WXPN Local Picks – Week of September 8, 2025

Vibrant psych rock, poetic neo-soul, and more are represented in this week’s WXPN Local Picks.

By John Vettese

September 08, 2025

10:09 AM

Every weekday afternoon in the 1:00 hour, WXPN celebrates the Philly-regional music scene with the WXPN Local Picks. That’s when midday host Mike Vasilikos presents a hand-picked new song by an artist rooted in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or Delaware. Here’s who Mike has on deck this week! Tune in to hear these songs on the radio every day at 1 p.m., and for more Philly music, don’t miss the WXPN Local Show with John Vettese every Tuesday night at 8 p.m.

Monday 9/8: Ron Gallo – “checkmate”

Seasoned Philly indie rocker and singer-songwriter Ron Gallo is releasing his latest album, checkmate, on October 17th via Kill Rock Stars Records. He recently released the title track, a mellow and melodious contemplation on love and companionship, and said on social media that if it’s the last song he ever writes, he’s good with that. Ron’s only got a couple concerts on the docket this year: he’ll play Nashville’s Centennial Park on September 19th, and Brooklyn Bowl in New York City on October 19th for the We Save Us benefit for Abortion Access.

Tuesday 9/9: Eight – “(Time To) Fly!”

Punk-rooted singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mimi Gallagher collaborates with a lot of her friends and peers in the Philly scene — most notably Golden Apples, where she shreds on guitar — but the long-running band Eight is fully her project, and they just released a knockout new single. “(Time To) Fly!” rocks with a brilliant Madchester energy of loopy drums, psychedelic guitars, and euphoric choruses, and their release party for the single at Johnny Brenda’s over Labor Day Weekend was a stunner. We’ll hear the five-minute radio edit of the single on the Local Picks, but they stretch out for more than eight minutes on the full version, which you can stream below.

Instagram | Bandcamp

Wednesday 9/10: The Modbeats – “Hold Me Roll Me”

Swinging New Jersey retro rockers The Modbeats have a massive cheerleader in WXPN program director Jim McGuinn, and they just released new album called Ballad Of A Starving Artist on Friday. With riffs and melodies that call back to The Faces, The Kinks, The Stones, and The Jam, we’ll hear “Hold Me Roll Me” this week.

Thursday 9/11: Rae.Dianz – “Slow Down”

Philly’s Rae.Dianz, has built her name over the past several years as a singer-songwriter and flautist, MC and poet, open mic host and creative collaborator. This year, Rae.Dianz was a recipient of a Black Music City grant for The Illadel Project, a five-week intergenerational music camp to produce a five-track EP celebrating the city’s rich musical history across various artists from vibes virtuoso Hudson River to sax veteran Elliot Levin. The EP came out in June under the name The Sunrae Collective, and we’ll hear “Slow Down” from it this Thursday, ahead of Rae.Dianz’s gig opening for Talib Kweli at Ardmore Music Hall on Friday September 12th.

Friday 9/12: Cordelia Blue – “Moment More”

When he’s not performing under his own name, rootsy soul singer-songwriter John Bickel plays in the band Cordelia Blue, and their album In Limbo released in June. It’s an expansive set full of vibrant jams and we’ll hear the song “Moment More” ahead of their gig this weekend at Blakeslee, PA’s Midnight Mountain Music Show.