The Briefs:

Hitting their 25 year anniversary and forever moving forward, THE BRIEFS have been busy in 2025/2026 playing packed shows to both sides of the pond, releasing new singles on TKO Records, rereleasing back catalogue and keeping their feet firmly planted on the sticky punk rock floor from where they started.

The Sleevens:

The Sleeveens came into existence in December of 2022, but their origins date back a

little further to 2019 when Stiff Little Fingers Guitar Tech James Mechan met Irish Punk

Troubadour Stefan Murphy and talked about making a solo record for the latter at his

Studio in Nashville TN. The pandemic soon put an end to those particular plans but

when Murphy moved to Nashville three years later, the pair got to work on some

recordings with the help of Ryan Sweeney (Cheap Time) on Drums and Eli Steele

(Sweet Knives) on lead guitar. The Sleeveens first 7 inch single, ‘Give My Regards To

The Dancing Girls’, proved something of a staple on underground radio. This then

opened the door to the group signing to Dirtnap Records and the early 2024 release of

their self-titled debut album with singles ‘Aretha Franklin’ and ‘Metallica Font’ getting

equal love out there in the world of independent radio.

Paint Fumes:

Paint Fumes have survived a decade of being in Paint Fumes. No small feat for a group that’s released 3 albums for 2 distinct luminary labels (Slovenly and Get Hip Records), and swayed their way between opposite ends of a sonic spectrum (garage and punk; old and new) on a no-fucks-given wrecking-ball pendulum. Evolution occurred steadily from their earliest primitivism to more tuneful rockers. Road dogs when allowed to be, they toured exhaustively (including stints with legends The Chats, King Khan & BBQ Show and Shannon & the Clams). Throughout, they racked more hospital stays—not to mention near-death experiences— than advisable by even the most nihilistic breed of rock’n’roll life-or-deathers. And yet now, after all the years and rigmarole, they’ve never sounded this good!

Real Romancer, Paint Fumes’ 4th LP—and first for Dig! Records (US) and Bachelor Records (EU)—is a whole new world of glam stompin’, duel-guitar with added bass hammerin’ sounds taken to anthemic heights previously unexplored by this born too loose group. If leader of the pack Elijah Von Cramon’s description of the band as “panic attack punk and power pop nightmares” rings true, this is Paint Fumes’ KBD-benzo treat-all for a 12 song long wet dream.