St. Petersburg's Psychedelic Rock Troupe Luxury Mane Unleash Sugary Pop-coated Domestic Bliss On Creamy Pink Vinyl (Florida UK)

Last month, I received a mysterious cold-sent email from St. Petersburg, Florida-based artist and multi-instrumentalist William "Billy" Summer. Summer is, actually "the devastatingly handsome" frontman of a hit-making band of merry Rock "N" Roll misfits called Luxury Mane. In my "humble" opinion, Luxury Mane appear to painstakingly create a unique blend of Dream Pop/Psych Rock reminiscent of The Shins, Broken Bells, The Flaming Lips, T.Rex, The Kinks, Pavement, and The Beach Boys. Billy Summer graciously sent me a care package containing 3 Luxury Mane albums on colored vinyl: Gold Standard (2014,) Lux Runnin' Out (2016,) and their latest creation, Domestic Bliss. Lux Mane are part of Florida UK, a local scene/collective, and were, actually, birthed out of another one of Billy Summer's now-defunct bands, The Semis. Luxury Mane admittedly, don't tour very often because their one-time bass player, "J. Lux" Schultz, currently lives in Brooklyn, but attest they "love to make records." Lux Mane generally, only tour about two weeks out of the year, but have been fortunate enough to garner placements on HBO, Sundance Channel, and a variety of popular TV networks, along with The Semis' oft-used "Fun In The Sun."

Billy Summer AKA B. Lux, J. Lux, guitarist Aaron Kyle Nelson AKA A. Lux and drummer Kyle "K. Lux" Lovell recorded half of Domestic Bliss directly to tape on a TASCAM 388 and the other half to a MOTU recording device. It was recorded under the weight of Billy Summer's chemo treatments (he's currently cancer-free!) was "produced with love and hate," and is admittedly, "equal parts Supertramp and Vain." Luxury Mane themselves brazenly describe Domestic Bliss as the best LUX record yet, which effortlessly runs the full gamut of musical styles from "Psychedelic Yacht Rock to slinky black skating rink Glitter Rock." After listening to my recently acquired vinyl-only care package, I would, also, attest that Domestic Bliss is, indeed, the quintessential Luxury Mane collection; it's as charismatic and unique as the record's own album cover, which showcases Billy & Zoe's luxurious, retro-stylized pad. Domestic Bliss was accompanied by a grainy music video for album stand-out "Isn't That The Way?" directed by Robert Dennard The III, who also, shot the aforementioned vibrant album cover. Domestic Bliss, along with the band's complete discography, is now exclusively available on limited edition colored vinyl directly from Luxury Mane's Bandcamp page, as well as similarly-minded digital streaming services.

"Let Me Shine for You:" Lindsay Lohan for Playboy (Winter 2011-12 Leak)

Lindsay Lohan essentially embodies exactly "What NOT to Do In Hollywood :" Fame, fortune, success... sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll . Within a fairly short period of time, Lohan somehow managed to obtain a plentiful helping of POWER @ a very young age. This gradual rise-downfall was captured on film; Between 1998-2010, she portrayed a wide array of roles across the silver screen in movies including: Mean Girls, Bobby , Herbie Fully Loaded , Georgia Rule, Machete , and Freaky Friday . Between rapid-paced film shoots, Lindsay Lohan also found time to record 2 Pop Rock albums for Casablanca , Speak (2004) and A Litter More Personal-Raw (2005). Needless to say, Lindsay Lohan has gotten roped up in a lot of troubles and woes with the law over the last 3-5 years... a vicious cycle of drugs, arrest, court, rehab, "daddy issues," jail time [Repeat]. That's the pure basics of it - But Google that shit for additional info, if necessary. Towards the end of

[W]reckless, Topless American Youth: Lana del Rey - "Born 2 Die" (Britney Spears Birthday 30)

Lana del Rey [Lizzy Grant] effectively became 2011's "It Girl" with the release of her phenomenal debut single, "Video Games" (Stranger) . Like many struggling singer-songwriters, Grant has been signed, dropped, and significantly changed her public image since bursting onto the scene (2009). With that said, it can be assumed that Lana del Rey has collected just as many "haters" as she has avid supporters. To be perfectly honest, the only other artist I can think of that made this much commotion... garnered so much wide-spread buzz/hate and critical acclaim -- right out of the gates -- with just one track is Britney Spears . And maybe in this post- Mike musical era, that's the true synthesis of Pop Culture: Britney Lynn Spears . After months of repeated teasing and speculation, Lana del Rey 's major label debut, Born 2 Die will [finally] be released this coming Jan. 30-31, 2012. Pitchfork reports that it will feature "Off to The Ra

Liberty Bell Cracked In 1/2: Ween - "Freedom of '76" (Gene Ween's Final Send-Off)

Chocolate & Cheese (1994) was one of the first albums I bought with my own money. I was in some sort of BMG Music Club , where you'd buy 5 CD's and then get 10 for "FREE." It was all sent through mail order and you picked the titles from some special booklet. I'm almost positive that Chocolate & Cheese's side boob-baring album cover was what initially drew me in... mind you, I was 12-15 and the zany Ween logo/middle finger CD graphic really didn't hurt either. Honestly, I forget how I really felt about it @ the time, but a few years later, my older cousin Josh told me that Ween were this BIG college "jam band." CKY did some sort pf 93.3 radio takeover to promote their new album and played "Freedom of '76" late that night on air. Needless to say, I re-visited Chocolate & Cheese @ about 20-something this go 'round and I fucking loved it! Ween were really weird, yet talented... almost too talented. I can vaguel

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