Damaged Bug is Oh Sees mastermind John Dwyer's latest bit of cracked pop alchemy. The project is the cure to the ailment of too much guitar for too long. Fizzing and sputtering like a glowing temperamental cockpit control panel, this is Dwyer bunkered deep in a blinking laboratory and penning songs about the long arc of our travels across space and time.

Lolipop Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California, known for its vibrant roster of garage rock, lo-fi pop, psychedelic, electronic and DIY punk artists. Since its founding in 2013 by musician and producer Wyatt Blair, Lolipop has cultivated a unique analog aesthetic and grassroots ethos, helping launch the careers of underground favorites like The Buttertones, Drab Majesty, Part Time, Beach Bums, Tele Novella, Mystic Braves, Corners, Froth, Winter & more.

With its roots starting in an iconic Echo Park storefront studio and tape duplication hub, Lolipop became a creative nucleus for the West Coasts emerging indie scene, pressing cassette tapes and vinyl for a new generation of analog-obsessed listeners. The label is celebrated not just for its prolific output, but for fostering a close-knit community of artists who share a passion for raw sound, vivid visuals, and DIY spirit.

From local shows to a global cult following, Lolipop Records remains a beacon of underground culture.

Since his earliest self-produced CD-Rs, Philadelphia psych-pop master Kurt Vile has referred to himself as "Philly's Constant Hitmaker"—and while he gave himself that name with a sly wink, he was also nodding toward the songwriting prowess that would result in him becoming one of his home city's most celebrated rock artists. "I’m always thinking about catchy music, even though it’s fried, or sizzled, out," he says. "It's my own version of a classic thing—it's moving forward and backward at the same time." 
On his latest album, (watch my moves), Vile pulls his talents as a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer in unexpected directions—and the result is a vibrant, yet meditative album propelled by Vile's laid-back charm and curious spirit. Every lyric has been chiseled down into an aphorism, every bloom of distorted guitar or murmuring synth helping create that "fried" pop. "It's about songwriting. It's about lyrics. It's about being the master of all domains in the music," he says of his ninth album and first in partnership with a major label, Verve Records.
(watch my moves) comes from a period when Vile, whose touring and recording schedule during the 2010s was seemingly constant, stayed in one place. His mind was always swirling, though, puzzling out pointillistic lyrics, dreaming up spit-shined choruses, and checking in on other dimensions. "My favorite pastime these days is sitting drinking coffee in the morning post-breakfast by the window, reading and listening to Sun Ra, sun shining through the forest trees," says Vile. "In that moment, it's all the traveling I'll ever need. This record encapsulates all that—letting two years roll by and staying in my zone, traveling all the while in my brain, at the piano or in my guitar."

I PLAY WHATEVER THE FUCK I WANT
>> Bookings: richard@paramountartists.com 
>> Label boss at CK777Recordings


_______________________________________________________________________

Stefan Graumann is following