Froghat Fills An Amphibianshaped Hole In The Surfrock Firmament
Chicago artist Nicholas Clark first appeared on Gossip Wolf's radar in 2011. Jeffrey Lewis. Noisy elderly neighbors. Clark has also made his own funky and weird records, and this wolf is particularly fond of his solo project, Frogat, which he says plays "gypsy rum and surf." It's easy to love Clarke's seamless re-use of the Fohat logo and amphibious-style motorcycle helmet, but if his tunes are cheesy, their charm quickly fades. Thankfully, the hammy-adjacent jams with Dick Dale — along with songs like "Squid Pro Quo" and "The Long and Winding Toad" — are as catchy as the plays. He also did a sharp cover titled Sultans of Swing, Sultans of the Deep Straits. In June, Clark released his new album, Meet Froghat. and new single Frohat plays his hits , both of which seem destined to fill big holes in the playlists of surf-rock fans everywhere.
Frogat recorded most, if not all, of the "Electric Minnowland" material somewhere.
Earlier this month, Chicago industrial techno composer Dalibor Cruz released Veiled Asperity on a mini CD-R edition on Greek label Live Adult Entertainment. If you like fun and scary dance music, this is it. Veiled Asperity has been sold to international music retailer Boomcat, but the wolf Dalibor Cruz is hoping that Signal Records can pick up some copies when he plays the store for free on Saturday, July 1. The chase scene opens and the show begins at 2:00 am.

In the year Since forming in 2021, Chicago hip-hop collective MP3dotcom has only released one single, 'Egosomeshit', last year. But this wolf is so impressive that he can't wait to see the band live. On Friday, June 30, Epiphany Arts Center's Catacomb will take center stage. Coffeefish and Linda Soul are open and tickets are $15 ($12 in advance).
MP3dotcom has only released one so far: "Egosomshit," due in 2022.
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