5/10/26 New Noize on 92.9 KJEE Santa Barbara's Modern Rock
Song of the Week: Griffin Brown "Begriffen" Spread Way Out
Album of the Week: Mike D “Switch Up” Interscope
MUNA “Girls Girl”
Charli xcx “Rock Music”
Bella Poarch “Ribcage”
Magi Merlin “So Smart”
Qendresa “Be the One”
nimino “Take My Space”
Peking Duk & Phantogram “Forever”
Prospa & Murda Beatz “Baby”
RAT BOY “BROKEN”
zzzahara “Speed Racer”
Cola “Third Double”
Basement “Sever”
sadie “All Right”
Sunforger “Weight”
Bye Parula “Orange Blossom (There’s a Million Reasons)”
King Ropes “Albertson’s Parking Lot”
Chinese American Bear “I Wanna Go Home (我想回家)”
The Womack Sisters “Chauffeur”
Hour 2
ear “Ne Plus Ultra”
Griffin Brown “nil”
RIP magic “Screwdark”
Seefeel “Everydays”
Heavee “Mainframe”
Mike D “Switch Up”
Josh da Costa “Proving Me Right”
Lykke Li “So Happy I Could Die”
Aldous Harding “Coats”
Allison Russell “Cold April (feat. Kara Jackson, Denitia, Explore! Pop Choir)”
Broken Social Scene “Hey Amanda”
Kurt Vile “Zoom 97”
Father John Misty “The Payoff”
Sparta “Everything You Say”
Made by AI
NOT ON SPOTIFY:
Bye Parula “Orange Blossom (There’s a Million Reasons)”
It’s been a week, friends and fellow heathens. When did May get here?
Somehow I got super lucky and made it into the Flight of the Conchords show at the SB Bowl this past Thursday. Big ups to a special human, you know who you are. I didn’t even know I was going until the day before, so my stress levels were high. I’m a HUGE FOTC fan, and they did not disappoint even with a ton of technical issues.
As soon as they started, Jermaine’s Teenage Engineering OP–1 (or OP–XY? I forget which one) just died. No sound. He was visibly upset…which, of course, the crowd laughed at. Bret and Jermaine being the hilarious professionals they are made light of every hiccup (and there were a few) and kept things moving with all the classics and perfectly timed quips in between. They ended with “Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros,” which felt like a weird closer but again, things were clearly a little chaotic behind the scenes. First "big" show of the tour will do that. But is there a tour? As of date of this write up they have only played 3 "big" concerts...
No issues over at the AVTT/PTTN show at Vina Robles Amphitheatre though. Their people hooked me up! A few rows back, dead center. WHAT. A. SHOW.
They’re touring their collab record, and I had no idea what to expect. Mike Patton with The Avett Brothers was not on my bingo card, but trust me it works. They ran through the entire record, jumping between Avett songs and Patton material, threw in some Faith No More, a Mr. Bungle moment, and even covered Easy by The Commodores.
And that venue? Vina Robles is NICE. Like SB Bowl nice. Outdoor, no sound ordinance something you notice immediately. Food was solid, drinks were elite, and if you’re in their wine club apparently there’s a whole secret society section I have not been invited to yet. If you’re in that club… hit me up. I have questions.
Only issue? I did not realize it was a two-hour drive. Shoutout to my +1 and KJEE coworker for driving his mom’s car. Thanks Everett's Mom.
Speaking of moms, I did a New Noize on Mother’s Day. Not my smoothest transition, but you’re not here for my famed prose. You’re here for the music.
It was another stellar week of new music drops and there was no shortage of awesome this past Sunday.
Charli has declared the dancefloor dead and is now making rock music and I want more. MORE.
zzzahara is really coming into their own with “Speed Racer.” LA native, been building this sound for a minute, and after hearing this I’ve got high hopes for whatever LP/EP is coming next.
Father John Misty dropped “The Payoff,” which he didn’t even play at his Ventura Majestic show back in March. Why Josh why?
Song of the Week goes to Mike D with “Switch Up.”
Seeing Mike D drop new music and get back out there performing is genuinely inspiring. You can feel that energy all over this track. It’s got that Beastie Boys Root Down era bounce & snaps you right into his world. Shit's dope sun.
A ton of new records worth your time; I’ll highlight four:
Chinese American Bear “Dim Sum & Then Some” is finally out. They dropped a bunch of singles leading up to it (yes, I played all of them), so I already knew I was in. And no surprise that I LOVE this record. It’s like eating ice cream for breakfast at 11AM on a hot May day in Harlem. Easy to get lost in.
Broken Social Scene is back with “Remember the Humans,” and it feels like a time capsule. There’s this weird emotional push-pull—like not caring about the future but still holding onto hope. Optimistic dread. Laughing through it. Or maybe just comfortably numb. I don’t even know if that makes sense, but it doesn’t have to. It just has to make you feel and it does.
Have you heard of Sunforger? Neither had I until this week. “Weight” is a strong record. They don’t ease you in, they just drop you into it and trust you’ll figure it out. That confidence is what pulls you in.
Album of the Week goes to Griffin Brown with Begriffen.
This record is different but has familiar reference points making this a truly enjoyable experience. Feels like a spaced-out mix of The Strokes and Animal Collective with autotuned vocals and glitchy, lo-fi experimentation. It zigzags. It shapeshifts. On “GT3,” it basically forgets what it was doing halfway through and becomes something else entirely. I love that.
There’s a chip-tune adjacent thing happening. You can hear the video game DNA in it. Fun sounds. Not taking itself too seriously. “nil” is a perfect example of that energy.
You can’t pin this album down to one thing, and that’s the point. It’s diverse, dynamic, and feels like a lost Game Boy Advance cartridge you just discovered in 2026.
Oh and I closed things out with new Sparta. You’re welcome.
I’m still looking for a job. Have been since August. Something’s gotta give soon because I’m getting tired of writing about it and I’m sure you’re tired of reading it. I am gonna have to go down a very cringe road, like Cassie from Euphoria sans the whole OF thing cause I am not a sexy white woman. Or am I? Let's see what this week brings.
