Thank you for reading (and listening to) Evil Speakers. I have a new book coming out in about a month! It’s called “Is This It: The Never-Ending Rise and Fall of The Strokes (and Rock ‘n’ Roll),” and it’s out September 8. After reading this book, Joe Hagan declared that I am “a critic of bracing honesty, intelligence, wit, and charm, probably the closest modern successor to the great Lester Bangs.” Wow, this book might drive you to say such crazy things as well! Please consider pre-ordering now!
To all my paying subscribers — thank you for making this newsletter viable.
Twisted Teens is one of my favorite bands of 2026. The New Orleans garage-rock duo has already put out two very worthy albums this year — Blame The Clown in the late winter and the even better Florida Water Blues this summer. And it sounds like they have a third LP — a break-up album the band likens to Blood On The Tracks — this fall. I figured it was worth reaching out to singer-songwriter Caspian Hollywell over Instagram to see if he would want to talk, and thankfully he agreed. Once we hopped on Zoom, I was pleased to find that Caspian is just as lively in conversation as he is on record. We talked about his long, winding journey in life and music, including his time riding the rails (literally), his experience playing and learning about old time traditional music, and how he’s now centered on writing “bangers” while subtly aping the visual aesthetic of Cheap Trick. Great band, great conversation!
