Posted in Whathaveyou on May 5th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
With no Desertfest New York this year (and, let’s face it, maybe not next year either), I don’t have the luxury I’ve enjoyed throughout the 2020s thus far of consoling myself at missing Ripplefest Texas by seeing some of the same acts coming through without having to fly out to do it. Not so much this year. In unveiling its full lineup for this September, Ripplefest Texas 2025 lays out an absolute dream of a bill — from Weedeater to Suplecs to Mothership to Author and Punisher (new record by then?) to Sundrifter and Mr. frickin’ Plow and Lake Lake — it’s the most imperative US festival lineup I’ve seen pretty much since Ripplefest Texas last year.
I’ve never been to Ripplefest Texas and it’s been over 15 years since the last time I set foot in Austin, but I’d be there in a hot minute for this one. Gonna start a GoFundMe for the flight and lodging (more likely, beg my wife). If you get there, congratulations on your life.
Check out the new adds and the full lineup below. It’s a beautiful thing:
The best family reunion of the year is back! The lineup for RippleFest Texas 2025 is now complete and you will not want to miss your chance to see the best music at the friendliest festival in the world. Lick of My Spoon Productions brings you the only open air festival in the US with ABSOLUTELY ZERO BAND OVERLAPPING! New bands added to an already stacked lineup are ASG, Author & Punisher, Mondo Generator, High Desert Queen, Bronco, Rainbows Are Free, The Absurd, Volume, Gran Moreno, Karma Vulture, and Desert Suns.
The festival will once again be held at The Far Out Lounge and Sagebrush in Austin, TX on September 18-21, 2025. Get your tickets now at www.lickofmyspoon.com.
Full List of Bands: Weedeater Whores. Mothership Author & Punisher Mondo Generator ASG Unida Wo Fat Valley of the Sun Left Lane Cruiser High Desert Queen Mos Generator Telekinetic Yeti Human Impact Mountain of Smoke Thunder Horse Suplecs Kind Bronco Sundrifter Rainbows Are Free Fostermother Mr. Plow Kupa Pities Luna Sol Shun Gran Moreno Stone Nomads Volume The Absurd Desert Suns Karma Vulture Lake Lake Sons of Gulliver
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 24th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Okay, so here’s the deal. Last year, I found myself wanting to keep up with Ripplefest Texas‘ lineup additions and couldn’t really do anything coverage-wise because they were happening daily and that kind of turns the site into a one-subject show in a way that doesn’t really help. Took me a year to figure it out, but I’m going to do Friday updates like this one — a roundup of what’s been coming out every day from the fest since the last announcement — for as long as they go with the daily adds. I don’t know when that will be, how many bands are playing — 2024 was huge, I’d expect 2025 to be correspondingly proportioned — or what time your flight needs to get into Austin for you to get there in time for the start on Sept. 18. I’m low on insight. But this is a party that’s becoming central to the year here in the US, so I want to cover it as much as I can.
The fest had quite a week. This is in order from oldest to newest, so Weedeater were the first added, etc. Here you go:
RIPPLEFEST TEXAS 2025 – NEW BAND ANNOUNCEMENT: WEEDEATER
Those infamous sludge outlaws WEEDEATER bring their own branded “weed-metal” to RippleFest Texas. Their style marks the crossroads where true Southern rock and metal meet raw humour, old religion, as well as weed and whiskey.
If you’ve seen them live before then you know what a great show they put on! If you haven’t seen them then you are in for a treat! Get your eardrums and your livers ready!
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NEW BAND ANNOUNCEMENT: LUNA SOL
Denver’s high mountain stoner blues rock band, LUNA SOL, is fronted by singer and lead guitarist DAVID ANGSTROM, known from Hermano, Supafuzz, Black Cat Bone, and Asylum On The Hill. Celebrating their 14th year, they released an epic album, VITA MORS, on September 20, 2024, via Todd Severin’s kickass Ripple Music label.
On VITA MORS, Angstrom collaborates with drummer ZETH PEDULLA and bassist DOUG TACKETT, creating a unique chemistry that inspired them to capture the raw energy of their sessions. VITA MORS delivers a live sound, immersing listeners in an atmosphere reminiscent of a dive bar with heavy riffs and vivid Southern Kentucky roots. The album embodies a mix of fury and delicacy, providing a perfect backdrop for Angstrom’s powerful storytelling.
Following 2015’s “Blood Moon” and 2017’s “Below The Deep,” VITA MORS spans 50+ minutes, exploring themes of betrayal, love, murder, and heartache. It features contributions from friends across various bands, continuing LUNA SOL’s tradition of collaboration. Angstrom noted, “The riffs were flowing, the tones were massive …and the fun continues.”
LUNA SOL is currently scheduling various US dates + an EU 2025 tour. The band’s live show is always impressive and delivers a fistful of full frontal riffs and immense power from a wall of vintage amps …and beer. There’s always a lot of beer.
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NEW BAND ANNOUNCEMENT: SHUN
Shun is a four-piece heavy, atmospheric post-rock band from the Western Carolinas (Greenville, SC / Asheville, NC) comprised of Matt Whitehead (Throttlerod), Rob Elzey, Jeff Baucom, and Bo Leslie (ex Throttlerod). Shun’s debut album was self-recorded during pandemic isolation, mixed by J Robbins (Clutch, The Sword, Coliseum, and so many more), and released on Small Stone Records. With styles ranging from melodic noise rock and heavy riffs to atmospheric largesse with contemplative, patient contraction, Shun emerged from the pandemic and began playing regional shows with bands like Shiner and Spotlights.
In 2024, Shun reteamed Small Stone and with J Robbins for their follow-up record, Dismantle, this time recording at J’s Magpie Cage studio in Baltimore, Maryland. Dismantle continues several crucial threads from the self-titled in terms of songwriting, while expanding their scope with a more refined crunch and drifting, ethereal outreach. It is heavier and paints a broader landscape in Matt Whitehead’s vocal and guitar melodies and reshapes it as the backdrop for weighted post-rock while refusing to sap its own vitality in service to shoegazey posturing.
Dismantle is able to push, pull, crash down loud or recede into float as Shun wills. That they’d wield such command in their craft likely won’t be a surprise to those who took on the self-titled, but among the things Dismantle undoes, it strips the listener of expectations and replaces them with its unflinching creativity and refreshingly forward-looking take.
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NEW BAND ANNOUNCEMENT: TELEKINETIC YETI
Based out of Iowa, Telekinetic Yeti is a two-man band that delivers sonic brutality melded with psychedelic doom wizardry, forged by the worship of the almighty riff and honed by relentless touring and dedication to their craft.
Creating music as cryptically enchanting as it is heavy, you wouldn’t guess that the impressive cacophony pouring out of the speakers like molten, metal syrup is being produced by only two people. Founder and guitarist Alex Baumann explains, “Originally I decided not to have a bass player purely for logistical reasons, it was just another schedule to work around, another person who’s boss could tell us we can’t tour, but then I started seeing it as a challenge, like let’s see how heavy we can make it with just two people.”
After having Telekinetic Yeti 2 years ago at RippleFest Texas, we couldn’t wait to have them back!
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NEW BAND ANNOUNCEMENT: WHORES.
Formed in 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia, the trio has established themselves as one of the most successful and motivated bands in the genre today. Elements of Helmet, Melvins, and the Amphetamine Reptile roster can be heard throughout their catalog, but Whores are no regurgitated throwback act. Through intense, cathartic live performances and the perfected aggressive tenacity present on their recordings, the band has gained a fervent following sure to do nothing but grow in the years to come.
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NEW BAND ANNOUNCEMENT: HUMAN IMPACT
Human Impact, the New York-based outfit founded by Chris Spencer (Unsane) and Jim Coleman (Cop Shoot Cop), who recently released their sophomore album, Gone Dark (Oct. 4, Ipecac Recordings).
The Human Impact arsenal is more formidable than ever thanks to the addition of two more noise-rock veterans: bassist Eric Cooper (Made Out of Babies, Bad Powers) and drummer Jon Syverson (Daughters). Spencer had spent the 2020 COVID lockdown working on a cabin in the East Texas woods and would travel into Austin for informal jam sessions with the pair in the Cooper’s garage. Friendly blasts through vintage Unsane songs ultimately resulted in the rhythm section being fully absorbed into Human Impact.
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NEW BAND ANNOUNCEMENT: VALLEY OF THE SUN
After fourteen years of rocking and rolling across the world, Valley of the Sun released their fifth lp, “Quintessence”, which explores new sonic dimensions for the band, who is once again in a three piece format. Over the years they have graced the stages of clubs and festivals alike, including Hellfest, Palp Festival, Keep It Low, Tabernas, Lazy Bones, Motocultor, and Desertfests New York, Berlin, London, and Belgium. Hellbent on dominating the world with their unique, unapologetic twist on stoner-grunge, they finally bring the show to Ripplefest Texas.
There is no greater family reunion than RippleFest Texas, so get your tickets now and get your eardrums and bodies ready for lots of crushing music and warm hugs!
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 3rd, 2024 by JJ Koczan
It had been a little bit, so I took the tour announcement below from Midwestern fuzz crushers Telekinetic Yeti as a cue to put on 2022’s Primordial (review here) and see how it’s held up. The answer is it still rules, which I guess shouldn’t be any kind of surprise if you heard it. The willfully primitive crunch that would seem to be alluded to in the title is the very heart of modern tone and riff worship, but it’s not like that was going to come off as dated two years later, and in slower nods and moments of rounded-edge, thickened gallop, Telekinetic Yeti never lose themselves in their own burl. Considering the quantities involved there, that is something of a miracle.
They toured hard before the record and have continued the pattern after as well. I can’t help but wonder if 2025 won’t bring new material from them, but they’ve done well in terms of keeping momentum on their side and it would be unreasonable to expect otherwise at this point. The current run will take them north into Canada for a few shows before they loop down the Eastern Seaboard to finish in North Carolina. New material or none, they remain a band worth seeing if you haven’t, and that’s about as plain as I can say it.
From social media or wherever:
Come rip some with us and Bonginator as we skim the northern crest and then venture to Ontario and Quebec before hitting the eastern seaboard! Tix:http://tonedeaftouring.com/yeti
9.25 Milwaukee WI @ Shank Hall 9.26 Dubuque IA @ The Lift 9.29 Cleveland OH @ Grog Shop 9.30 Detroit MI @ Smalls 10.01 Pittsburgh PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre 10.03 Ottawa ON @ Dominion Club 10.05 Toronto ON @ Bovine Sex Club 10.06 Montreal QC @ Pirhana 10.07 Quebec City QC @ L’Anti 10.08 Manchester NH @ Jewel 10.09 Baltimore MD @ Metro Gallery 10.11 Richmond VA @ Cobra Cabana 10.12 Raleigh NC @ Chapel of Bones
Telekinetic Yeti is: Alex Baumann – Guitar/Vocals Rockwel Heim – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 2nd, 2024 by JJ Koczan
I guess at some point between the first announcement and now, Spirit Adrift and Fistula dropped off the lineup for Mutants of the Monster 2024, but fair enough for Cancerslug and Left Lane Cruiser to sign on and Little Rock, Arkansas, hometown post-sludge heroes Rwake — whose frontman Chris “CT” Terry is behind the fest — to make a return appearance along with a slew of others from the Southeast US and beyond. Anytime Deadbird show up just about anywhere, it’s notable, never mind tour-buddies Weedeater and Telekinetic Yeti stopping through or John Garcia doing a solo set that pretty much guarantees everyone in attendance will be able to go home saying they watched him do Kyuss‘ “Whitewater” in person.
Also known as Mutants Fest for short, the three-dayer is set for May 16-18 in North Little Rock, and looks like a good, intermittently harsh time. The PR wire brought the final lineup and ticket links so you still have some time to get your travel plans together:
MUTANTS OF THE MONSTER FEST 2024 Reveals Final Lineup, Announces Special Sale for National Concert Week
Featuring John Garcia (Formerly of Kyuss), Weedeater, Telekinetic Yeti, Rebelmatic, Cancerslug (Just added), Deadbird, Rwake (Just added!), Flummox + more!
Taking place in North Little Rock, AR at the Argenta Community Theater and Four Quarter Bar from May 16-18!
MUTANTS OF THE MONSTER FEST will return in 2024 to Little Rock, AR from May 16-18! The multi-day festival will take place in the Argenta Arts District and has revealed the final lineup, which now includes the new additions of CANCERSLUG and RWAKE. The full lineup can be found below!
In honor of National Concert Week, the festival is now offering a special discount on tickets and passes that will run until this Tuesday, May 7 @ 11:59 P.M. EDT. Currently, fans can score single day tickets for Friday and Saturday for only $20 while a full festival pass is temporarily discounted at $95!Passes are now available HEREand will cover both stages for all three days of the event.
The full lineup is as follows:
JOHN GARCIA (Formerly of Kyuss playing all of the hits!) WEEDEATER DEADBIRD TELEKINETIC YETI DEEPSTARIA ENIGMATICA MEDICINE HORSE ADAM FAUCETT REBELMATIC FLUMMOX WHETHER SEAHAG OROROR CRANKBAIT MAMMOTH CARAVAN SPORTS DIREWOLF RWAKE CANCERSLUG
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 15th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Some light shuffling in the final lineup of Grim Reefer Fest 2024 — which is set for April 27 at The Ottobar in Baltimore, Maryland — as Yatra step out and Weed Coughin step in alongside new adds Telekinetic Yeti and Left Lane Cruiser, who’ll head out together a couple weeks later on tour supporting John Garcia (info here), but the final shape of the bill is massive one way or the other. Weedeater are at the top, in the megastoned headliner position that Bongzilla filled last year (review here), and from the crushing grim realities of Foehammer through Black Lung‘s atmospheric progressivism, Telekinetic Yeti‘s dense riffy counterpoint, Leather Lung‘s party sludge and house-band Haze Mage, you can get sense of some of how the day might flow. With High Leaf, Weed Coughin, Left Lane Cruiser and Bleak Shore completing the 10-band roster, it is absolutely packed.
But so was last year, and you know, I had time to drive south from NJ for the three-plus hours to Baltimore and still get to The Ottobar before the bands started at 3PM, and after crashing out for the night with local friends, I headed home early the next morning before any likely traffic. Easy peasy. The all-dayer — a single-day festival — isn’t something you see all the time in the US, but with a ticket at $40 you’re literally paying $4 per band you’ll get to see and when it’s done, you still have a weekend day to get yourself back to wherever you need to be. The vibe at Grim Reefer Fest was casual as one would hope, and if it sounds like I’m trying to figure a way to make the trip again even though I’ll have just gotten back from other travels earlier that same week, you’re absolutely right, I am.
With good reason, as you can see:
The full lineup for GRF 2024 is here! Join us as we return to the legendary Ottobar in Baltimore Maryland with some of the best heavy bands around including Weedeater, Telekinetic Yeti, BLACK LUNG, Left Lane Cruiser, Haze Mage, and more!
Once again, the amazing Golden Grillz food truck will be parked outside all day and night to take care of all of your munchie needs!
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 11th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Shit, man. Anybody got a line on a crash spot in Little Rock? Mutants of the Monster Fest — or if you’re on friendly terms you can go with Mutants Fest, like on the poster — has announced its initial lineup for May 16-18, with John Garcia as the first headliner. I’m not sure if it’s a solo show or with the full backing as John Garcia and the Band of Gold, but as noted below he’ll be doing Kyuss songs in addition to his own stuff and if the universe aligns just so, you might even get a track from the catalogs of SloBurn, Unida or Hermano, the latter of whom have reissues out on Ripple now.
But Garcia is just the start and down the line through Weedeater and Telekinetic Yeti (tour partners again?), Spirit Adrift, Deadbird, Fistula, Rebelmatic, Flummox, Medicine Horse, Seahag and Adam Faucett, and the sense of curation remains strong. Mammoth Caravan will have a new record out by the time they play, and they might not be the only ones, but even if everyone showed up with nothing on the merch table (highly unlikely), it’d still be a riotous bill and there’s more to come since, you know, three days and all that.
Tickets are available through Last Chance Records as linked below. I’ll do my best to keep up are more names are added to Mutants of the Monster 2024. Here’s how the PR wire put it:
MUTANTS OF THE MONSTER FEST 2024 Reveals First Wave of Bands; Incl. John Garcia (ex-Kyuss), Weedeater, Telekinetic Yeti, Spirit Adrift + More!
Taking place in North Little Rock, AR at the Argenta Community Theater and Four Quarter Bar from May 16-18!
MUTANTS OF THE MONSTER FEST will return in 2024 to Little Rock, AR from May 16-18! The multi-day festival will take place in the Argenta Arts District and has revealed the first wave of bands, which is as follows:
JOHN GARCIA (Formerly of Kyuss playing all of the hits!) WEEDEATER SPIRIT ADRIFT FISTULA DEADBIRD TELEKINETIC YETI DEEPSTARIA ENIGMATICA MEDICINE HORSE ADAM FAUCETT REBELMATIC FLUMMOX WHETHER SEAHAG OROROR CRANKBAIT MAMMOTH CARAVAN SPORTS DIREWOLF
Early bird tickets are now available HERE starting today through Monday, December 11. The pass will cover both stages for all three days of the event.
Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 8th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
As you and I sit comfortably in our reclining easychairs, gently clinking crystal highballs of actually-old-fashioned old fashioneds and toasting the ease of our lives, Iowa two-piece Telekinetic Yeti are once again out on the road, slogging away and carrying a silly-billy amount of amplifiers and playing louder than is recommended by medical professionals. The yeoman’s work of riffs. They’re out with JD Pinkus, who if you were going to put a bassist in the band would be a good one for the job, and will hit up the Southeast region and a little bit in their native Midwest as they put yet more miles between themselves and last year’s Tee Pee Records label debut, Primordial (review here).
And yes, that album was primordial. Willfully lunkheaded in how it clubbed your unassuming skull with riff after fuzz-coated riff. And I’m glad to have the excuse to revisit it that the video provides. Maybe this is Telekinetic Yeti saying goodbye to Primordial as they round out the tour cycle and begin to think about moving forward again — they don’t strike me as the ‘go home for two years’ types, but one never knows — with new material and, subsequent to that, probably a whole other round of touring. I’m very glad I got to see them play these songs.
If you haven’t, there’s still time. Dates and PR wire info follow the clip below.
Please enjoy:
Telekinetic Yeti, “Beast” official video
TELEKINETIC YETI RELEASE “BEAST” VIDEO
ANIMATED CLIP COMES FROM BAND’S ALBUM, PRIMORDIAL
U.S. TOUR UNDERWAY; J.D. PINKUS SUPPORTS
Directed by Brodie Rush. Featuring Alex Baumann (guitar and vocals) and Rockwel Heim (drums).
The duo share the larger theme behind the track: “’Beast’ is a reflection on societal disillusionment and the inherent desire to escape the cyclical trap of wage slavery. Acknowledging that these empires are built on sand as well as the human need to escape the tentacles that bind us through mindless, obligatory, financially-centered routines facilitated by hypnotic black magic.”
Telekinetic Yeti have spent the past year-plus on the road supporting the well-received, 11-song Primordial, including multiple headlining treks and a stint with Weedeater. The band is in the midst of their final 2023 tour dates, playing tomorrow at Maggie Meyers in Huntsville, Ala. J.D. Pinkus opens on all remaining shows.
11/08/2023 Huntsville AL @ Maggie Meyers 11/09/2023 Little Rock AR @ Four Quarter 11/10/2023 Lafayette LA @ Freetown Boom Boom Room 11/11/2023 New Orleans LA @ Poor Boys 11/12/2023 Panama City Beach FL @ Moseys 11/15/2023 Cape Coral FL @ Nice Guys 11/16/2023 Tampa FL @ Brass Mug 11/17/2023 Jacksonville FL @ Kona Skatepark 11/18/2023 Savannah GA @ EL Rocko Lounge 11/19/2023 Charleston SC @ Trolley Pub 11/20/2023 Piedmont SC @ Tribbles 11/21/2023 Raleigh NC @ Pour House 11/22/2023 Atlanta GA @ Star Bar 11/24/2023 Wilmington NC @ Reggies 11/25/2023 Chesapeake Bay VA @ Riffhouse 11/26/2023 Bensalem PA @ Broken Goblet
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 12th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Think we’ll get a new record from these guys in 2024? I wouldn’t mind one showing up. Based in Iowa but spending markedly little time there the past couple years, Telekinetic Yeti seem to treat hard-touring as a defining ethic. This past summer, they undertook their first headlining stint on the US West Coast with the backing of Tone Deaf Touring, with support from Stinking Lizaveta, Somnuri and Rifflord (at various points, though that’d be a mean package tour if those are still a thing) after going to the UK in Spring with Weedeater and Mars Red Sky. At least to-date in the tenure of the band, this is what they do.
And 2022’s Primordial (review here), as the ostensible cause they’re supporting, stands up to the volume and vitality they bring to it on stage. It hasn’t been so long that the record has lost its mud-tinted luster, whatever that might even mean — I guess just that it still sounds good listening to it as I put this together — but for an act with such an intense focus on forward momentum, it might not be unreasonable to think that would extend to recording. Or maybe the full-color shirts do well enough on the road that they can take their time and keep re-pressing sold out LPs. Good work if you can get it. Also hard work. Fair enough.
They’re out this time with JD Pinkus of Butthole Surfers, Melvins, etc., which will certainly not make any given gig less raucous. Telekinetic Yeti put up the poster with a quick blurb on social media, and wouldn’t you know it, here it is:
Get ready! We are joining forces with JD Pinkus this fall for a road trip! Highly excited about this one! Get your tickets now! Where will we see you?
