#sharp pins

[reddeyed]

you don’t live here, you don’t live here, you don’t live here anymooooooooooooooooore

[dustedmagazine]

Touch Girl Apple Blossom — Graceful (Perennial/K)

Touch Girl Apple Blossom luxuriates in radiant jangle, the band’s two guitarists — Olivia Garner (who also sings) and John Morales — joining in sunshine soaked spirals of pop-rock sound. “Sunshine Reminds Me Of,” an early single, beckons from the first warm day of the season. The sound is well in line with the jangle-pop of Sharp Pins, the happy-into-sad glow of the Cords, and the lo-fi tunefulness of Good Flying Birds, a band that they’ll be touring with this summer.

The band is a foursome out of Austin, Texas with one previous, buzzy EP. Garner, the main songwriter, previously played guitar in noisy, shoegaze-y Hotline TNT. Bassist Dustin Pilkington, who also contributed a couple of tunes, has been in roughly a dozen Austin bands, notably hardcore punk’s Discreet and Total Abuse. John Morales and drummer Daniel Powell also play in much loved Austin post-punk band Guiding Light, but none of that will really prepare you for the sweet C86 tunefulness of this first full-length.

Consider, “Vacation” for instance with its ebullient guitar vamp, which might remind you, if you’re old enough, of the Friends of Distinction’s “Grazing in the Grass.” But instead of the soul swagger of that tune, this song is layered over with Garner’s dreaming, drifting, cool girl vocals. The song scrambles and glides at the same time, its furiously mobile bass and drums pushing ahead, while the chorus unspools indolently.

“Heartgo” shows a little more of the band members’ punk roots, erupting into action on a rupturing drum fill and slashing and burning through noisy openings. But then it settles into a swinging pop groove, as light and airy as a soap bubble. “Where does the heart go?” croons Garner, as the guitars clang, the drums pound, the bass thunders; it’s a pop song with spine and friction. They have a lot in common with current day Slumberland/K/Perennial guitar pop bands, but if you want to reach back a little further, the spike-y vulnerability of the Pastels comes to mind.  

Spring comes earlier to Austin than some other places, so I’d imagine that the single “Spring Reminds Me Of” has already gotten a pretty good airing on the nice days, streaming out of open car windows and drifting through the windows of local bars. If you’re looking for a song of the summer, you could do worse.

Jennifer Kelly

[bandcampsnoop]

1/7/26.

When I first started listening to "Monster Of The Week" by Tulpa, I thought they might be part of Chicago's thriving young indie rock scene (Horsegirl, Sharp Pins, Uniflora, etc.).

Nope, Tulpa are part of the vibrant UK indie scene being captured by dozens of amazing labels; in this case, Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey's label Skep Wax.

Reviews have mentioned the following bands when writing about Tulpa: The Wedding Present, Versus, Pavement, Pixies, Josef K and The Monochrome Set.

[antigogglin]

Kai Slater & Sharp Pins. Gonerfest 22

[cristalconnors]

ALBUMS 2025

HONORABLE MENTIONS: (alphabetical) Affectionately, Raisa K / Big city life, Smerz / black british music (2025), Jim Legxacy / City of Clowns, Marie Davidson / hooke's law, keiyaA / I quit, Haim / Iris Silver Mist, Jenny Hval / LUX, Rosalía / Pirouette, Model/Actriz / Sinister Grift, Panda Bear / Tranquilizer, Oneohtrix Point Never / WHO WATERS THE WILTING GIVING TREE ONCE THE LEAVES DRY UP AND FRUITS NO LONGER BEAR?, $ilkMoney

30. BLEEDS WEDNESDAY

29. WILLOUGHBY TUCKER, I'LL ALWAYS LOVE YOU ETHEL CAIN

28. SEEKING DARKNESS HUREMIC

27. F*CK U SKRILLEX YOU THINK UR ANDY WARHOL BUT UR NOT!! <3 SKRILLEX

26. CHOKE ENOUGH OKLOU

25. GOODNESS FEEO

24. JUMP OUT OSAMASON

23. LUSTER MARIA SOMERVILLE

22. FRIEND JAMES K

21. BLACK STAR AMAARAE

20. GOLLIWOG BILLY WOODS

19. MUSIC CAN HEAR US DJ KOZE

18. 45 POUNDS YHWH NAILGUN

17. NO CONTROL, NO GLORY AKAI SOLO

16. RADIO DDR SHARP PINS

15. BABY DIJON

14. IT'S A BEAUTIFUL PLACE WATER FROM YOUR EYES

13. A TROPICAL ENTROPY NICK LEÓN

12. REVENGESEEKERZ JANE REMOVER

11. FANCY THAT PINKPANTHERESS

10. ADDISON ADDISON RAE

09. SHOWBIZ! MIKE

08. HEAVY METAL CAMERON WINTER

07. THE PASSIONATE ONES NOURISHED BY TIME

06. HEADLIGHTS ALEX G

05. GETTING KILLED GEESE

04. EUSEXUA FKA TWIGS

03. LOS THUTANAKA LOS THUTANAKA

02. HEXED! AYA

01. LIVE LAUGH LOVE EARL SWEATSHIRT

[2003subarubaja]

march tunes

[bandcampout]

Sharp Pins - Storma Lee - Radio DDR (2025)

[musickickztoo]

Contra2025-12

13092025 (-All New-)

The 12th playlist of the year!!

TRACKLIST:

Spoon - Guess I'm Falling In Love Bright Eyes - Dyslexic Palindrome (feat. Hurray For The Riff Raff) Acapulco Lips - Fuzzy Sunshine Vaguess - Look Away Tebby & The Heavy - Happenstance Sharp Pins - (I Wanna) Be Your Girl Laundry Bats - Nightmare Wreckless Eric - Lifeline Reverend Beat-Man & Milan Slick - I Found Out Thurston Moore - Temptation Inside Your Heart (Velvet Underground) Cool Whip - Flame In My Heart Gut Health - Beat To Beat The Hives - Roll Out The Red Carpet Dragnet - Claires Whip Dick Move - Nurses Loose Lips - Last Laugh Curtis Harding - The Power Electric Prawns 2 - Wasted

LISTEN: https://www.mixcloud.com/Contraflow/contra2025-12-13092025-all-new-/