Category: Single Of The Week

Single of the Week: “Playing Records” by Lane Moore + It Was Romance

Regular readers will have picked up on two things about your favorite editor-in-chief of a shockingly long-running music blog (16 years?!?!)- he’s a sucker for songs about experiences with music and loves a good multi-hyphenate. Lane Moore is a fantastic stand-up comic and writer with a keen sense of the human psyche. She ALSO fronts the band It Was Romance and is blessing us this Valentine’s Day with their first EP in far too long, Final Girl. This brings us to our single of the week, “Playing Records,” a brilliant, life-affirming song about, well, listening to music while moving through a breakup. It’s a warm and fuzzy New Order meets Alanis Morissette meets Bleached pop confection for the ages. 

Final Girl is out today and can be enjoyed on whatever streaming service you subscribe to. The band is also embarking on a brief Spring tour of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania (the area I affectionately refer to as the “Pizza Belt”). Tickets can be purchased at https://www.lanemoore.org/tour/. 

3/27 Pet Shop, Jersey City, NJ
4/17 Sultan Room, Brooklyn, NY
4/19 John & Peter’s, New Hope, PA
5/2 Wonder Bar, Asbury Park, NJ

Single of the Week: “Terrapin” by Clairo

I guess I’ve been sleeping on Clairo. I had no idea that she sounded like this… It’s just so damn smooth and groovy. This song feels like a dirty martini on a winter’s evening with all of your hottest friends having a heavy argument about David Lynch vs John Waters. The video starring Weird Al and directed by Ayo Edebiri is fantastic, and they are also two of the first people I’d invite to this party. 

“Terrapin” is the latest single off Charm, available now in all the usual places! 

Single of the Week: “Wanna Start A Band?” by Sleigh Bells

The funny thing about Sleigh Bells is that they do, indeed, have a formula. But it’s such a damn good formula that always feels so unbelievably good. “Wanna Start A Band?” is a brilliant little autobiographical anthem, and this song is a cacophony of sonic joy that is somehow equal parts Nine Inch Nails and Lisa Lisa. I’m so glad that they are opening with joy in this hellish year of 2025. (I will note that Sleigh Bells’ show at Mezzanine was my first show after Trump’s win in 2016, and it was the exact right thing to do. Also my first indoor show after COVID hit) 

Sleigh Bells are embarking on their first tour since 2022, and tickets are on sale TODAY at 10 am local time. Dates and tickets are here! 

Single of the Week: “Wax & String” by Shannon & The Clams

Shannon & The Clams KEEP GETTING BETTER! “Wax & String” is a one-off 7″ following up their best record yet, The Moon is in The Wrong Place. And while The Moon… was a contemplative and almost melancholy affair, “Wax & String” is a psych party jam, exhilerating in a way that seems almost innappropriate for 2025. 

“Wax & String” is available to stream now, with a 7″ coming March 7th. Preperations for it’s arrival can be made now. Shannon & The Clams have recently been added as the Day 2 Headliner off Mosswood Meltdown. Other additions include the great Bleached, La Luz, Giuda, and, performing in Oakland for the first time EVER- L’Trimm. (Yes, “The Cars That Go Boom” band!) Tickets are available NOW!

Single of the Week: “T&A” by Blondshell

Sabrina Teitelbaum did it again. Nobody does uncomfortable imagery like her, but “T&A” takes the cake this time. I spent the whole song thinking, “Do men really talk like this to women?” I mean… “If you stop drinking, maybe I could find you attractive”?!?!? “Your tits and ass don’t really hurt”?!?!?!?!?!? AND THOSE ARE THE COMPLIMENTS!!!!!! Sometimes, I really hate cis-het men, and I AM ONE! 

Anyways, “T&A” is from the sophomore release by Blondshell, If You Asked For A Picture, which is coming to you May 2nd, and preorders are available here. Everyone is aware of the horrific conditions happening in LA right now, and if you are looking for an organization to donate to, I am a fan of Mutual Aid LA, and you can find ways to donate and resources for finding help here. 

 

Single of the Week: “Epilogue” by Cat Ridgeway

This is the last Single Of The Week of the year. The “Epilogue,” if you will, of a year of singles of the weeks. (Singles of the week? Single of the weeks? HELP ME GRAMMARLY!!!!) ANYWAYS! This song is so bloody good. Remember that whole banjo rock movement of the 2010s and how awful it was? This is what it should have been like. Ferocious punk rock with a banjo played fierce and fast, with some Billy Zoom punkabilly riffage mixed in. This is my introduction to Cat Ridgeway, and I can’t wait for more. 

“Epilogue” is out now on all the DSPs. New material, including an album, is coming in 2025! Keep an eye out on the socials!

Single of the Week: “So Long, Farewell” by Riki Lindhome

The return of Riki Lindhome as a comedy musician is making me ever so happy… Her latest single, “So Long, Farewell,” is the perfect Christmas drop because, well, it’s not a Christmas song but references the most non-Christmas musical Sound Of Music, and “My Favorite Things,” one of the most depressing songs in history to be recast as a song about getting presents. Was that verbal nonsense? Yes, it was. But, also, I never knew I’d fall in love with a song from the perspective of Baroness Elsa Schraeder, who could do better than Georg von Trapp and his 800 singing children. 

Anyways, Riki Lindhome’s debut solo full-length, No Worries if Not, is coming to your friendly neighborhood DSP on March 14th. (Pi Day!) She’s also bringing her one-woman musical, Dead Inside, to SF Sketchfest! Catch her at Club Fugazi on January 18th. I’ll be there! 

Single Of The Week: Doechii’s Tiny Desk Concert

Is this cheating? 23 minutes of the most ecstatic MC work I’ve ever heard as a “single” of the week? Yeah. It is cheating. But I’m the Music Editor, and I make the rules, so I’m stretching it because this is SO FREAKING GOOD. She burns through 7 songs in a tight 15 minutes and then lets the final number, “Black Girl Memoir,” breathe, allowing the whole band to show off their chops. 

Doechii’s debut album, Alligator Bites Never Heal, is available in stores both virtual and physical now. I hope to see more of her in the coming year because this is AMAZING. 

Single of the Week: “Young Lion” by Sade Adu

There’s a chance you’ve already uncovered this. There is also a good chance that you are coming out of a heated Thanksgiving dinner where somebody ranted about how there are “only two genders” and something cruel and dehumanizing. You need something warm and comforting from someone of the baby boom generation. God bless you, Sade. This is only her third single in the last 14 years, and it’s a potent ballad dedicated to her trans son. The video is lovely, warm, and affectionate, and it is a lovely, caring antidote to all the vile we expect to deal with over the next four years. 

“Young Lion” is a track off TRAN?A, a compilation from the Red Hot organization to raise money for various trans organizations worldwide. The compilation also features unreleased tracks from Andre` 3000, Wendy + Lisa, Hand Habits, SOAK, claire rosay, Jeff Tweedy, and too many others to list. 

 

Single of the Week: “All Star Breakfast” by Odie Leigh & Field Medic

Odie Leigh might be the artist I found this year that I’ve spent the most time with. Her debut record, Carrier Pigeon, has been on perpetual rotation on my turntable for the last two months or so, and her Outside Lands set continues to eat up important brain space. “All Star Breakfast” is a tender ode to Bob’s Big Boy, a restaurant that I loved in my youth but haven’t seen in real life in quite some time. It’s also a tender ode to love, in general, and is a classic country duet with Field Medic. It’s a nice little ditty, full of warm harmonies and just a wift of fresh coffee eminates through the speakers. 

“All Star Breakfast” is a stand alone single, and can be enjoyed in all the usual places. Her last leg of 2024 hits the west coast soon, and it’s a show that you shouldn’t miss. Those tour dates can be found here!