Welcome back to Bonus Track: my “letter from the editor” column on the past month in music and life. Thanks for stopping by.
Here’s what I’ve got this month:
- An exciting life update!
- Thoughts on new LPs from Turnstile and McKinley Dixon
- A spotlight on 10/10 You’re Great
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!
Y’all, these past 11 months have been a rollercoaster. It started with getting laid off from a job after they extracted every bit of labor they could from me. That thrust me into a job market that had transformed into an AI hellscape. All of a sudden, everyone I knew seemed to be either in the same boat or just a step behind.
Two months later, this website was born. First to serve as a creative project and outlet, then evolving into something bigger than just me. Something that has built a surprising reputation purely through word of mouth. There isn’t a day that goes by where it doesn’t feel surreal because it’s something I’ve strived for throughout the years. Only now have I been able to build the foundation required for long-term consistency.
Well, the time has come to test that foundation. Three-quarters of a year into a project born out of unemployment, it will transition into a new phase: existing alongside a full-time job!
With 40 fewer hours of free capacity, will Blank Tapes change to keep up? The answer is yes, but mostly no. Let’s break it all down.
Bonus Track:
- This column will become shorter and heavier on bullet points, especially in the “This Month in Music” section.
- There will still be a (shorter) intro update and an “In Case You Missed It,” but the latter will be made up of my favorite media from the past month, rather than purely articles published to the website.
- The artist spotlight will be replaced with a selection of upcoming local events.
New Music NC:
- I want this column to bring more of the review energy, digging deeper into what makes those standout records great.
- I would also like to provide more details about every featured band, even if it’s just a brief description of them or their music.
Weekly output:
- Fortunately, we have a robust backlog of interviews that will bring us through August, so we’re sticking with two posts per week for the foreseeable future!
- Interviews will be published on Tuesdays (and sometimes Fridays); reviews, essays, and miscellaneous articles will come out on Fridays only.
What gives me an extra bit of confidence in where Blank Tapes will go from here is the fact that I’m not the only one working to support it. We’ve been fortunate to have folks like Stephen jump on to expand our capacity. If you’re eager to contribute, don’t hesitate to reach out and find your role!
In Case You Missed It…
For one last time (in this form), here’s a round-up of all the pieces we put out this month:
- Interview: Private Cathedral — How a pair of multi-instrumentalist composers from different sides of the Atlantic met and crafted their ambitious art-pop debut
- New Music NC: May 2025 — Featuring Old Suns, Private Cathedral, and 49 new releases from North Carolina artists
- Interview: JP D’Argenio (JP’s Vault) — What led the Weymouth drummer to become a go-to videographer for the North Carolina emo and punk scene
- A Weekend at SLUGFEST 2025 — The Triangle’s queer, DIY, anti-folk festival blossomed in its second year with two packed days of music, camping, and community
- Interview: Doomsday Profit — Charting the metal family tree and enjoying a (library-sponsored) night of apocalyptic proportions with Durham’s sludge four-piece
- jstory makes ambient music that feels alive — From dirty secret dance tracks to activist recordings, Josh Story uses music to capture what makes us human
- Interview: Chiroptera — This teenage four-piece is a glimpse of the future for the Triangle punk rock scene, and a testament to its welcoming community
- 10 Years of Pale Horses — Looking back on the apocalyptic lyrical themes and impeccable grooves that make mewithoutYou’s sixth record their best
- Interview: Paula C Snyder — How this Detroit native built a lifelong singing career and made North Carolina home
This Month in Music
Turnstile — NEVER ENOUGH [Roadrunner]
Nearly four years after taking over the world with GLOW ON, Baltimore’s Turnstile has finally returned with their most anticipated release ever. Cheekily, the band makes it clear that nothing they do will be enough to top the legend they’ve built for themselves. It was always going to be impossible to follow up GLOW ON, but in the end, NEVER ENOUGH manages to stand on its own as a quality record in its own right.
Like its predecessor, NEVER ENOUGH finds the band at a crossroads of different sounds. The hardcore punch is still there, but it’s sharing more space with lo-fi dance beats and pop-adjacent sounds than ever before. Take the fantastic single “Look Out for Me”, which blends new age verses with fury-laden choruses, only to peel back a whole dance track in its latter half. Or “I Care”, which softens the genre’s edges to create one of the most mainstream hardcore songs in recent memory.
All of that may be underwhelming to some, but tell me the fast-tempoed “Dreaming” isn’t made significantly better by its bold inclusion of mariachi-esque trumpets. The pre-summer release makes the album perfect for blasting with the windows down. The arrangements can feel a bit rudimentary, but that doesn’t change how much I want to mosh to this in the pit. What’s the harm in giving in to the hype sometimes?
Top Tracks: “DREAMING”, “SOLE”, “LOOK OUT FOR ME”
McKinley Dixon — Magic, Alive! [City Slang]
Honestly, I’ve struggled to keep up with the latest rap and hip-hop artists for a while. But McKinley Dixon pulled me back in by tapping into what I love most about the genre: spontaneity, creative vision, and masterful execution. (Shout-out to America’s favorite local band, Cheekface, for the introduction.)
This album hits differently. Dixon’s approach to rap feels like genuine poetry in motion, with verses that are both emotionally raw and intellectually sharp. You can tell this dude reads, thinks deeply, and translates that into bars that actually mean something. The features are perfectly placed, too, from Quelle Chris to ICECOLDBISHOP‘s verse on “All the Loved Ones”. Teller Bank$ and Blu also bring their A-game when they show up.
What makes this album truly special is the live band backing everything up. Having actual musicians — a guitarist, bassist, and drummer — instead of just working with beats creates such sonic richness that you don’t hear much in hip-hop anymore. The production feels alive and breathing in a way that programming just can’t match. This is easy album of the year material, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up being one of those records people are still talking about years from now.
Top Tracks: “Sugar Water”, “Run, Run, Run Pt. II”, “We’re Outside, Rejoice!”
Overall, here are my top records from the month so far:
And here’s a convenient playlist of my favorite new songs in 2025:
Follow me on Apple Music and/or Last.fm if you feel so inclined.
Artist Spotlight: 10/10 You’re Great
Back in February, fellow Buffalo native Chris Favata reached out after seeing one of my Bluesky posts about Warped Tour that ended up generating some surprisingly good discussion. He hosts the 10/10 You’re Great podcast with his friends Charlie and Lucas; the three of them are self-proclaimed “passionate idiots” who geek out over their favorite albums every week.
Their whole thing is that if something rocks, it’s getting covered, but with a warning that they won’t keep it brief. Since they are lovers of all things Jeff Rosenstock, I can’t recommend their episode on WORRY. enough. We finally got around to recording this past Tuesday, and I had a blast chatting about The Wonder Years’ The Greatest Generation and why it has become one of my all-time favorite records.
If you’re into music podcasts that feel like hanging out with friends who know their stuff, without the pretentious music critic vibe or the dumbed-down takes, it’s worth a listen.
That’s all for this iteration of the column. Thanks for reading! Stay safe, be sane, and support local music. 🤘
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