Hi! Hello! Here we are with some bite sized goodies and a taste of a some new things that we dug that came out in the last week(ish), quick fire responses to some great new music we think you should check out. This week Kate and Mike weighed in on some killer songs— give ’em a listen!
And though we can’t possibly cover all the music that is released each week (we wish!), we do get to as many songs as we can. As always, if you’re in a band or from a label, don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know about you! If we dig ya, you’ll get a nod in the column. Read on to find out what we dug the last week or so and check back every Friday for more:
Black Belt Eagle Scout– My Blood Runs Through This Land. Black Belt Eagle Scout is the project of Swinomish, Indian Tribal Community-based multi-instrumentalist Katherine Paul and follows the recent single, “Don’t Give Up.” This stunning track builds upon that first song and leads us further on Paul’s journey, the gauzy vocals the perfect counter point to the grit of the guitars. Both songs are part of the just announced The Land, The Water, The Sky (2/10/23 Saddle Creek) which she calls a “love letter to Indigenous strength and healing, and a story of hope,” adding that she created the album “to record and reflect upon my journey back to my homelands and the challenges and the happiness it brought.” [KH]
Chat Pile– Tenkiller. The heavy Oklahoma band and noted cinephiles have released the soundtrack to a new film Tenkiller which also features the band’s very own Raygun Busch. This follows their own album God’s Country and will see the band enter some experimental territory for them on which they note: “The music we made for Tenkiller is quite a bit different than what you may come to expect from us. We were given the freedom to really experiment and explore territories that we’ve never done before.” Adding “It’s not going to be for everyone, but we hope some of you connect with what we set out to do.” [KH]
Death Valley Girls– What Are The Odds. The groovy LA garage foursome have announced a brand new album Islands in the Sky (2/24/23 Suicide Squeeze) and released the infectious first single “What Are The Odds.” Singer/guitarist Bonnie Bloomgarden elaborated on the track saying: “When we wrote ‘I’m A Man Too’ we were trying to revisit No Doubt’s ‘I’m Just A Girl’ but through a new lens. ‘What Are The Odds’ is in the same way an investigation /revisitation of Madonna’s ‘Material Girl’ but with a DVG spin. We love to think about consciousness, and existence, and we very much believe in some type of reincarnation, but also that this experience isn’t linear, there isn’t a past and future, there’s something else going on! What is it? Is it a simulation, are we simulated girls??!” We are definitely intrigued to hear what else lies in store on the new album. Check out our coverage of their recent TV Eye show. [KH]
Fake Names– Delete Myself. Fake Names is the super group of supergroups with the members coming together after stints in legendary groups like The Refused, Bad Religion, Minor Threat, International Noise Conspiracy, Embrace, Girls Against Boys, and Fugazi (and that’s not even all of them) which is one hell of a pedigree! Their newest release “Delete Myself,” is a speedy little post-punk tune that shows off the band’s great power pop sensibilities, with guitarist Brian Baker saying “In general, Dennis [Lyxzén] writes about revolution, and Michael [Hampton] and I write pop songs. I’m amazed at how it works, but somehow it strikes the right balance of salty and sweet.”
This song is the first single from their just announced second album, Expendables, due out 3/3/23 (Epitaph). The band will embark on a short tour in April to support the album, making a stop at TV Eye on 4/14. [MB]
Fucked Up– Found. The second single from One Day, the upcoming album by the epic hardcore greats, this one confronts the negative legacy of colonization and the poison of modern day gentrification head on. Read more about it here. [KH]
Guts Club– The Gun Collector. Bring on the fuckin doom! That’s exactly what the doom gaze trio has done yet again, with another 10 minute opus full of the relentlessness that makes this band so great. This second single from their upcoming album Cliffs/Walls builds directly from the previously released title track and leads us through another winding maze of anguish and emotion with walls of swelling feedback pummeling you from all sides. Indeed, the work feels like a cohesive statement and not just a group of songs lumped together. The band elaborated on their Bandcamp saying the album was “recorded live in (mostly) one take. The music is very intuitive and we hoped a live recording would better reflect that primitive intensity rather than multi-tracked studio magic.”
Via a press release the band additionally said the song is “a reflection on grief and how we navigate a world overflowing with extreme loss and devastation. Intensely crushing, yet strangely mediative, the track is a refreshing take on the doom genre” and I’m inclined to agree. There’s a nuance and grace here that is not always present in many doom songs, but Guts Club effortlessly pulls it off while remaining true to the heavy, dirge-like roots of the genre. [KH]
H. Hawkline– Milk For Flowers. The project of Welsh song writer Huw Evans (and frequent Aldous Harding/Cate LeBon collaborator) has announced a new album, Milk For Flowers, and released the bouncy piano driven title track. The album will see full release on 3/10/23 via Heavenly and Hawkline will tour in 2023 to support of the album but only in the UK and Europe for now. Having caught his Webster Hall show with Aldous Harding a few months back, I’m definitely keen to see him play in the States again. (He is also a graphic designer and gifted me a beautiful hand printed linocut at the show, see more of his visual art on his website and albums.) [KH]
The Linda Lindas– Groovy Xmas. The LA teen punks released a new track just in time for the holidays. It’s a feel-good sugarplum soaked in harmony and spiked with sleigh bells (and cowbell). The teens deliver a power chord punch of classic Christmas references that will warm your belly like the cinnamon hot toddy they aren’t even old enough yet to drink. [MB]
Maraschino– Hi Desire. Catchy as hell dance pop that owes a debt to the Material Girl (who I unabashedly love), the airy vocals and infectious beat recall the new wave bops of the 1980s. This one will make you want to groove no matter where you are—the club or your morning commute—and before you know it, your head will be bobbing and your feet moving. [KH]
Megadose– Hey 911. The song begins and we are immediately greeted with the line “This country’s lost its mind, what do you say to that?” and sadly, I say you can’t argue with that. In this sweet power pop number the song and the band “offers a winking retrospective on the ironies born of experiencing global trauma, a stunted political uprising, and too much time by yourself. The song paints a picture of the spasmodic confusion, triumph, and disarray spanning not only Seattle’s Summer 2020, but the fragility and absurdity of life itself.” Their press release says “for fans of Jonathan Richman and K Records” and I’d say that feels pretty damn spot on. This is the second single from the groups upcoming album, Heating Up, which is due out 1/23/23. [KH]
R. Ring– Still Life. This is the first single from War Poems/We Rested, the new album just announced by the group—which features Kelley Deal (The Breeders) and Mike Montgomery (Ampline)—and if there is a Deal twin involved with a project, you can pretty much sign me right up for being already on board. But even without one of the members playing in one of my all time favorite bands, this song is still something I’d love, a poppy alt rock commentary on addiction with a cool collage stop motion video reflecting the theme also making pointed commentary not just on how we abuse/use substances to cope with discontent, but social media too.
It’s nice to see Kelley Deal take the lead vocal role here as she mostly does backing vocals in The Breeders (and other projects she contributes to) and she elaborated on the song saying “It’s possible, sometimes, through substance abuse or self delusion, to exist in a realm of altered reality, where you imagine your life to be a delicious bowl of fresh fruit. When you finally wipe the haze off the mirror, you see through more sobered eyes that the fruit is rotting and the bowl is full of worms.” War Poems/We Rested will release in full on 1/27/23 via Don Giovanni. [KH]
Ron Gallo– Foreground Music. With this fuzzed out garage pop song Gallo begs the question “How can you be alive in 2022 and not be anxious?” I really wish I knew the answer to that, but at least I can have a good sound track to my existential dread from this very astute and clever songwriter. Though sugar coated, Gallo doesn’t mince words as he questions many of the poisons that haunt us (and make us so damn anxiety ridden) on a daily basis including overconsumption.
This is the first single and title track from his just announced new album, which promises to take us on a journey as Gallo “screams at the developers turning neighborhoods into unremarkable AirBnB advertisements, corporate overlords deciding how much music costs, and extremists hellbent on bringing forth an apocalypse of racial and civil destruction.” The album will released in full on 3/3/23 via Kill Rock Stars and a tour in support of the album will follow, hitting Brooklyn on 4/6 at Baby’s All Right. I am predicting the future here, but I’m confident in saying just based on this first track alone that this album will find its way onto many best of lists for 2023, including mine. [KH]
Sarchasm– Good News. Open your eyes and it’s Y2K all over again. The long running Bay Area band makes music that harkens back to those halcyon days and certainly stirs up plenty of memories. Think where Weston would intersect Pinhead Gunpowder, the just-serious-enough-but-too-serious pop punk song, “Good News,” is catchy tune to make you think about the scary state of the world while you catch a few waves at the beach. This is the second single from their upcoming final album, Conditional Love (12/2 Asian Man). They have a few more shows left and then this band will be but a fond memory, much like our salad days of the early aughts. [MB]
shame– Fingers of Steel. The latest track by the UK based post punk quintet has a loose groove that is tied tightly together by some really cool melody-work. At times overtly rhapsodic, other times vaguely Dalrympian in its delivery. The angular guitar work serves to subdue the song’s percussive intensity. It’s obvious shame makes music for them, and everyone else just happens to be on board.
This is the first single from their just announced album, Food for Worms, out 2/24/23 (Dead Oceans). The band will embark on a lengthy tour to support the album, first crisscrossing the UK and Europe before coming to the States in May, hitting Brooklyn on 5/14/23 at Warsaw. [MB]
TVOD– Goldfish. The third in a trio of new singles from TVOD, we love everything the rowdy BK collective has to offer. Read more about the new song here [MB]
Weird Nightmare– So Far Gone. I’m a huge fan of Alex Edkins’ main project, Metz, and love every ounce of noise they make. Weird Nightmare is pretty far removed from that sonically and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the other side of his songwriting via this new project because wow does he have some power pop chops too. This one is catchy gem of a song with a fuzzy bass line high up in the mix (which I personally really love), sweet harmonies and infectious, layered guitar work for an all around slice of power pop perfection. This one is a stand alone single which follows his excellent self titled debut album released earlier this year. [KH]