New Music

Salarymen – “Echoes”

May 26, 2023

Sydney’s Salarymen strike a perfect balance between retro and contemporary on their latest dream-pop track, “Echoes.” At the forefront is vocalist Renee de la Motte’s beautiful vocal delivery – it lays overtop a bed of warbly guitar energy and otherwise reverbed-out instrumentals, giving the song an expansive and atmospheric vibe. A trip past the three-minute-mark will reward you with an emotionally soaring outro that will put you into a heavenly trance. Fans of Alvvays, Beach House, or Still Corners will like what “Echoes” has to offer. Check out the YouTube video below or peep “Echoes” on Spotify.

The Jürgen Clubs – “Rare Candy”

May 26, 2023

“Rare Candy” is the follow-up single to an earlier track, “Soft” from The Jürgen Clubs that we actually covered back in March – check it out here in case you missed it. While not singing about the Pokémon leveling item, rare candy, this song still doesn’t disappoint. Much like “Soft,” TJC brings a fun, raucous energy with the heavy synth you’ve grown to know and love from them, but bring more of a guitar focus along this time. Similar in tone to Passion Pit or Phoenix, you certainly won’t be put to sleep by this banger. In keeping with my edict from our past post, this is very much a song you could add to your summer playlist. If you have friends over and play this they’ll be like “Whoa, who is this?” You can then confidently say, with an air of superiority, “Oh just this band called The Jürgen[...]

Buck St. Thomas- “Quiet Thrills”

May 26, 2023

Hailing from Rhode Island, Buck St. Thomas brings us a crispy indie ditty of a track in “Quiet Thrills.” With just the right mix between melancholy and hopeful; his voice croons betwixt a nice sliding acoustic guitar and simple piano chords. As the track goes on, you hear some light drums and bass guitar join the fray that builds into a much more complex movement. Fans of Band of Horses, Elliot Smith, or their folksy ilk would find a lot to enjoy here, especially since this isn’t a one trick pony track – Buck more or less has an established sound that he sticks to and plays with, but isn’t afraid to take some risks. Be sure to check out the “Quiet Thrills” as well as Buck St. Thomas’ other tracks over on his Bandcamp or Spotify. Let us know what you think over in the comments on your social[...]

Dawn Park – “What It Was”

May 21, 2023

New York based duo Dawn Park started off, as told on the band’s Instagram “origin story”, something like this: *video of rough version of melody* “basically just making real estate loops” “I love it” “Yeah yeah. Loop deez” “colin i’d be down to record this tn if you are” “for sure” That night, Colin Reilly and Zach Aumueller pounded out what would become “What It Was.” A healthy combination of bass, electric drums and that the aforementioned underlying melody, you can hear the influences going from Real Estate or Alex G with some Strokes thrown in. The vocals are uplifting and poppy, which provides a nice juxtaposition to the neurotic instrumental, and avoids the pitfall of being just another post-post-punk wannabe with access to recording equipment. This jives well overarching narrative behind Dawn Park, “to embody the feeling that you can always find something beautiful or funny worth experiencing in[...]

Gold Spectacles – “Man or Machine”

May 21, 2023

buffaBLOG and Gold Spectacles have a long, storied history – in case you’ve missed all of our previous articles, you can find them here and here and here and… here. They’ve certainly caught our ears a number of times, so it’s no surprise that they’ve nailed it yet again, this time on effervescent new single, “Man or Machine.” Twinkly synth sprinkles and spaghetti-Western guitar tones give this one a lighthearted feel and the perfect backbone for soothing, cooed vocal melodies. Sure, Gold Spectacles know how to write a hook, but they also know how to inject some true meaning into their songs – here’s what they had to say about “Machine” below: “… the lyric[s] came after chatting about a person that is very close to our hearts and how gritty they are. They have this deeply caring nature and desire to make sure everyone is OK even down to[...]

Sarah Coolidge – “Ice Pack”

May 21, 2023

“Ice Pack” is the lead single from Bay Area Sarah Coolidge’s upcoming debut album, Call Me When You Get There. Currently residing in the Bay Area, this is Sarah’s second song written about an injury, the first being her 2020 single “Nosebleed.” The ostensibly injury prone Coolidge’s “Ice Pack” is a well crafted indie-shoegaze gem that, while at first unassuming, packs quite a punch between the impeccably-layered guitars and Sarah’s frank and creative songwriting and delivery (pepper flake in the eye, people cry when they fall down/everyone needs something to laugh about). Fans of Courtney Barnett or Kurt Vile (rocking a My Bloody Valentine pedal board) would certainly find a lot to enjoy here, though Sarah Coolidge and company manage to bring enough of their own flair to stand on their own. You can hear “Ice Pack” as well as the back catalogue of singles over on Bandcamp as well[...]

The Landing – “This Way”

May 21, 2023

Looking for an out of this world trippy soundscape? Look no further than The Landing‘s “This Way” off of their upcoming debut album Beautiful Human, Beautifully Human. Bringing a pop-forward track with some hip hop beats snuck in for extra flavor, The Landing shows up their composition chops quite spectacularly. Synth heavy with with lots of fun little flitty effects interspersed through, you’ll hear something new on each subsequent listen. Telling you TL is an amateur astronomer shouldn’t surprise you at all after listening, but if you didn’t pick up on that, look at http://www.whatisthelanding.com/ and you’ll see a quote attributed to Neil Degrasse Tyson – “Cosmic discovery doesn’t become mainstream until the artists embrace the fruits of those discoveries.” You can hear “This Way” over on Soundcloud or Spotify, be sure to check those out along with their future LP, unless you’ve discovered faster than light speed… In which case[...]

CatchTwentyTwo – “Heartbreak Dance”

May 20, 2023

Up and coming Florida native CatchTwentyTwo has released a celebration of slick soulful disco and neon synths with his new single “Heartbreak Dance.” Smooth, dulcet vocals layered and electrified deliver emotional lyrics that originate from his heart while he is lost in the romance of a warm Californian night. A groovin’ bassline and four on the floor drum pattern carry CatchTwentyTwo’s production while synth stings dance and glimmer in the night sky as they pulse from you head to your feet and hips, making for a deliciously melodic dance track filled with hooks and mouthwatering production. “Heartbreak Dance” has influences ranging from Michael Jackson, The Weeknd, Pharrel, and Daft Punk all of which come together in CatchTwentyTwo’s undeniable and joy filled single. Listen to CatchTwentyTwo’s new song “Heartbreak Dance” on Spotify, Soundcloud, Youtube, and Apple Music.

Blondes – “Beautiful World”

May 20, 2023

Nottingham’s Blondes are on a bit of a hot streak lately (ICYMI, here’s our writeup of their previous single, “The Basement”). The quartet strikes again with their warm and luscious take on dream-pop, this time in a song called “Beautiful World.” A bouncing bassline provides the root for twinkling guitar leads to spiral around your ears – it’s topped off with a beautifully-delivered vocal, airy and gentle, that seems to yearn for better times. The band further explains their perspective below: “Beautiful World feels like our first proper pop song. It’s my favourite that we’ve written so far. It’s about our relationship with our environment and each other. We wrote it to speak not just for ourselves but to anyone that finds themselves looking around at our world and wondering just how we’ve become so disconnected from one another and the planet. We hope you like it.” Fans of Turnover,[...]

Born Twins – “Tiger”

May 20, 2023

“Tiger” is the lead track and second single from Texas based duo Born Twins‘ album Novelas Cortas (May 5). In it, bandmates Singer Mayberry and David Lujan have crafted a beautifully put together track that somehow ignores space and time. I think five minute songs are usually bloated, but this somehow ignores that gripe and I enjoyed it enough to add it to my regular rotation (not all bands get that distinguished honor). The play between Mayberry’s subdued vocals and the resonating guitar effect are this track’s biggest strength. Listen for the subtle Wurlitzer bass synth interspersed through too. If Bob Ross were a musician, he would have made a clever little comment to the effect of “we’re just gonna add in this tiny synth line here… if you use it in the intro make sure you come back to it again, but only if you want to.” Fans of[...]

Spirit Award – “New Energy”

May 15, 2023

Spirit Award is a collaborative effort between Daniel Lyon of Pomegranates and Chris Jordan, bassist of Sunny Day Real Estate. “New Energy” is a single off of their upcoming album, The Fear (May 19th). The track itself starts with tight guitar and drums that sound like they’re in a dead sprint to finish in first. Neck and neck, it turns into one of those Tough Mudder (TM) races as they come up on some more layered guitar with some subtle midi accompaniment, symbolizing that colored power stuff they throw on you (I think, I’ve never done a race in my life). On the subject of “New Energy” the band had this to say: “The song is a wishful look into the future. Change or progress isn’t always good as we have seen throughout history. But I believe some things and minds in this world must change in order for us[...]

Paper Lady – “Starcross”

May 15, 2023

There’s just something about a Big Muff that screams romance-gone-awry… Massachusetts-based act Paper Lady crank up the fuzz on latest single, “Starcross,” a scathing account of a farmer who (star)crossed the wrong lover. Singer Alli Raina’s vocals lay perfectly atop the buzz saw guitars and angry drum bombast, creating a sound that’s equal parts alt-rock and shoegaze. Feedback squalls and walls of guitar distortion will have you thinking of Pity Sex, My Bloody Valentine, and Nothing as you lay back and let PL’s sound tear up your heartbroken soul. You can find “Starcross” on Spotify, Instagram, and their website. Check out the YouTube embed below.

Isaiah Josiah – “Dumb To Fly”

May 15, 2023

Providence’s Isaiah Josiah is a bit of an enigma – one listen to his latest single “Dumb To Fly” will have you knowing exactly what we mean. “Dumb” is a pleasantly verbose song that falls somewhere near the cross sections of post-punk, hip hop, and synthed-out indie rock. Squiggly keyboards, punchy Casio-keyboard drumbeats, and Josiah’s enigmatic wordplay will leave you stunned as they fly (pun intended) in and out of your ears and leave you wondering how this could possibly be his debut single(!). If you’re into tongue-in-cheek or slightly self-deprecating vibes (think LCD Soundsystem or Viagara Boys), we think Isaiah’s got something up his sleeve for you. You can find “Dumb To Fly” on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube.

k0d4m4 – “valkyrie”

May 15, 2023

It’s fitting that a song as mysterious sounding as “valkyrie” would come from an artist as mystifying as k0d4m4. Walking a fine line between haunting, ominous, and gorgeous, “valkyrie” takes elements from witch house, darkwave, and 8-bit music and combines it into a song about arguably the least electronic thing in the world – k0d4m4 explains below: “[‘valkyrie’ is about] a valkyrie, as in norse mythology, taking a fallen warrior to valhalla” Dark, danceable, and gauzy, “valkyrie” makes you want to dance just as much as it makes you question your reality – fans of Crystal Castles, Crim3s, or Pastel Ghost are going to love this one. Check it out below via the YouTube widget, or, check out k0d4m4’s latest album, white hearts, upon which “valkyrie” resides.

Frogs Show Mercy – “Stallion”

May 15, 2023

Miami-based Frogs Show Mercy are back with another spastic jam that is sure to scratch all of your basement show itches. If you remember our previous feature of FSM (ICYMI, see here), you already know that they specialize in pleasantly-wonky indiemo compositions reminiscent of The Dismemberment Plan, Cap’n Jazz, or DIIV. “Stallion” continues that trend with a hint of post-punk angularity, pairing clean guitar plucks with nimble bass theatrics and a guttural howl that’s as emotional as it is intense. The band completed the song in a single, fateful night, and the of-the-moment urgency of the song’s composition clearly shines through in the finished product. You can find “Stallion” on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube.