Windy Pop Weekender

1. Sacramento, CA-based indie-pop favorite Rocketship was the brainchild of singer/guitarist Dustin Reske, who formed the group in 1993 with bassist Verna Brock, keyboardist Heidi Barney and drummer Jim Rivas. After releasing the classic single "Hey Hey Girl" on the influential Bus Stop label, the group recorded 1996's acclaimed A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness for Slumberland; the original line-up then dissolved, with Reske continuing Rocketship essentially as a solo project. The "Honey, I Need You" single followed in 1997; two years later, Reske resurfaced with the ambient-influenced twelve-inch Rocketship's Garden of Delights. "Here Comes...Rocketship" was released in 2006. 2. There's a Japanese band called Rocketship with a song on the 1998 ラジカルパンチ！ compilation on Groove Line Records.

Good Flying Birds is a jangling, noisy guitar-pop group from the Midwest, USA, influenced by Guided By Voices and others, and signed with Carpark Records. It began in December 2023 with a collection of 4-track cassette recordings and stop-motion videos uploaded to YouTube under the name “Talulah God". As of 2025, their lineup consisted of Kellen Baker (guitar/vocals), Susie Slaughter (vocals/tambourine), Ari Bales (drums), Luke Cornette (guitar), and Richard Edge (bass).

A pageant queen fronts a rock 'n' roll band: Haunting harmonies soar over electric guitar in Cinema Hearts' tribute to the Wall of Sound. In early 2015, Cinema Hearts transformed from a lonely bedroom recording project into a vibrant band. A year passed and an album, Feels Like Forever, emerged -- an aural tale of waiting forever for good moments to come and wishing that those lovely moments could last forever. Cinema Hearts' lyrics describe life in their hometown of Fairfax, Virginia, the suburban shadow of Washington, DC, while their music is reminiscent of the doo wop singers and surf guitarists from long ago. The sound of Cinema Hearts is wistful, yet feisty, with a pulsing passion for days gone by. Cinema Hearts' second album, Burned and Burnished, released May 8, 2017, renounces the consuming worry of "forever" and embraces reckless impermanence. Diving into the frustrating heartbreak of infidelity, loss, and rejection, Cinema Hearts takes on new strength with pounding drums, roaring guitar solos, moody bass lines, and a voice that beckons like a siren's call. Expanding upon the retro flair of Feels Like Forever, Burned and Burnished is witty, dramatic, dark, and powerful; acute lyrical observations present a mature and womanly perspective on the possibility that, no matter how hard one hopes and prays, a dream may not materialize as reality. In Burned and Burnished, sorrow becomes a magic mirror that lets one investigate life's true vulnerability.