Tycoon Machete - XENOBLASTER (2026)

Tycoon Machete is an art rock quartet from Salt Lake City, featuring John Whipple, Erin Stout, James Perry, and Sean McCarthy. Their latest record, Xenoblaster, came out two weeks ago, but I still can’t quite grasp it, layered and surreal as it is, both in terms of music (in their own words: guided by the ghosts of 1930s blues, 1960s psychedelia, 1980s electronica, and 1990s grunge) and lyrics (a romanticized, explicit history lesson). It seems sensible to let the band’s songwriter explain the themes here: “It’s based on the exploits of Dr. John R. Brinkley, an American hero who cured impotence by inserting goat testicles into sad men’s nutsacks. We thought this would be an apt metaphor about the American alignment of stupidity and power.”

It’s an eccentric concept album that thrives on chaos and cynical satire, but somehow it works. In ten extravagant songs, the bizarre life story of the infamous ‘goat gland’ doctor, radio pioneer, and self-made millionaire is told, set to psychedelic prog rock that is alternately dark and funky. With swirling textures, eclectic instrumentation (including a 1942 lap steel, 1890’s plectrum banjo, singing saw, synthesizers, and samplers), experimental twists, and black humor, Xenoblaster feels like a fever dream broadcast from a forgotten radio tower: strange, theatrical, and itense, yet captivating and impossible to ignore.