Norway rockers The Cocktail Slippers mark 25 years with sixth album; Tiger Bear Wolf reveres vintage Hi-Fi
This is Punk Rock Bach for July 2, 2026.
An early happy Independence Day to everyone in the United States!
I’m quite keen on independence here at Punk Rock Bach — particularly editorial independence. I’m not chasing interviews based on algorithms or the whims and fancies of shareholders. Interviews with and coverage of truly interesting music makers and sonic artists is the name of the game at PRB, and this week is no exception.
First up — an interview with The Cocktail Slippers’ Rocket Queen about the group’s upcoming album and quarter-century anniversary.
Plus, we’ve got a Q&A with indie musicians Tiger Bear Wolf, who have their first album in 21 years set to hit stores on July 17.
Onward!
The Cocktail Slippers’ Rocket Queen says sixth album’s delay set release up for band’s silver anniversary
A happy coincidence hit The Cocktail Slippers hard in 2026.
Not only is the year the band’s 25th anniversary, but its sixth album was delayed enough that it was pushed to line up with the quarter-century milestone.
“We were actually planning on releasing it late ‘24, but then we did some […] work on it,” said Stine Bendiksen, aka “Rocket Queen,” the band’s guitarist. She continued, “There’s been a lot of little tweaks on it, and then that’s why it’s became…yeah, a lot later than expected, but it’s a really good album. We’re very excited about it.”
The Cocktail Slippers are set to release their sixth album, “Joyride,” on August 28. The album includes the single “This Town,” a love letter to the Oslo, Norway-based band’s home turf.
But Bendiksen said the song really works for any city.
“What I like to say is that it could just as well have been a love letter to Boston,” she said. “There’s something about the place you stay, you know, and every city, every place has its own feel. And it has like shady sides, it has the good sides […] but there’s reason why you stay, you know?”
Bendiksen, who is originally from Denmark, moved to Oslo in 1993.
“In Norway, we have really long winters,” she said. “It gets totally dark. Like, Oslo is almost totally dark, but it’s really…it’s snowy, it’s icy, you know, and you’re freezing for five months, but then the spring sun comes out, everybody’s just like enjoying the sun.”
Bendiksen said when band members compose songs, they don’t start with an intentional plan. With “This Town,” she said, her bandmate Astrid Waller, the band’s bass player who also goes by “Sugar Cane,” started with a bass riff, which the band would change into a guitar riff.
She said the song is very different from the rest of the album.
“We wanted to make it different,” she said. “You know, a more like poppy kind of thing, without being too poppy, if that makes sense.”
While she likes all the album’s songs, Bendiksen said “Back Where You Belong” and “Joyride” are her favorites.
Beyond the album’s release this year, Bendiksen said The Cocktail Slippers are on the road performing live.
“We are doing a lot of concerts, which is good, and then we are hoping to be back in the States late September, early October,” she said. “There’s always an issue with the visas, though, so we have to make sure that we get them in time, because we don’t want to break any laws.”
The Cocktail Slippers’ sixth album “Joyride” is set to release on August 28. You can watch the music video for the single “This Town” on YouTube.
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Tiger Bear Wolf members reminisce about ‘Gish’ on cassette; ‘A Night at the Opera’ in the woods
More than two decades have passed since indie band Tiger Bear Wolf released an album — but that changes later this month. The band’s third album, which is self-titled, is set to debut on July 17 via Ernest Jenning Record Co.
On Tuesday, the band debuted the single “Silver Heart” from the album. Other tracks include “Floater” and the previously released single “Wolf.”
Punk Rock Bach caught up with three of the band’s members — Jonathan Moore, Matt Bostick and Noah Howard — to check out which albums they’re spinning in their spare time. Their tastes run the gamut, listening to musicians from Terry Allen to Iggy Pop…
Editor’s note: Q&A has been lightly edited for style, syntax and typos.
Punk Rock Bach: How do you prefer to listen to music?
Jonathan Moore: I realized a few years into the streaming era that I was missing something that the medium sort of hid from us. When I was a teenager, if I bought a CD, I listened to it back to back for days. That way of listening makes you notice little stuff and really live in a record. I decided to make a conscious effort to do that now even when I’m just listening on streaming, even though I could jump to something new if I want to. I don’t think there’s anything inherently better about listening to records this way, but it’s more fun for me to spend a week completely immersed than to bounce around.
Matt Bostick: I prefer to listen to music via the local Guilford College radio station, WQFS. I stream Spotify in my car.
Noah Howard: My listening format really depends on which medium that particular music is available. I stream WWOZ out of New Orleans in our kitchen on a bluetooth speaker from about 7a to 11p every day to keep the vibe right. In my music room, I have two listening stations, one for vinyl / CDs / cassettes and one for my audio work & digital listening / streaming. All formats have their specific advantages and I float between them.
PRB: What are you listening to now?
Moore: My most recent total immersion listen has been “Juarez” by Terry Allen. “Juarez” is a story record where he sings from a bunch of different points of view. There are two romances, one marriage, a double murder, some kind of magical petroglyphs, so much to discover. It’s mostly just piano and vocal, which really lets the songs stand on their own. A label from NC called Paradise of Bachelors did a reissue recently that comes with a book of a bunch of the mixed media pieces that Allen did to accompany the record, which would be stunning even if they didn’t illuminate one of the more richly imagined concept albums I’ve ever heard.
Bostick: I am listening to the new TBW album on vinyl while I practice my bass parts. Otherwise, the “Invisible Girl” album by King Khan and BBQ show, “Swansong” by Carcass, and any Kinks record.
Howard: Some staples in my LP queue right now include “From Lake Mary” by Scott Dunbar, “Too Bad Jim” by R.L. Burnside, and “Every Loser” by Iggy Pop. My streaming queue right now includes Blind Lemon Jefferson, Amyl and The Sniffers, Lee Dorsey, Bola Sete, and Enya. I also love streaming nature sounds for ambiance.
PRB: What is your favorite music-listening memory?
Moore: When TBW first started playing music together, Noah [Howard] told us that he had a good name for the band, but had to tell us at the right time. So he took us out in the woods with a boombox and made us listen to “A Night at the Opera” by Queen in total silence in the middle of the night. At the end of the record, he said “the name of the band is Tiger Bear Wolf.” Then like 10 years later we played “You’re My Best Friend” at Matt [Bostick's] wedding.
Bostick: I remember that when my older brother got his license at 16, he had “Gish” by Smashing Pumpkins on cassette, and we would skip Wednesday youth group at church and just drive around town blasting the record at full blast in his 1979 Corolla. Say what you want about his personality, but [Billy] Corgan is a beast on guitar.
Howard: I was fortunate to have a father that prioritized a high-quality stereo setup. When I got home from high school and was the only one in the house, I would crank the stereo and just soak it in. My most vivid memories from that time are of listening to Polvo’s “Exploded Drawing.” Also in heavy rotation would have been any Archers of Loaf record.
PRB: What do you listen on?
Moore: I probably listen on streaming with Airpods or a bluetooth speaker more than anything else, but of course I prefer to listen to a real record. I have a Marantz 2325 that I bought on Craigslist for like $100 because the seller thought maybe a channel was out. I took the speaker protection relay out and cleaned it, and bridged the preamp and power section with a patch cable, and it’s back from the dead. The turntable is a nice S-tonearm Sansui that I got for like $8 at a yard sale down the street from my mom’s house. You used to be able to buy old Pioneer, Sansui, Kenwood and Marantz stuff at Goodwill or Salvation Army, but unfortunately the internet ruined that for us.
Bostick: College radio or vinyl with headphones.
Howard: Depending on the format on which I have access to that particular audio, I’m most frequently listening via a turntable, cassette karaoke machine, headphones, bluetooth speakers via telephones, my computer / digital audio station, or local radio in my truck… which is currently my only working AM/FM radio though someone recently stole my radio antenna, so my options are a bit limited, but I can usually get the local Louisville Public Media classical station or the New Albany high school station. Go BULLDOGS!
Tiger Bear Wolf’s third album is set to release on July 17 via Ernest Jenning Record Co. It is available for preorder on Bandcamp and other music platforms.
What I’m listening to…
Nothing says 90s music — to me, at least — like the soundtrack to the 1997 film “Spawn.”
I’ve been listening to the record off and on for 29 years! I revisited it this week, and it holds up.
“Spawn: The Album’s” track list reads like a who’s who of 90s headbangers. It features collaborations such as “(Can’t You) Trip Like I Do” by Filter and The Crystal Method, “Long Hard Road Out of Hell” from Marilyn Manson and Sneaker Pimps, “Kick the P.A.” from Korn and The Dust Brothers, and “T-4 Strain” from Henry Rollins and Goldie, among other tracks.
In the 90s, I was a huge Spawn fan — I loved the comic book; I enjoyed the HBO cartoon; and (somehow) convinced myself that I liked the movie. Buying the soundtrack was a given.
If you can find it in the dollar CD bins or even at an affordable price at used record stores, it’s worth picking up and giving it a listen.
Thanks for reading! We’ll be back next week with a Q&A with the band Antietam, who have their 14th studio album set to release in September. See you Thursday!