🥤 SIPSMAN COMMUNIQUE: June 2025

Clifford • Lily Seabird • Paper Castles • Pegg feat. Van Dyke Parks • POP Montréal • Thomas Dollbaum

En route to NYC for these two capital E Events:

• THU Jun 05 6:30pm - 9:30pm @ SECRET RISO CLUB
  Pegg’s Presque Tout Listening Lounge & Puzzle Party
  Catering by Edible Affairs & free beverages, plus a conversation between Pegg’s Xander Duell, Jesse Johnson, Blake Fusilier, and journalist Jesse Rifkin about the new project.

• FRI Jun 06 7pm–10pm @ NIGHT CLUB 101
  Lily Seabird’s NYC release show for Trash Mountain
  w/ hemlock, Adelyn Strei

More about the above, below:

PAPER CASTLES
I’m Sad as Hell and I’m Not Going to Fake It Anymore is out now via Sipsman and ready for your tapedeck. No Expectations’ Josh Terry describes this album so well that I advise you read it directly but also check out glowing record reviews in Seven Days, Burlington Free Press, and the Rutland Herald. Paddy + co just got off the road after a run of shows in the northeast (Malkmus spotted 👀), but check out performance videos for album cuts “Name Changer,” “Clean + Organized,” and “Content Creator” before picking up a cassette via Bandcamp or from your favorite independent record shop.

CLIFFORD
Golden Caravan is the Boston band’s incredible new album, out digitally and on LP July 25 via Sipsman. A widescreen album, imo. An American album, if I dare say so. RIYL Allston basements, midwest emo, heartland rock, west coast post-hardcore. They kinda Big Star’d this thing, carefully recording in the wee hours at the studio where one of the bandmembers works. Check out the Stereogum and BBC6-approved “Ink Blot” featuring Mei Semones on backing vocals, and the album’s slowcore masterpiece “Sugar Pill.” I can’t wait for you to hear the whole thing. Preorder Golden Caravan on vinyl via Bandcamp or from your favorite independent record shop.

LILY SEABIRD
Ahead of this week’s big band Trash Mountain release shows in Philly, NYC, Boston, and Portland, Rolling Stone’s Simon Vozick-Levinson has dropped a new profile on the Vermont musician and songwriter, calling the record “an exquisitely bittersweet alt-country song cycle about love, loss, and friendship.” Seabird has added northwest dates to this summer’s big tour, including appearances at Pickathon and DylanFest. The UK dates around End of the Road now include a show in Norwich with Brown Horse and Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band. Buy LPs of Trash Mountain and Alas, via Bandcamp, your favorite record store, or at the Lily Seabird show nearest you.

PEGG feat. VAN DYKE PARKS
IS NOT MUSIC. announces Presque Tout: Variations no. 435-514 “Baseball Season,” Pegg & Van Dyke Parks, a new release featuring three pieces written by Pegg and Van Dyke Parks (the American musician and composer who has worked with everyone from the Beach Boys to Haruomi Hosono to Skrillex). Pre-orders for Presque Tout are now available via Metalabel and Bandcamp as a 500-piece puzzle with a download (!), in a limited edition of 50. See you Thursday.

POP MONTRÉAL
“POP” is back for its 24th edition September 24–28. The initial lineup was recently announced—as usual a banging mix of the hottest international independent artists and locals from one of the best music cities in the world (U.S. Girls! Do Make Say Think! Isabella Lovestory! Chanel Beads! Myriam Gendron! Many more!). Thanks to Brooklyn Vegan, Paste, and Stereogum for spreading the Quebecois gospel.

THOMAS DOLLBAUM
The Florida-born, New Orleans-based songwriter will take his band out to the west coast this summer, including stops in Chicago, Seattle, and Los Angeles. Rolling Stone was enamored by Dollbaum’s set at SXSW in March, calling his songs "deeply felt Southern rock anthems with the feel of classics you just haven't heard yet.” Now’s the time. His last album was 2022's Wellswood on Fat Possum / Big Legal Mess; his most recent release is December’s double single Do Me a Kindness / Fate of Flight.