It couldn’t be more fitting that Vanessa Marchiano begins Rubix Pube’s Tape Swap Radio appearance by proclaiming, “Greetings, Earthlings!” If any band in the Lehigh Valley seems like they landed here from another planet, it’s Rubix Pube. The eclectic three-piece describes their music as “mountain-based mutant rock,” creating songs about everything from losing your hair because you’re not a good person to gladiatorial bugs battling to the death. Throughout their four-song session, Marchiano’s guitar playing teeters between hefty garage rock riffs and nimble jazz chords. Meanwhile, Rob Shepherd’s bass lines and Felix Wheatfield’s drum grooves are surprisingly sturdy and robust, a kind of reliable glue that holds the weirdo freakout art project that is Rubix Pube together.
The band joined us at Shards in November 2025, performing songs off of their two latest albums, 2024’s FlopHouse and 2022’s Cunnilingus Ouroboros, as well as their recently released new single, “Bad Juju.”
Show #77
On this episode of Tape Swap Radio, we premiere the Shards Session from Bethlehem weirdo experimental rockers Rubix Pube, recorded in November 2025. We also wrap up 2025 by looking back at the year in the Lehigh Valley DIY/punk/indie scene. We feature some of our favorite new releases that came out this past year, memorable shows in the area, and we pay respect to bands and people we lost.
This show premiered on WDIY 88.1 FM on January 2, 2026. Due to time constraints, not all songs were able to be aired on the rado broadcast. All the tracks are included here, uncensored.
Fictional Name - Alibi - Overall Now I Want to Destroy This Place
The Lo-Fi's - 90 Days - Basement Rock [EP]
Sun Bus - Rolling Waves - Tune In, Turn Up, Paddle Out [EP]
Catatonic Suns - Revelator - Shallow Water Blackout [EP]
The Living Things - Feel It - Reverie
Toxiq Chameleon - Polyurethane - So Not It! [EP]
Hello, Operator? - Foggy Nightmare - Foggy Nightmare [Single]
Bren - (Don’t Fear) The Reaper - (Don’t Fear) The Reaper [Online Video]
William H. Travis - Unfuck My Mind - Ruby
—RUBIX PUBE: A SHARDS SESSION—
Cheatin’ Bitch (I Was in a Coma)
Bug Thunderdome
Bad Juju
Rat in a Redbull
BAND PICK: Beer and Pretzels - Spatchcocked - Continuous Funeral
Shypit - Heavy Song - Blesser
Co. Spirals - Wade In - Hear Me Callin' / Wade In [Single]
DD Moon - Tongues - Tongues [EP]
Spoil - Two Faces - Fall Promo [EP]
MDC - American Achievements - Millions of Dead Cops (Millennium Edition, Remastered)
World Breaker - Bite the Hand That Feeds - Dead-End Path
Pucker Up! - Creole - I Hardly Know Her
Sin Bin - My Fist - Fight Dirty [EP]
Ultra Death Cult - All Eyes on Our Blight - End Times Are Good Times
1-800 BITCH - TRACKSTAR - Demo 2025
Pipe Snake - Duster Bottle Blues - Tools of the Trade [EP]
Radlands - Cryptic Logic - All Alone [EP]
Party Nerves - Coffee and Muffins with Anton - Go Broke or Go Home [EP]
The Dracu-Las - Walking with a Vampire - Walking with a Vampire [Single]
Higbee - Rejected - It All Falls Apart [EP]
Food Truck - Food Truck v. Reality - Pure Gold
Pale Fang - Badlands - Badlands [Single]
Nate Marks - I Was Here, Now I Ain’t - I Was Here, Now I Ain’t [Single]