Record Roundup: After (h)Ours with Jessica Lerner, more

The Lulls, now reconstituted as an indie pop-rock duo featuring just Rutger Rosenborg (who recently relocated to NYC in order to attend NYU) and Ryan Miller, just released an EP called Meridian, featuring several songs written in a rented cabin in Idyllwild, in the San Bernardino mountains.

The Saturday, October 27 record release party at Tower Bar for Alienation, the newest full-length from punk-ska rockers Midnight Track, also serves as the kick-off date of a west coast tour that runs through California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. “We’ll be playing our whole new album, and some hits from our first album, Don’t Be Proud of Me,” says bassist-singer Ricky Scapini. The new record features new drummer Lúcio Vieira. Also appearing at the Tower Bar are Delma, Good Time Girl, and Making Incredible Time.

Fiddle rockers Lexington Field, who this year saw the return of violinist Cami Smith after a three year hiatus from the group, will debut two releases at Soda Bar on October 27: their fourth full-length, a ten-song LP called Dreamers, and the band’s third EP, the five-song Modern Times. “Attendees can expect to hear songs from both... the pop sound of Dreamers and the pop-punk sound of Modern Times,” says singer-guitarist Beau Gray. Both were recorded at Weathertop Studio in Anza CA with Matt Maulding (former Brick Top Blaggers), who also helmed their 2016 Redwood EP, and mixed and mastered by Calefaction singer-bassist Sean Tolley at Clarity Recordings in Rancho San Diego. The new releases are being issued individually as digital downloads, and a CD version will be available containing both in one package. The Soda Bar bill is headlined by the Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band.

Pop, jazz, and R&B singer Josie Day, who relocated from her native Malta to Carlsbad, began to perform in school musicals by age eight, inspired to be a singer by the artists she saw on TV. “I was sixteen when that revelation came to me and I never looked back,” she says. “Being that Malta's music scene is pretty much nonexistent, there wasn't anywhere much to go with it. I had to do something. I realized at the age of seventeen that nobody was gonna write me songs, so out of necessity I started writing.” She'll premier tracks from her album, Star Struck, at Poway’s Irish Pub on November 2. A single for “Love Spell” is streaming online. "My album was a totally solo and independent venture from my cover band. Non-local musicians that worked on it include Jeremiah Kelly, Andrew Wysong and Joshua Hegg."

Acoustic singer-songwriter Jessica Lerner just dropped “Come On,” the first single off an upcoming EP recorded at home with her musician husband, After (h)Ours. Regarding the title, “We had to record late at night because our studio is not soundproof, after hours, and other part of it highlights that all of the songs tell stories about what happens in different phases of relationships, after ours.” The EP debuts with a physical CD release November 10 at Lestat’s, where she'll perform the album in its entirety with guests Joe Cardillo and Kevin Viner. The bill includes an acoustic opening set from the Rogue Pilots.

Gregory Page releases his new album A Wild Rose on his namesake stage at Lestat’s West on November 17, where he'll also debut a new film. A single for "Waiting For the Sun Again" has already been added to Deezer's Nieuw Deze Week playlist, as well as the Wakker Worden playlist.

A new vinyl 7-inch from Unwritten Law, Unwritten Christmas, premiers on Record Store Black Friday, November 23, limited to 2500 copies and featuring two tracks previously on available on a KROQ holiday compilation and an Australian fan promo CD. The same retail “holiday” will see Stone Temple Pilots Live 2018 released in a limited edition of 5000 red vinyl copies, featuring 3D cover artwork and free 3D glasses.

Beatlesque rocker Hargo is working on a new solo album, Saturn Return. "It's been almost ten years since I recorded my last album, Out of Mankind. So much has happened. Moved to L.A., found love, moved to Joshua Tree, put out two Feather and Dot albums with my bandmate Sanjay, played festivals, got into real estate, went to Burning Man, found Ayahuasca...it's going to be folk meets tribal meets electronic meets gospel. Planning to record most of it in Joshua Tree, maybe some in Los Angeles. I’m bringing our tribe into the making of it, doing an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to fund the album...working on getting the rest of the funds so I can pay for the gospel choir."