” machine who moved into the jam room for the duration of the pandemic and came out with a polished live performance and catalog of crushing new songs.

Drawing elements of blues, funk, and early metal, they seamlessly mix aggressive keys, greasy guitar hooks, and dark crooning vocals about space travel with driving rhythms and random, meandering psychedelic adventures.

Children of Atom is:
Michael Fenris – Vox, Guitar
Josh McClure – Drums
Myles Weaver – Bass, Vox, Gtr
Shane Birdsill – Keys

Children of Atom, EP (2021)

Children of Atom on Facebook

Children of Atom on Instagram

Children of Atom on Bandcamp

Children of Atom website