Posted: by The Alt Editing Staff
The Alternative Weekly Roundup is a column where our staff plugs a variety of new releases in a concise, streamlined format. Albums, singles, videos, and live sets. Check back each Monday to see what we were jamming the week prior.
Shelby Smoak – “Dancing”
Shelby Smoak’s “Dancing” is intimate and tender—the instruments are simplistic and ride the wave of a steady bassline, while the lyrics are just as sweet as they are confident beside rhythmic chords. It builds into a hearfetl ballad and when I listen to it, it sounds like the opening track to a roadtrip movie—one where I’m going after my girl who got away, and I’ll get to see her again, eventually.
Ryleigh Wann | @wannderfullll
Trauma Ray – “Bishop”
If you’re over heavy shoegaze at this point, I get it, but Trauma Ray has the juice. They’ve just announced their debut LP Chameleon and along with it released its first single. “Bishop” is as loud and noisy, yes, but more than that it’s ominous and tense, paperthin vocals barely a whisper over frothing guitars. They’ve been at it for six years now, and it’s pretty obvious that Trauma Ray’s leading the pack.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Illiterates – Tour Tape 24
Illiterates write the kind of low-IQ hardcore that I can listen to over and over without getting tired of it. The new tour tape isn’t that different from last year’s very underrated record. It is roots hardcore, with a vocal delivery showing obvious affection for Ray Cappo and every band that followed, trying to capture the magic of Youth of Today. I almost have as much fun listening to the covers on the tour tape as the originals. A CCR cover is certainly a choice.
Hugo Reyes | @hvreyes5
Ten Years Out – Ten Years Out
If you liked the Drive-Thru Records catalog twenty years ago or if you attended the Koyo/One Step Closer/Anxious triple-headline tour, you’ll enjoy Ten Years Out. It’s pop-punk with enough fury to still fall under the punk umbrella–especially during the breakdowns in “Second Chance” and “381”–and it sounds as fresh as it does timeless.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
powerline traps airplane – “attic cigs”
The latest single from powerline traps airplane is “attic cigs” and this one has been on repeat all weekend. Maybe it’s in culmination with the sturgeon moon/supermoon/blue moon happening tonight, but the energy has been a bit wonky lately. “attic cigs” has been a grounding force—the mix of nostalgia and straightforward lyrics come at the cusp of summer’s end and the beginning of fall. Lyrics like “talking to your ghost through a code of smoke signals” preface the strike of two mingling guitar notes, but keep pace with the harmonies. powerline traps airplane has an album out in September on Candlepin Records, and be sure to check out “live laugh disassociate,” the other single from earlier this summer.
Ryleigh Wann | @wannderfullll
Thotcrime – Connection Anxiety
Connection Anxiety pushes Thotcrime’s cyber-sass sound even further than 2022’s masterful D1G1T4L_DR1FT did; “Behind the Cracks” pits electronic breakdowns against sugary hooks and shrieks, the title track smashes pop-metalcore into pieces and then dances on its grave, and “Beyond the Journey’s End” imagines a pit in the middle of the club. It’s a wild listen.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
The Alternative’s ‘New Music Friday’ playlist
Each week we compile a playlist of songs our staff has been jamming. We post it on Fridays on Twitter and then include it in each edition of the Weekly Roundup to make sure you don’t miss any of the great music we’re recommending.
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