Traveling through the heartache of “it ain’t you, it’s me” to the relief of “no more lonesome road” in under four minutes, Flesh Panthers’ “I Wish I Woulda Known” feels like time flattening on itself. The Chicago band’s fuzzed-out sound is direct and unfussy, with a bubbly bassline under hard-stomping drums and psych-tinged guitar lines […]
From the rolling guitars carrying us through suburban houses and hospices to Ryan H. Walsh’s growling vocals that eventually erupt into throat-shredding yells, every part of this song feels ready to burst. It makes sense, because Hallelujah The Hills’ “People Keep Dying (And No One Can Stop It)” is grappling with a sad existential fact: […]
“End of It All” sounds like it’s from a different world, filled with foreboding images and poppy doom. Taking cues from cabaret rock, The Ghost Wolves have made a carnivalesque tune, full of lyrical nods to plagues and witches that beckon you in with an off-kilter rhythm. The haunting vocals and tight harmonies layered over […]
Shehehe’s “Sorry You Love Me” starts with a bang, as barely-bound harmonies hover above barreling drums and glam rock guitar. The first line sets the terse tone for this sweaty headbanger, shouting “I don’t know if I love me, but I love you!” before eventually diving into a “Kids In America”-tinged chorus. Shehehe’s sunbaked orchestration […]
Kitsch and heartache combine in the poppy and surprising “We Don’t Make Love” from Milwaukee supergroup L’Resorts. Gentle slide guitar accents evoke the dreamy haze of a summer vacation, while a marimba spine and cozy harmonies soften the forlorn lyrics like a Vaseline lens. Still, when they sing “Look at me I’m dying/But we don’t […]
13AGH3AD’s “Spinner” is a song that would shine under a blacklight. This might be easy to assume given the single’s kaleidoscopic cover art, but from its opening reverb the song is inviting you to invert your expectations and succumb to its hypnotic groove. Swirling guitar licks leave psychedelic fingerprints on the group’s grunge-y sound, and […]
Taking its name from one of New York’s iconic Chelsea pubs, “Breslin” by The Rizzos continues the Brooklyn band’s track record of crafting catchy, moody rock and roll. Megan Mancini’s lead guitar hook sets the loose tempo and within moments the drums and bass appear and erupt, signaling that you’re in for another rocket ride […]
Washington DC’s Anti-Social Club find balance between pulsing synths and human warmth on upbeat goth rocker “Empty”. Normal sonic touchstones like New Order don’t cover the whole picture here, as Anti-Social Club explore a vulnerability beyond the cool detachment that synth rock provides. In the end, this human touch opens the darker imagery up into […]
Tin Roof Echo’s “There’s A Town” feels like it’s from a different time. Recorded directly to vinyl at Third Man Records’ vintage Voice-o-Graph recording booth, the ghosts haunting the pops and scrapes serve a song like this, which taps into the rich tradition of narrative folk songs. As with the best of the genre, the […]