garage rock revival

The Heartless Bastards' story starts in Dayton, Ohio, where Wennerstrom found the name on a multiple choice video trivia game at a bar. As a songwriting teenager during a time when Guided by Voices and Brainiac were packing local bars and three of The Breeders were still in town, Wennerstrom used to sneak into clubs to check out the scene. "I would just see those people—my music heroes—hanging out at the bar like everyone else," she remembers. "I could see myself in them. It gave me inspiration to do my own thing."

This London-based Anglo-Canadian band, whose members include Jeremy Gluck (vocals), Robin Wills (guitar), David Buckley (bass), and Nick Turner (drums), was formed in 1979 and scored a U.K. chart hit in 1980 with the neo-surf song "Summer Fun." Turner and Buckley left after the release of the first album Drop Out With the Barracudas (1981) and were replaced by Jim Dickson and Terry Smith. Chris Wilson also joined on guitar.

Hailed by critics and fans alike, The Sights continue to build on an incredible legacy of uncanny blues-rock-power pop. Famed typhoon of rock and roll energy Eddie Baranek (guitar/vocals) is joined by Gordon Smith (guitar, keyboards and vocals) and Skip Denomme (drums) to deliver incredible songwriting and electrifying live performances. With 2010’s “Most of What Follows Is True,” The Sights have achieved an unprecedented level of song and studio craftsmanship. In an era of soulless keyboards, drum machines and Autotune, The Sights respond with thrillingly catchy songs.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania guitarist/producer/record company head Gregg Kostelich is the frenetic force behind THE CYNICS. He managed to keep the band afloat in the wake of constant personnel changes, he recorded some of the finest garage tracks ever, and also launched one of the best independent record labels of the 1980s. THE CYNICS’ style has been clear since their 1983 inception: fuzzed ultra-distorted guitar, screaming, moaning vocals, with a straight-ahead no frills rhythm section. The influences are extreme ‘60s Punk, R&B, and other loud, frantic trash.