This is the first I've heard of Appalachian Surf Team but they've been around since at least 2013 and seem to have honed their craft pretty well by now. A live album suits them well; this album is bristling with energy and it sounds like a ton of fun even with a bit more crowd chatter picked up than you normally hear on a live record. In fact, it's pretty great when you hear one of the women in the crowd talking loudly lose her marbles when they launch into their supercharged cover of "Eye of the Tiger".

Here in New Orleans I rarely get an opportunity to see the bands I write about, but I was lucky enough to catch Steelism - at a bar with excellent sound no less. Jeremy (electric guitar) and Spencer (pedal steel) were effortlessly masterful at their instruments, and the songs from their 2014 LP "615 to Fame" really came to life.

Are The Phantom Operators starting to settle on a Western sound? We've had an album called Metal Mariachi Music and now a total of 4 consecutive songs going for a lonely, desolate, spaghetti Western angle. I think it works! These two are on bandcamp for free/pay-as-you-want, and they've said they have an LP on the way.

Meant to get this out earlier but this Thursday the 14th Steelism is playing Chickee Wah Wah in New Orleans at 9pm.

The Phantom Operators have been cranking out songs like mad. This time we're in the desert, at least for two songs. Expect an unfriendly, shady sound on this one. And if you like it, they're pay-as-much-as-you-want

Genki Genki Panic is a twosome comprised of guitarist Chancho and drummer El Fatsquatch. A little while ago they had a six-song demo EP up, and it's nice to hear how those songs have progressed into a much more polished product, and of course it's nice hear the new tracks that came along the way. If you like horror surf it's well worth a listen.

Thankfully not much similarity to the similarly named Lou Reed record, Knoxville's Phantom Operators have been drip-feeding single songs for a few months now and have scooped them all up into a 9-song LP. Some songs like Tiki Patrol and Charlie's Point are pretty trad, but it finds a darker place as it moves on. Definitely get a bit of an Insect Surfers/Derangers vibe.