The Quaker Goes Deaf

04/26/2026

THE QUAKER GOES DEAF has added a new playlist to Spotify. ( #87) It’s a collection that understands the vagaries & power of ROCK. Some new, some old, no crap, all gold. Playlist for #87 is: Razorhouse, Gazelle Twin, Vibravoid, Pernice Brothers, The Rifles,
The Limiñanas & Laurent Garnier, Bentrees, Gösta Berlings Saga, Helicon & Al Lover, Mod Lang, Eddie Spaghetti, Pansy Division, The Amplifier Heads, The Birch, Howling Giant, Silverships, Disappears, Echo & The Bunnymen, Bronco Bullfrog, Culpeper’s Orchard. You can follow THE QUAKER GOES DEAF on Spotify to access future playlists if you are interested. Thanks! Here is the link for playlist for #87:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2y1es3OHaK2ZvdH28kVqTd?si=AoLSTVzmTUG1yEPhRiSOkA

Playlist · The Quaker Goes Deaf · 20 items

04/08/2026

THE QUAKER GOES DEAF has added a new playlist to Spotify. ( #86) It’s a collection that understands the vagaries & power of ROCK. Some new, some old, no crap, all gold. Playlist for #86 is: Cannon Fodder, Brigitte Calls Me Baby, Greet Death, Bob Mould, Shepparton Airplane, Lewsberg, Squeeze, Grand Union, The Asteroid No. 4, Zombi, Kosmodrom, Swell Maps, Summer Of Hate, Secret Club, Mr. Bison, The Wolfgang Press, The Bevis Frond, Dies Irae, Buried Feather. You can follow THE QUAKER GOES DEAF on Spotify to access future playlists if you are interested. Thanks! Here is the link for playlist for #86:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7rzhbOZi4EuC19rpy1EzjX?si=btwxwo1kTgOX70Adn56csg

Playlist · The Quaker Goes Deaf · 20 items

04/02/2026

The overseas shipping Gods smiled upon me today! Top row, L to R: The Heads "yourprettyplaceisgoingtohell", Pell, Palmer, Tausig and Gould "Synesthesia", Poseidotica "Las Palabras Y La Realidad". Middle row, L to R: Gondhawa "Takoma", Mientras "Las Abejas Duermen", Joe Pernice "Sunny, I Was Wrong". Bottom row, L to R: The Bevis Frond "Horrorful Heights", Wedge "Like No Tomorrow", Hanna & Jerry "Relaxed".

(Lower pic is Monkey checking out the albums.)

03/26/2026

Greet Death “Die In Love” (Deathwish, 2025) On their 3rd album, this Michigan band delivers dreamy, darkly beautiful, haunting neo-Gothic shoegaze, finding a place where songs slow-build to magnificent crescendos powered by an epic majesty of fuzz. The title track opens with a heavy Melvin’s like thrust of guitar that mellows into gorgeously melancholic vocals with waves of hard-swirling feedback. “Same But Different Now” has a New Order-meets-shoegaze feel that absolutely explodes with a hard-rocking finish. “Country Girl” is a alluringly sweet, hypnotic pop song that grows into an avalanche of soaring noise. With lyrics like “Crawl inside a human carcass…pick apart my face to see my skull” the song “Red Rocket” lays a strange groundwork for the dreamy-drone sound of its thrumming guitars. “Emptiness Is Everywhere” mixes a gentle folk-pop slowcore flow with a wistful, funerial melancholy. “August Underground” rides a stunningly radiant melody line into a darkly reverberating corkscrew of noise. “Love Me When You Leave” closes the album with a haunted, plaintive ballad that fades into the sunset. “Die In Love” is a gorgeously potent, mesmerizing album that lies on the edge of creative brilliance for its perfectly portioned mix of melody and darkness, beauty and noise. RIYL: Nothing meets The Cure, Cocteau Twins meet My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive meets And Also The Trees, Mojave 3 meets Flying Saucer Attack. QR = 9.0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8OMahXayd4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOi9ipB5yo0

03/25/2026

THE QUAKER GOES DEAF has added a new playlist to Spotify. ( #85) It’s a collection that understands the vagaries & power of ROCK. Some new, some old, no crap, all gold. Playlist for #85 is: Heaven, And Also The Trees, Goblyn, Unbunny, The Wave Pictures, Merchandise, Home Front, The Monochrome Set, Faten Kanaan, Black Honey Cult, Gyasi, Yungblud, The Beths, Greg Antista and the Lonely Streets, The Contrast, Speedtwin, Car Seat Headrest, Wytch Hazel, The Coral Vines, Black Pyramid. You can follow THE QUAKER GOES DEAF on Spotify to access future playlists if you are interested. Thanks! Here is the link for playlist for #85:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6ASUfOgsPRCYMLiz16U9Wm?si=6Vwp67DxSQazvzNJRsc1qw

Playlist · The Quaker Goes Deaf · 20 items

03/19/2026

This month’s new additions to the family:

Albums from top, L - R: Indigosaur "Cosmic Censor", Ashinoa "Un'Altra Forma"; middle row: Flying Moon In Space " Immer Für Immer", Helicon X Al Lover "Arise", Golden Hours "Beyond Wires; bottom row: Maha Sohona "A Dark Place", Devil Electric "Tahlia", Dirty Sound Magnet "Me And My Shadow"

CDs, top row, L - R: Spore "Backscattering", Breath "Brahman", Michael Hampton "Into The Public Domain", Darsombra "Syzygy", The Green Ray "Orchard House", Buttercup "Send More Yellow"; middle row: Stone Machine Electric "Faces", Abanamat "Abominat", Mod Lang "Borrowed Time" The Pretty Flowers "Never Felt Bitter, Various Artists "Help(2)", Oak Acetator "Power Trip"; bottom row: Bentrees "Silver Veins", Gluecifer "Same Drug New High", Desert Collider "Generation Ship - Endless Drift Through Infiniity", Sky Valley MIstress "Luna Mausoleum", The Black Watch "Varied Superstitions", Mitski "Nothing's About To Happen To Me"

03/08/2026

The Coral Vines “Elibrion Waves” (Rare Vitamin, 2025) The debut release from this U.K. duo wanders through a dreamy, experimental electro-psych auditory playground populated by guest vocalists. “A Place To Be A Bumblebee” opens with the swirling sounds of jazzy atmospherics. “Bluebird” lays deep, shadowy vocals over a narcotic layer of sweet noise-drone. “Fade Into Feeling” marries a funky Eastern tribal beat with enchanting vocal sirens. “In The Rushes” is a gorgeous ride through prog/psych territory with a folky rhythmic twist. On “El Brillo De Mi Navaja” (The Shine Of My Razor) an industrial flavored grind introduces some echoic, semi-deranged vocal rants. At nearly 11 minutes, the title track journeys through a drug-hazed, dance-inducing primal slice of celebratory hippiedom. The last three excursions explore discursive storytelling, disco-ish fairyland tripping and a chugging neo-blues funk rocker. “Elibrion Waves” is a rhythmic expedition through a jazzy-chill psychedelic fantasyland. QR = 7.8
https://thecoralvines.bandcamp.com/album/elibrion-waves

03/08/2026

Buried Feather “Cloudberry Dreamshake” (Kozmik Artifactz, 2019) On their 4th album this band out of Melbourne, Australia lays down some 60s blessed garage-y psych pop/rock with blistering guitars and trippy melodies. Opening track “Melt Together” roars out of the gate with shimmering psychedelic guitar notes driving a tripped-out, hard rocking melody. “London Feels” slows the pace to a lovely Beatles-esque number with a cloud-floating, hypnotic sense of whimsy. “Cult Of Boogs” and “Nuclear Suzi” both rip up the floor with a spirited bluesy beat that combines the grit of Thin White Rope guitars with the rhythmic sensibilities of T. Rex. Side one finishes in a haunting ballad mode, as “Morphine Bride” lays down passionate Stones-y blues/psych wonder. “Lightning Hands” is another punchy psych/garage ripper that favors a grunged-out boogie rhythm. Stand-out track “Dreamshake” captures the magical essence of kaleidoscopic krautrock. ”Nothing’s Real” rides a ruggedly poignant space rock groove. The final six minutes of “Cloudberry Jam” is a magical mix of dreamy acid-pop melody and soaring stargaze lead riffs. “Cloudberry Dreamshake” is a portal to the promised land of exceptional otherworldly psychedelic rock. RIYL: Dead Meadow, The Black Angels, Pretty Lightning, Wooden Shjips, Soft-Hearted Scientists, Night Beats, Secret Machines, Bubble Puppy, Status Quo, Dukes Of The Stratosphear, Pink Floyd, Dream Syndicate. QR = 9.7

https://buriedfeather.bandcamp.com/album/cloudberry-dreamshake

02/18/2026

Shepparton Airplane “Forecast” (Wing Sing, 2025) The 4th studio album from this band out of the Melbourne, Australia area is a sharp-edged exploration of addictively aggressive noise-rock with a blistering post-Goth/math-punk twist. “Hell No” opens with an oddly ominous beat that quickly matches the message to rip up the floor with a marching punk rhythm. The title track launches with a Peter Hook-ish bass line and post-punk vocals before the guitar power kicks in with a muscular intensity. “Stereo Youth” has a pounding rhythm, punchy vocals and a killer guitar line. “Someone To Blame” comes in with an addictive drum beat that explodes with pent-up energy into a nova star blast of twisted cacophony. Instrumental track “Thursday, Simply” is a gorgeously constructed drug-hazed drone of radiant space rock. “Heaven Will Take Us In” blows a post-punk hole in existential complacency. The band’s brilliant use of noise and repetition as exclamatory punctuation to jagged psych/punk melodies often elevates the music to a surreal level of listening. Songs are driven by a primal heartbeat rhythm section that lays a hard-chug path for ripping guitars, while passionate vocals deliver a pertinent political message:
“Seems like we just got rid of the monk now we’re
Watching the first year of Trump
And watching in disbelief as Donald goes about
Acting like a chump”
Overall, “Forecast” weighs in as a venturesome psychedelic/punk blend for open-eared, scrunch-faced noise-nick rockers. RIYL: Janitors, Vi**ra Boys, The Fall, Protomartyr, The Ex, The Three Johns, October Drift, Gang Of Four, Fontaines D.C., The Wipers, Legal Weapon. QR = 8.4

https://sheppartonairplane.bandcamp.com/album/forecast

02/15/2026

Summer Of Hate “Blood and Honey” (Tee P*e, 2026) Released in a two LP, 45 rpm format, the 2nd studio album by this Portuguese band moves with a mystic Middle Eastern metal thrust that’s subtly softened by dreamy female vocals. “Mayura” enters with a primal urgency and a disturbed haze of guitar noise under Calado’s hypnotic voice and marches on with an ethno-psych determination until it explodes unexpectedly in a rockin’ metal blast of energy. “Joy” opens with a laid-back indie pop beat that builds in intensity and power while maintaining a mesmerizing rhythmic core. Closing track “The Gospel (According to Summer of Hate)” begins as a soft dreamcore ballad (think Mazzy Star evolving into Jesus And Mary Chain) that expands into a head-melting epic finish. All across the album thunderous, cavern-deep drums and a thump ’n’ bump bass underscore soaring metallic guitars and the captivating beauty of Laura Calado’s voice. Epic, heavy shoegaze sounds roll through raga-drone clouds of celestial magnificence. Surprising bursts of in-your-face, ripping guitar magic is mixed with folky vocal harmonies and psychedelic exploration. Lyrics are peppered with a sense of beyond-this-world darkness. Hints of esoteric soundscapes are couched in an oscillating narcotic drug-haze of cabalistic origin. Waves of noise-chords invade tribal rhythms with a puncturing resonance of post-Gothic rock. RIYL: Siouxsie and the Banshees, Octavia Sperati, metallized Bat For Lashes, Lacuna Coil, Esben and the Witch, Elephant Stone, Cornershop. QR = 8.4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfOQxQ1ESvw

https://summerofhate.bandcamp.com/track/the-gospel-according-to-summer-of-hate

02/10/2026

Captain Beefheart’s 10 Commandments of Guitar Playing

1. Listen to the birds.
That’s where all the music comes from. Birds know everything about how it should sound and where that sound should come from. And watch hummingbirds. They fly really fast, but a lot of times they aren’t going anywhere.

2. Your guitar is not really a guitar Your guitar is a divining rod.
Use it to find spirits in the other world and bring them over. A guitar is also a fishing rod. If you’re good, you’ll land a big one.

3. Practice in front of a bush
Wait until the moon is out, then go outside, eat a multi-grained bread and play your guitar to a bush. If the bush dosen’t shake, eat another piece of bread.

4. Walk with the devil
Old Delta blues players referred to guitar amplifiers as the “devil box.” And they were right. You have to be an equal opportunity employer in terms of who you’re bringing over from the other side. Electricity attracts devils and demons. Other instruments attract other spirits. An acoustic guitar attracts Casper. A mandolin attracts Wendy. But an electric guitar attracts Beelzebub.

5. If you’re guilty of thinking, you’re out
If your brain is part of the process, you’re missing it. You should play like a drowning man, struggling to reach shore. If you can trap that feeling, then you have something that is fur bearing.

6. Never point your guitar at anyone
Your instrument has more clout than lightning. Just hit a big chord then run outside to hear it. But make sure you are not standing in an open field.

7. Always carry a church key
That’s your key-man clause. Like One String Sam. He’s one. He was a Detroit street musician who played in the fifties on a homemade instrument. His song “I Need a Hundred Dollars” is warm pie. Another key to the church is Hubert Sumlin, Howlin’ Wolf’s guitar player. He just stands there like the Statue of Liberty-making you want to look up her dress the whole time to see how he’s doing it.

8. Don’t wipe the sweat off your instrument
You need that stink on there. Then you have to get that stink onto your music.

9. Keep your guitar in a dark place
When you’re not playing your guitar, cover it and keep it in a dark place. If you don’t play your guitar for more than a day, be sure you put a saucer of water in with it.

10. You gotta have a hood for your engine
Keep that hat on. A hat is a pressure cooker. If you have a roof on your house, the hot air can’t escape. Even a lima bean has to have a piece of wet paper around it to make it grow.