Mike Simmons: Pop-Leech (2014)

Pop-Leech by Mike SimmonsMike Simmons’ Pop-Leech is something you would listen to while driving around on a hot summer’s day with the windows rolled down. It may be a short 21 minutes long but it certainly packs a punch with its hard-hitting 90′s rock feel that might just send you back to your rebellious teenage years. With songs like ‘Waterbug’ and ‘I’m Not There’, Pop-Leech is almost the exact opposite of his album Pill Head, which is more chill yet equally as awesome. So, Pop-Leech is like Pill Head’s cooler, older brother that likes to throw down at shows rather than standing to the side. I dig it. @caaarlirose

Mike Simmons: Pill Head (2014)

After twenty five long years of reviewing music (mostly because the world demanded I do it, but sometimes because I enjoy passing judgement) I’ve grown tired of rehashing old statements about timbre, tone and tempo; using up phrases referring to temperature or poise. I’d rather write about my morning boner. Especially because I’m usually writing this in the morning. I digress. Pill Head by Mike Simmons is everything I imagine Seattle to be. I’ve never been there, but I hear it rains a lot, maybe that has something to do with it. Simmons contorts an aesthetic that fosters some natural beauty into song textures that seem born from pain and suffering. Well, to live is to suffer, said someone sometime somewhere. @Dingusonmusic