THE PLAYLIST
Dylan Hudecki is a Canadian indie-rock vet having played in many different bands, including By Divine Right, Cowlick, Slow Beach and The Dill. He’s a proud Hamiltonian who covers local album releases for HAMILTON CITY Magazine.
Brandon Agnew – Night Shadows Volume 1
Brandon Agnew is a roots musician from Niagara Falls who writes music in “various shades of blue.”
Backed by The Night Shadows, Agnew trades some of the introspective folk and Canadiana of his earlier work for a sound steeped in New Orleans rhythm and blues, creating an album that feels less like a studio project and more like a late-night celebration spilling out onto the street.
From the opening notes of "Sweet Tea," the band's chemistry is front and centre. Trombone, bright guitars, harmonies, and a loose but confident rhythm section give the record a warmth that recalls the spirit of New Orleans without ever feeling like a tribute act. Instead, Agnew and company absorb those influences and filter them through a distinctly southern Ontario lens.
Tracks like "Juke Joint," "Medicine Hat," and the 12-bar blues of “Muddy's Pit" are immediate highlights. Their infectious grooves and memorable choruses capture the joyous spirit. Beneath the good-time atmosphere lies a songwriter with something to say. Agnew's greatest strength has always been his ability to tell stories with clarity and heart, and those skills remain front and centre throughout the record.
The album's production, handled by bassist Steve Goldberger, strikes a balance between polish and spontaneity. Nothing feels overworked. The performances breathe and seem live off the floor, and the arrangements leave room for every instrument. The band sounds like a seasoned group of musicians genuinely enjoying each other's company, and that sense of camaraderie becomes one of the album's defining qualities.
What ultimately makes Night Shadows – Volume 1 successful is its authenticity. In an era where roots blues music can sometimes feel overly serious or carefully curated, Agnew and The Night Shadows embrace joy, community, and musical fellowship. The result is a record filled with southern charm, memorable hooks, and enough brass-fuelled energy to keep listeners coming back for another round.
Night Shadows – Volume 1 doesn't reinvent blues and roots music, nor does it try. Instead, it reminds us that great songs, played by a great band, can still be one of life's simplest pleasures. If this is merely Volume 1, there's every reason to look forward to what comes next.
RIYL: Bob Dylan, Wallflowers, Sheryl Crow, The Odds, CCR
GENRE: Americana, Canadian folk rock, blues rock
LISTEN HERE on Apple
The Wild High – Listen to the Wild High
There are plenty of bands that write songs about good times, cold beer, and weekends at the lake. Hamilton’s The Wild High understands something more important: why those moments matter.
Listen To The Wild High is an album built on community. Led by vocalist and guitarist Jon Harvey alongside guitarist/vocalist Myke Penney, Peter Antoniou (banjo, guitar, vocals), bassist Ryan Ethier, and drummer Zander Lamothe, the band embraces the best of country rock, Americana, roots, and heartland rock without sounding beholden to its influences. Instead, they deliver a record that feels honest, lived-in, and sincerely unpretentious.
The opening trio of "Cottage Song," "Gonna Make A Night Of It," and "Good Time Comin'" sets the tone with songs about escaping the daily grind, reconnecting with friends, and appreciating life's simple pleasures. The hooks come naturally, the harmonies are warm, and the musicianship always serves the song, rather than showing off.
The footstomper "Still Holdin' On" turns perseverance into an uplifting anthem without becoming clichéd, while the slow dance vibes of “Feel All The Love," featuring guest vocalist Bernadette Connors, add heartfelt warmth with its message of belonging. "Let's Do Nothing" is another standout, reminding listeners that slowing down can be just as rewarding as chasing the next adventure.
Produced, engineered, and largely mixed by Myke Penney at Tonehenge Recording in Guelph, the album strikes an ideal balance between polish and authenticity. Rich guitar tones, Gray Farrow's tasteful organ and electric piano, and Aaron Goldstein's understated pedal steel all add colour without overshadowing the band's chemistry. The result feels organic, as though these songs were captured live rather than assembled piece by piece. Robert Nation's mastering gives the album warmth and clarity, while Jon Harvey's album artwork perfectly reflects the record's welcoming spirit.
Lyrically, Listen To The Wild High isn't trying to reinvent the wheel. These songs celebrate friendship, resilience, home, hard work, and the joy found in everyday moments. In an era when many roots-rock records chase grit or grandeur, The Wild High simply sound authentic and sure of themselves. Listen To The Wild High doesn't reinvent southern country rock, it reminds us why many fall in love with it in the first place.
RIYL: The Sheepdogs, The Trews, The Black Crowes, Rival Sons, Monster Truck, Lynyrd Skynyrd
GENRE: southern rock, Americana, roots rock, classic rock, blues rock
LISTEN HERE on Bandcamp
Jack Pine – Moonshine Ragas
The mysterious Jack Pine, identified as an experimental folk project of Matt Hill, has made a unique, noteworthy off-kilter, lofi-instrumental musical time capsule.
There are albums that feel like they were recorded in a pro studio, and then there are albums that feel like they were half-recorded in the middle of a dense forest, to be one with the crickets and peepers, swaying wind in the canopy overhead. And the other half recorded in a spacious cathedral or abandoned asylum at night, pressing play and record by candlelight. Moonshine Ragas, the latest release from Hamilton’s Jack Pine, is a sprawling and hypnotic journey through experimental folk, improvisation, and meditative acoustic exploration.
Drawing from traditions of instrumental field recordings, Jack Pine creates a world where time seems to slow down. Like a campfire conversation that stretches deep into the night, Moonshine Ragas invites listeners to settle into its atmosphere rather than rush toward the immediate pop music structure we’re used to. A singer-songwriter release, this is not!
These compositions breathe. In “And We Mistook Its Malignant Presence For Divine Radiance,” rather than relying on obvious hooks or dramatic peaks, the song finds beauty in gradual movement, where a repeated phrase slowly transforms, revealing a melody's hidden emotional weight. Many arrangements use an open tuning that distorts the four-track preamp but opens into something much larger. You don’t have to be a stoner to listen to this album with headphones on in the dark. BUT if you were to attempt such a thing, this cinematic trip you’d take will be one far-out artsy ride.
The Hamilton music scene has long been home to artists willing to challenge expectations and take interesting risks with their music. Case in point, Brian Eno and Dan Lanois making Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks at Grant Ave Studio in 1983. Jack Pine continues that tradition with a record that feels both ancient and completely contemporary. There is a handmade, DIY quality throughout Moonshine Ragas, a sense that the music exists outside of trends and algorithms. It feels connected to the earth, to improvisation, and to the communal roots of folk music, while still exploring the outer edges of experimental sound.
The album starts and ends with traditional folk songs. “Go Dig My Grave” harkens back to something you’d hear on the O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack, and “Mole In The Ground” sounds like Bob Dylan recording with Woody Guthrie’s four-track and a broken old microphone.
For open-minded listeners willing to surrender to its pace, Moonshine Ragas offers a deeply immersive experience. It’s not background music; it is a landscape, beautifully unconventional. Jack Pine has created an album that feels like a sonic palette cleanser, and a mysterious, yet welcoming, place to visit.
RIYL: John Fahey, Califone, Derek Bailey, instrumental Tom Waits
GENRE: experimental folk, psychadelic forest noise
LISTEN HERE on Bandcamp
blosum – Amaryllis
On Amaryllis, Hamilton-based outfit blosum transforms vulnerability into atmosphere, crafting a debut that feels simultaneously intimate and immense. Released on Jan. 30, the record inhabits a fascinating intersection of alternative rock, grunge rock, experimental folk, shoegaze, math rock, and even noise, yet never sounds like a collage of influences. Instead, blosum has created a deeply cohesive album where every shimmering guitar line, fractured rhythm, and wash of distortion serves the emotional core of the songs.
At the heart of the band is guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and mixing/mastering engineer Julia Maja, whose understated, soft vocal delivery acts as an anchor amid the album's shifting sonic landscapes. Alongside fellow songwriters Jamie Curvelo (guitar), Sam Moro (drums), and Grace Costantino (bass), the group builds songs that move with remarkable patience, favouring gradual evolution over predictable verse-chorus structures. Additional textures from Adelaide Santos, whose contributions of noise and vocals add an unsettling beauty to several moments, further expand the album's emotional range.
Recorded throughout 2025 between Fanshawe College and a home studio, with Jeremias Daza serving as recording engineer, Amaryllis embraces a DIY ethos without sacrificing depth or clarity. The production feels professionally polished, which is rare these days for a new band. Layers of reverb-soaked guitars drift in and out of focus, while intricate drum patterns and melodic bass lines quietly propel each song forward. Rather than overwhelming listeners with volume, blosum carefully balances moments of crushing intensity with passages of near silence, making every crescendo feel earned, like in the song “untitled.”
Tracks like "erwinia (soft rot)," the sweet finger-picking instrumental “milk's lullaby," and "nothingswrong" unfold like faded diary entries, revealing new emotional textures with every listen. Even the album's artwork, photographed by Dan Maja in 2012, contributes to the record's sense of nostalgia and timelessness, reinforcing the feeling that Amaryllis exists somewhere between memory and dream.
For a debut, Amaryllis displays remarkable confidence. Rather than chasing trends within shoegaze or post-rock, blosum trusts atmosphere, restraint, and honest songwriting to carry the listener. The result is an immersive and emotionally rich record. I’m here for it!
RIYL: Mazzy Star, Chastity, early Smashing Pumpkins, American Football, Sigur Rós, Sianspheric
GENRE: alternative, shoegaze, folk rock, indie, math rock
LISTEN HERE on Apple and Bandcamp
Weird Nightmare – Hoopla
Every great rock band seems to have a member who spent time behind the counter of a record store, absorbing the history, mythology, and endless possibilities of music. For Alex Edkins, the singer and guitarist of Toronto noise rock powerhouse METZ, those years spent working at a record shop while attending university became a masterclass in rock ’n’ roll. From the psychedelic experimentation of the 1960s to the raw independence of ’90s indie and hardcore, Edkins became a student of sound, and on Hoopla, the second album from his solo project Weird Nightmare, he puts that knowledge into exhilarating practice.
Where METZ has built a reputation on volume, intensity, and controlled chaos, Weird Nightmare reveals another side of Edkins: the melodic power-pop craftsman. Hoopla is a celebration of hooks, harmony, and classic guitar indie-pop songwriting, blending decades of influences into something that feels nostalgic, yet completely alive and current. These are songs designed to stick around, like “Where I Belong,” “Might See You There,” and “Head Full of Rain.” It’s the kind of record that finds its way into your car stereo and refuses to leave.
Weird Nightmare’s self-titled debut, released by Sub Pop in 2022, introduced Edkins’ gift for undeniable melodies and massive choruses. Recorded at home during the pandemic, the album carried a charming lo-fi intimacy.
With Hoopla, however, Edkins expands the project’s sonic universe. Co-produced with Spoon’s Jim Eno, the album adds new colours to his straightforward songwriting. Joined by drummer Loel Campbell (Wintersleep, Billy Talent) and bassist Roddy Kuester, Edkins delivers a collection of sharply executed power-pop gems wrapped in just the right amount of fuzz and crunch. The production is clean without losing personality, placing listeners right in the room with the band as each guitar riff and vocal melody bursts forward.
There are echoes of The Replacements, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, and classic college-radio favourites, while still fitting comfortably alongside modern melodic acts like Alvvays and Ratboys, and of course his own METZ, where he’s the lead singer and axe slinger.
At its core, Hoopla is a joyful record, a reminder that optimism can still be rebellious. In an era often defined by uncertainty, Edkins chooses to celebrate connection, melody, and the simple thrill of a great song. With Hoopla, Weird Nightmare made a 34-minute record that swaps METZ’s heavy noise for sharp, melodic hooks, piano touches, and sparkling, high-energy guitars that deliver a bright, energetic reminder that rock ’n’ roll still has plenty of magic left to give.
RIYL: Big Star, Guided By Voices, Oasis, Sloan, METZ
GENRE: indie rock, rock, bright power-pop, fuzzy garage-rock, and jangly college-rock
LISTEN HERE on Bandcamp and Apple
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
It’s hard for HCM to review all the great records coming out of Hamilton and the submissions we get, so here are some albums to check out at your leisure.
Wreckless Harbour: Step Lightly – bluegrass, Americana, folk
Sexwych - “The Sexwych” - psych rock, rock and roll: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/the-sexwych/6775619753
Noveah - “No Vee Ah Ep” - hard rock, indie metal: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/no-vee-ah-ep/184456372
CIN50 - “Lore (Now I feel like I’m Dreaming)” - dance, indie pop: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/lore-now-i-feel-like-im-dreaming-ep/1825348764
Gareth Inkster - “The North Tape 1” - folk: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/the-north-tape-1/1831866215
Emma Rush - "The Life and Times of Catharina Pratten" - instrumental classical guitar: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/the-life-and-times-of-catharina-pratten/1806516392
Bleach Dreamer - "Surrender" Ep - shoegaze, indie electronic: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/surrender-ep/1895674415
