I try to avoid picking multiple singles off the same album for “Single Of The Week,” but I damn, Dream Wife are fantastic. “Leech,” the first single from Social Lubrication (due out June 9th!) was a pretty passionate and angry song that hit all the right feels for me at that moment. “Hot (Don’t Date A Musician)” is a driving rock number that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Something that’s VITAL. It’s hard to find the fun in life sometimes, and this song doesn’t it nicely.
Don’t forget to do all the “pre-” things to ensure proper listening enjoyment when Social Lubrication comes your way in June!
I love it when an artist surprises me. I’ve enjoyed Jen Cloher for a few years now… She’s put out some good folk-rock records. Those records couldn’t prepare me for “My Witch.” This song is smoldering… It’s an intensely sexy song, which is not necessarily how I’d describe her prior work. It’s fun, it’s provacative, and the video? A group of female presenting and non-binary people of color having the best time ever. And, yeah, there are a few moments that make it *slightly* NSFW. And no part of the video would be Tucker Carslon approved.
“My Witch” is the latest single off Cloher’s upcoming full length, I Am The River, The River Is Me, due in stores and at you favorite local streaming service on March 3rd. All preperations for this release can be made here.
Philly’s Avataria is back with a heavy Heart meets St Vincent track called “She.” The nearly industrial, cinematic build-up takes you into a vocal performance that’s simultaneously fragile, confident, angry, and exasperated. How is that possible? Just give it a listen.
“She” is the first video off Avataria’s first full-length album, Let Go, which has entered our sphere of consciousness TODAY! Streaming info here, but if you are like me and prefer the physical world to the digital, you can purchase the record on wax here! Oh- and she makes custom guitar pedals!
Happy New Year! For our first single of the week of 2023, here’s a sweeping ballad from DEBBY FRIDAY. “SO HARD TO TELL” is simutaneously warm & comforting and dark & sweeping, kind of in the Bjork / Kate Bush school of composition without sounding anything like either.
“SO HARD TO TELL” is available in all the usual places. Her SubPop debut, Good Luck, is coming to you March 23rd, and is available for pre-order NOW!
Thank You Come Again do not have my favorite band name. I spent time actively avoiding them due to this. However, they are literally friends with everyone in the Bay Area, they are worth the benefit of the doubt. Then this positively face melting track, “Bite The Hand,” landed in my eardrums. So loud. So heavy. An air guitar masterpiecce.
Today is Bandcamp Friday, so feel free to hope over to their Bandcamp page and buy this track and some others! They will be getting us a full length in the near future, so keep an eye out there and here.
Tis the season for seasonal songs? The time of year where serious musicians put out novelty Christmas singles to make your Christmas Playlists a little less stale and painful. 2022 breakout tween sensations The Linda Lindas have graced is with a fantastic and fun Christmas song called “Groovy Xmas.” It’s accompanying video is a joyful treat, chock full of cameos that are basically a whose who of the history of punk, as well as an appearance by the legendary cat, Monica.
You can enjoy “Groovy Xmas” in all the usual places. The Linda Lindas are also hitting the road next Summer with Paramore. And, yes, I am annoyed that they aren’t playing the Chase Center show.
Fun Fact- I had a different Single of the Week picked out for this week. I wrote it up and decided I was done. It was the debut solo single from The Raincoat’s Gina Birch. Then I landed upon “Leech” by London’s Dream Wife. This track- a throbbing post-punk anthem with heavy poetry from vocalist Rakel Mjöll that breaks out into a near scream without giving you the catharsis of a full scream- is addictive magic. If the full length is half as potent as this single, we’ve got a serious contender already in the queue for the 2023 Album Of The Year.
You can enjoy “Leech” in all of the usual places. Obviously, I’m going to keep going down this rabbit hole, and if my fellow American does the same, maybe they will pay us a visit next year?
I feel funny using the phrase “heir apparent” when describing a newer artist in relationship with a past act. But, for Yves Tumor, calling them the heir-apparent to David Bowie is totally appropriate. Does Tumor sound exactly like Bowie? Nope. Not much at all. But the darkness, the theatricality, the hooks- all very Bowie-esque. “God Is A Circle,” lyrically, is a dark meditation on the what and why of what our parents teach us. It’s a stunning track, through and through.
“God Is A Circle” is available in all the usual spots. Expect more genius from Yves Tumor in 2023!
Do you remember the last time Rihanna has graced our earbuds with a solo project? It was 2016. To put it on perspective, Obama was in the White House. Since then, America elected a fucking actual fascist as President, and, somehow, made it so the Republican party could actually say out loud the stuff they mumble quietly. Overt racism, homophobia, xenophobia, transphobia, etc, went from being something pushed aside and shamed to something folks were visibly proud of! And, of course, that awful human ended his time in office by turning COVID into pure chaos instead of working hard to get the country aligned on it. And, yes, we are still picking up the pieces of that nonesense today. (I stand by the fact that if we had clear, concise COVID messaging from the get-go, we wouldn’t be in the current financial mess we are in today)
When I learned that Rihanna was dropping a new single on 10.28, the day after my birthday, it was the first time I felt a shred of optimism in, dear god, 6 years? Like, maybe- just maybe- Rihanna was the key to returning the world to order and kindness. The song itself was written in memory of Chadwick Boseman. The lyrics, however, are actually about finding strength through grief. So maybe, just maybe, Rihanna isn’t the prophet we needed, but the catalyst for building up the strength to get through the pain of now and help encourage and motivate us to fix it. Anyways- “Lift Me Up” is a stunning ballad that I’ve already listened to 10 times and will keep relistening to for the rest of the day, maybe longer. And you probably should, too.
Since Sleater-Kinney released an album of other artists covering Dig Me Out, it only seems right to spotlight this new Quasi single. Janet Weiss sounds like her car accident never happend. Her drumming is as forceful and melodic as ever. Sam Coomes’ keyboard playing is consderably more ferocious that in the past. This song is a gem. It really is a good time to jump back on the Quasi train. Assuming you ever got off.
“Queen Of Ears” is the lead single from Breaking The Balls Of History, due out on SubPop on Febuary 10th. Pre-Everythinging can be done here. Of course, you should also give this 2020 track that I missed a listen, too.
