Tower Defense consistently write big, bombastic, earworms that tackle some hefty subjects lyrically. “Stop, I Think I’ve Heard This One Before” and “Effects are Temporary” are a shining example of that duality.

These fuzzed-out blasts take on the struggle of losing someone to disinformation and the cost of political complacency. Two ends of the same spectrum, both best dealt with via empathy… begrudgingly.

The last few years have been a slow-motion reckoning with how much can change, how fast, and how unevenly the weight of that change gets distributed. For Tower Defense, the immediacy of the most recent election shook loose a lyrical writer’s block. Equal parts inspiration and frustration, these songs emerged out of the difficulty of what it costs to keep caring.

“Stop, I Think I’ve Heard This One Before” tackles losing people to disinformation and the particular exhaustion of interacting with a loved one you can no longer reach. This isn’t contempt, it’s genuine concern that they’ve permanently lost their grip on reality. Inversely, “Effects Are Temporary” is less patient, conjuring a reckoning around  the human cost of political complacency. It refuses the comfort of “it’s only four more years” for anyone who doesn’t have the luxury of waiting it out.

Together the tracks are about empathy: how hard it is to care about other people right now, and how much harder it gets when that feeling isn’t returned.

Streaming everywhere now: Bandcamp, Ampwall, Subvert, Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, et al.

Tune in.

Many many months ago I was clued in to the work of Swimming Sisters (aka Hal Kolodney).* I recall the moment very explicitly because I was immediately smitten. The guitars were bright, the hooks were unforgettable and the vibes were right. If you’ve ever found yourself enjoying a pop song with melancholy, wistful lyrics, you’ll be right at home here.

Over the months that followed, I couldn’t stop listening to Latest Hits!, Vol. 1 and the fitting companion, Latest Hits!, Vol 2. Both were in regular rotation and it struck me, I want yk to help spread the gospel of this work!

Today we are happy to announce the release of a very special limited edition cassette containing both Vol 1 and Vol 2 of Latest Hits!. The sparkly red cassette is wrapped in reversible artwork – you choose which cover you’re feeling at the moment. There’s no wrong choices; every bit of Swimming Sisters you can get into your life is an improvement.

*I believe I owe thanks to Mike for the original heads up!
** There is also Latest Hits!, Vol 3, which you should not overlook

Keeping the yearly tradition alive, yk Records and Trash Man are happy to announce a brand new EP – Direct Cremation. As only Trash Man can, it’s an impossibly memorable blast of blistering rock songs contemplating death, growing old together and the cacophony of our modern age.

We’ll be announcing singles, videos and more in the coming weeks. For now, pre-order the sparkle blue cassette and make sure you’re following @mojobeats on Instagram.

Back in 2021, the Nashville Scene published “Are Streaming Services Unfair to Musicians?” – a blistering piece from The Advice King, aka columnist and (incredible) satirist Chris Crofton. As you would hope, Crofton eviscerates the streaming platforms, their pitiful treatment of artists, and their gluttonous indulgences in their own wealth. The entire piece is great, but this portion in particular should be noted:

The big music labels didn’t want to take the time to figure out how to sell music in a post-Napster world, so they cut a deal. It’s a deal that, criminally and forever, devalued my favorite art form. They sold it all. They sold it all without asking — to Daniel Ek — and now there’s no going back.

Artless hands handling art. That’s the crux of the matter. The executive class’s bloody, artless hands, unloading all the world’s music off the metaphorical back of a truck, in the metaphorical middle of the night.

For the members of Tower Defense, inspiration struck. “Artless Hands” was born. A song about the Faustian bargain artists strike with corporate streaming – the potential for exposure in exchange for forgoing any respectable payment in royalties due.

Today we’re happy to announce the debut of an incredible lyric video from the latest release “Fit for Purpose” / “Artless Hands.” The video depicts the laborious process of making pennies – mining, smelting, molding, and stamping zinc and copper into a monetary currency ironically worth more than 1,000 plays on Spotify.

The reminder is scathing, but the delivery is a bop. Watch the video on YouTube, support the release on Bandcamp, Ampwall, Subvert, Mirlo, and, of course, streaming services.

The song also features lyrical interpolations from Converge’s “Fact Leaves Its Ghost” and Christina Aguilera’s “Genie in a Bottle,” a surprising extra treat!

Coupler (Ryan Norris) and sugar sk*-*lls (Ben Marcantel) have been in collaboration going on 25 years. They met in college and discovered that their creative approach frequently complemented one another. Norris reflects, “Our minds tend to move along parallel tracks, sometimes crossing, frequently converging, but generally moving in similar directions, two celestial objects careening through space while orbiting one another.”

Their latest work together, New Impossible Object, was seeded as far back as 2015 when Marcantel wrote the beginning of “Yumeji’s Dream,” only to have Norris return it years later.. evolved and transformed. This process repeats for nearly every track on the release, passing seeds back and forth, carving and shaping until the final form emerges.

Experimentation often requires pushing uncomfortable boundaries. sugar sk*-*lls found himself inspired to start and finish a track in a day; a speed previously unknown to him but providing a forcing function to decision making. Coupler brought his voice to the recording, a choice never considered since the project’s beginnings in 2012.

New Impossible Object is six compositions nurtured from boundary pushing experimentation and decades of friendship. The result of two celestial objects that were never traveling alone. These sounds simply weren’t accessible any other way.

Available on Bandcamp, Ampwall, Mirlo, Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, and everywhere else you stream.

The podcast Major Label Debut is focused on exactly what it sounds like – discussing the process of releasing a record on a major label. I can think of no better candidate for such a discussion than The Features. The band found a solid fan base in the late 90s through the early aughts and eventually released their major label debut, Exhibit A, on Universal Records in 2004.

The road to get there was hard earned and well deserved. When the label dropped them for their disinterest in recording a Beatles cover for a bank commercial (and the second albums lead single), it was a shock to everyone.

Hearing the story of how the record came together, was influenced by the label and how they eventually parted ways sounds like it would be a riveting conversation!

Fortunately, we don’t have to imagine that conversation because Major Label Debut sat down with drummer Rollum Haas to discuss his experiences through all of that. It’s one piece of the puzzle but it’s a good reflection of what happened.

The show is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, YouTube Music, et al. Everywhere really!

Exhibit A (Original Sweet Tea Mix) is available in the YK shop and digitally whenever you’re ready to A/B test the two released versions.

The past week we released a number of great new music videos:

Of course we encourage you to watch all of these latest releases and dive into their respective albums, EPs and full bodies of work.

But this got me thinking – what about a way to see all of the YK Records music videos without having to even think about making a choice of what to watch? You could go to our videos list and randomly select something to watch but there’s continuous playback. You could go to the yk YouTube channel and start clicking around wildly but there’s no telling what the algorithm will serve you next.

With all that mind, I whipped up YK TV; a no-thinking, always streaming, single-purpose destination to simply watch music videos from the YK Records catalog. Right now it does one thing – plays all our videos in random order. You can’t scrub through, you can’t see a queue, you just watch (but you can skip if you want).

Maybe one day this will be as fully functional as BandBand but, for now, just dive in and enjoy some gems from the last 17 years of yk Records.

The latest from The Prudish Few is Music to Talk Over, Vol 1 – a collection of instrumental songs inspired by the conceit of a Baroque dance suite. These six songs differ in feel and tone but belong unmistakably together, like movements in a program, or songs on a side of a record. The cohesion inspired us to post the entire EP as one track, so you’d get the full experience.

But we live in modern times and modern listeners can be intrigued by a gateway – an invitation if you will. So, we present to you just one of those six chapters with “The Shrug.”

The video is a surrealist endeavor that asks for just 2 minutes of your time. Put it on in the background, marvel at its oddities.

The EP is on Bandcamp, Ampwall, Mirlo and Subvert if you’re looking to support it. It’s also on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music and everywhere else if you’re looking to stream it. However you prefer to get it into your ears, please do!

The vision for this record was to be literally played in the background at a gathering. A reminder to embrace time with friends and escape from the cacophony of modern life. With this video for “The Shrug” – maybe it will also inspire some lively discussion.

Seeds for Cosmic Radio, the 17-track opus from Infinite Limb, just hit streaming last week. If you haven’t checked it out yet, let this brand new video for “Voyager Signal” be your gateway to the journey.

The electronic ambient album was inspired by the relationship of the seeds in your garden and the stardust that made them possible. Our connection to the stars is quite literal and Infinite Limb takes us on that trip from terra firma to beyond the heliosphere. It’s fitting that this track is titled “Voyager Signal” – mankind’s furthest traveler into the unknown.

Created by Kyle Numann (aka Infinite Limb himself), the video collages together visceral scenes of nature with mysterious evocations of the celestial. We are not privy to every detail of Numann’s process but we’re told the building blocks of this entire video were all filmed, not conjured or generated. It’s a beautiful piece of work that is mesmerizing, epic, and creatively playful all at once.lding blocks of this entire video were all filmed, not conjured or generated.

One of the great joys of re-issuing a beloved album is getting to revisit all of the promotional material of that era and, in optimal situations, getting to restore the material for modern audiences.

For instance, with The Features release of Exhibit A (Original Sweet Tea Mix). we’ve already gotten to share “God Save Rock n Roll” officially for the first time ever, along with a video of never-before-seen studio footage. We’ve seen the Exhibit A Cracker Jack box! The “Leave It All Behind” animated video sourced from the original files and restored for 2026 and a watchable version of the band performing on Jimmy Kimmel Live from way back in 2004.

Today we’re happy to add to that list by re-releasing the official video for “The Way It’s Meant to Be.” The original video was directed by Chad Denning of Gamma Blast and he was kind enough to source the original files, restore them for modern eyes and pair them with the new Original Sweet Tea Mix audio. We are extremely grateful for Chad’s work then and now. Thank you, Chad!

If you haven’t picked up a copy of Exhibit A (Original Sweet Tea Mix) 2xLP, please steer yourself over to the yk Shop and pick up a copy. The record is also available on Ampwall, Bandcamp and all your favorite streaming services.

We’re not done sharing all the gems we’ve unearthed with Exhibit A. Stay tuned for more!