Category: Single Of The Week

Single Of The Week: Literary Hoax by Bam! Bam!

For this week’s Single Of The Week, I decided to remind you that Tool have finally put their back catalog on streaming services. You may ask why I mentioned this… Well, the answer is SEO reasons. Because my favorite Bay Area band has new material out TODAY! And they are called Bam!Bam!, which is definitely something you can do with a tool. Usually a hammer.

Oakland’s Bam! Bam! have been putting out great punk singles for years. They’ve put out so many excellent 7″‘s that I find it hard to believe they have yet to release a full length record. Well, today changes that, as their debut record, Nails, was released TODAY and can be enjoyed here. The single off this record is “Literary Hoax,” an infectious earworm of a track. The accompanying video may not be entirely suitable for work, is an excellent piece of filmmaking that provides an uncomfortable visual to such an upbeat piece of music.

Enjoy Nails as your soundtrack to the first weekend of the last month of Summer!

Single Of The Week: Dead Mall by PARENTZ

This week’s single of the week comes from Oakland based duo Parentz. This song feels like a groovy, chillwave-inspired bit of modern R&B. The lyrics, however, run from full on hysterical to a deep analysis of the current state of the economy. The song is also hooky as hell, and is the perfect soundtrack for spending time with abandon storefronts.

Dead Mall can be streamed in all the usual places! Including right after the jump!

Single Of The Week: Gone by Charli XCX & Christine and The Queens

This year has shaped up to be one of the strongest years on record for pop music, with brilliant records coming out from the likes of Lizzo, Billie Eilish, and Carly Rae Jepsen to name a few. The singles that have drifted out from Charli XCX’s upcoming Charli have showed that pop music is going to keep getting better as the year goes on. This track is propulsive and intense, and is destined to be a classic. It will help make both Charli XCX and Christine & The Queens the household names they deserve to be.

Charli is due out September 13th and can be preordered here. She’s also hitting the road soon, and tickets & tour dates can be found here. Christine & The Queens put on an amazing live show themselves, and if you make your way to Europe, you can catch the tale end of their tour.

Single Of The Week: Crash Into Me by Steve Aoki & Darren Criss

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I was at the Manchester International Festival earlier this week when DJ Yoda played a headlining set in the Festival Square. There were people of all ages at the festival dancing along to mixes of classics of all types: rock, northern soul, hip-hop, Britpop, television themes, you name it. But nothing got the crowd going more than when he kicked into a remix of “A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton. I was nearly bowled over by a guy wearing a denim jacket featuring a giant Dead Kennedys patch. He was belting out the words like they were the most meaningful thing he had ever heard.

All this to say, millenial soft rock is here and it’s ready to take over the dance floors at festivals all over the world. What’s the biggest millenial soft rock song of all? Honestly, probably “My Heart Will Go On,” but surely the one that’s taken the most derision over the years has been “Crash Into Me” by former Nickelback titleholder Dave Matthews Band. Here, Steve Aoki and Darren Criss reclaim the tune as the floor filling banger it was always meant to be. It’s fun, easy to sing along to, and a harbinger of a future where we’re all wearing punk rock gear singing Vanessa Carlton at the top of our lungs.

 

Single Of The Week: Jungle Love by Prince

So, officially the single off the new compilation of songs Prince wrote for other performers, Originals, is his original demo “Manic Monday.” I admit it was kind of a trip to hear Prince sing about “kissing Valentino by a crystal blue Italian stream,” but the song that I was most fascinated with on this record was “Jungle Love.” For those who don’t know the context, “Jungle Love” was both written for Morris Day & The Time, and was making fun of Morris Day. Prince always thought that Day was a little bit vain, so who wrote a song poking fun of that, and now we get to hear the original snark on full display!

The rest of Originals is streaming everywhere, and is coming out in the physical world on July 19th. You can preorder this here!

Single Of The Week: The Future Is Here by Sleater-Kinney

This is the second single off Sleater-Kinney’s highly anticipated 9th studio album, The Center Won’t Hold. For those who felt the first single, “Hurry On Home” was a departure, it was merely the gateway to “The Future Is Here.” Kicking off with a simple, analog synth riff before some of the most subtle drumming of Janet Weiss’ career kicks in. Corin Tucker then comes in, singing in the lowest register I’ve ever heard her sing in. What this becomes is a beautiful, kind of gothy song that feels more like Siouxsie and The Banshees or The Cure than the driving psych rock or classic punk that we’ve grown used to from Sleater-Kinney.

It’s been 25 years since Sleater-Kinney first entered the world as a functioning unit. Since then they’ve continuously challenged themselves with every record, proving to have the most consistent and exciting discography in rock n roll. The Center Won’t Hold will be available in all of the usual places on August 16th, or you can preorder from the band here!

Tickets for their Fall US Tour went on sale this morning, and tickets to those shows can be found here! Presale begins on Monday for their Winter EU Tour, so don’t forget to join their mailing list at sleater-kinney.com for presale info!

Single Of The Week: Your Hands My Pockets by Team Dresch

It seems that all of the Riot Grrl comeback story headlines this year have focused on the return of Bikini Kill, which, I do agree is very big news. However, the return of Queercore originators and fellow Riot Grrl originators Team Dresch deserves to not be overlooked. Their infectious hooks and blunt lyrics helped open up the pit to people that aren’t just straight white guys, and also helped those straight white guys understand a little better about what it’s like to not be the demographic that holds power.

In addition to reissuing their excellent back catalog as well as releasing a compilation of singles that don’t appear on any record, Team Dresch have also released their first single in 19 years! Surprisingly, it’s infectious, bouncy love song called “Your Hands, My Pockets” that could end up being a bonafide hit! I keep repeating it!

Team Dresch are about to embark on a nearly sold out US Tour. Dates are here, but don’t delay in buying tickets!https://teamdresch.bandcamp.com/album/choices-chances-changes-singles-comptracks-1994-2000

Single Of The Week: ‘Til We Lose The Feeling by Gemma

This week’s single of the week comes from New York’s Gemma! This track is a frantic disco number, and it’s doing a fine job with pulling out of the doldrums of the final week of May. The build up, the lyrics, everything is great about this song. Every mistake you made this week doesn’t matter, because it’s in the past. Just take what you needed to learn from it, and then dance it the fuck out. This is the song that I needed today, and I bet it’s the song you need, too.

Gemma’s latest record, Feeling’s Not A Tempo, is available now in all the usual places.

BONUS Single Of The Week: Hurry On Home by Sleater-Kinney

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STOP THE PRESSES!!!! Sleater-Kinney have dropped their first single in two years, and the first track to come off their upcoming, hotly anticipated follow up to 2015’s brilliant No Cities To Love. It’s a driving rock number that doesn’t sound like anything the band has ever done. Elements of industrial, no wave, and post punk color the song, with Carrie’s signature snarl taking center stage while Corin’s passionate yelp providing color and discord.

STOP THE PRESSES!!!! Sleater-Kinney have dropped their first single in two years, and the first track to come off their upcoming, hotly anticipated follow up to 2015’s brilliant No Cities To Love. It’s a driving rock number that doesn’t sound like anything the band has ever done. Elements of industrial, no wave, and post punk color the song, with Carrie’s signature snarl taking center stage while Corin’s passionate yelp providing color and discord.

The full length record, produced by Annie Clark of St Vincent fame, street date is still TBD. However, if this track is any sign of things to come, then Sleater-Kinney will have released 8 perfect records in their lengthy career. You can stream the single in all the usual places, or you can preorder the 7″ here! And the band will be on tour from Indigenous People’s Day to Thanksgiving, so make sure you book hotel rooms and get time off from work NOW so you can hit as many of these as possible. Or just go to the show in your hometown…

Single Of The Week: Got You by Amyl and the Sniffers

Australia has been killing it lately with great rock n roll! Courtney Barnett, Julia Jacklin, Wing Defence, Camp Cope, and so many more amazing musicians keep popping out of our friends on the other side of the Earth. The latest of these excellent bands is Amyl and the Sniffers, giving us a nice healthy dose of bratty garage rock to get you through your Friday doldrums.

Their new record came out TODAY and can be found streaming in all the usual places, or you can order the fancy splatter vinyl here! Also, they are touring everywhere this Summer, including a stopover at Burger Boogaloo, where you can enjoy them alongside The Jesus + Mary Chain, Shannon and the Clams, Dead Boys, fellow Aussies’ The Scientists, and many, many more!