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Cairo Jag, the three-piece psych rock ’n’ roll band from Indianapolis, Indiana, releases their first long-player, Digital Manipulation. The band is made up of Curt Turner (vocals, guitar), Nolan Schockman (drums), and Joe Wise (bass).
Since forming in 2017, Cairo Jag has become a force in Indy’s wide-ranging music scene, blending punk, rock, soul, and psychedelic sounds into a raw, high-energy style of their own.
Cairo Jag has shared bills with The Gories, Frankie and The Witch Fingers, Hooveriii, L.A. Witch, Snooper, Mike Watt, Night Beats, Death Valley Girls, Warmduscher, Powerplant, and JJUUJJUU.
Notable performances include headlining Back Alley Ballyhoo in 2022 for an over-capacity crowd of 300, headlining Saalpartie in Germany for about 700 people, and stepping in at Misty Fields in the Netherlands when the main stage lost power.
Over the past year, the band has released several singles tied to Digital Manipulation and completed its first European tour with YaYaYeah Music. Cairo recently signed with Ivy Agency and has multiple 2026 tour dates planned.
Suggested entry points on the album include “Waiting,” featuring raw, searing guitars pumping out edgy textures vaguely reminiscent of Neil Young. Pay close attention to the bass on this track. It’s plump and powerful and constantly shifting.
On “Rotten Throne,” a retro-flavored psych-rock tune, the highlight is the relentless pulsating thrum of the harmonics. For some reason, the vocals conjure up hints of Golden Earring.
Cairo Jag, photo by Kevin Mathieu
A personal favorite because of its muscular, lysergic guitars, “Tide” rumbles with subterranean textures that are simultaneously dirty, pummeling, and kaleidoscopic. Dreamy vocals add to the psychedelic haze feel of the track.
The industrial-techno intro of “Terminal Existence” immediately commands attention, followed by shifting to a pushing melody full of heavy, buzzing guitars. Brimming with go-ahead energy, the vocals summon up memories of Judas Priest.
A banger because of its multi-hued surfaces, the closing track, “Worm,” opens on hallucinogenic textures and then transitions to a humming, propelling rhythm topped by a dreamlike, whooshing melody. The feel and mood of the song is hallucinatory and surreal.
Full of thick, fuzzy elements, Digital Manipulation is brilliantly innovative, direct, and monstrously good.
Digital Manipulation Track Listing:
1. Waiting
2. Rotten Thrones
3. Tides
4. N.R.G.
5. Queen
6. Terminal Existence
7. Digital Manipulation
8. Worm
Run Time: 34:22
Release Date: July 31, 2026
Record Label: Romanus Records
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