The Alt Weekly Roundup (11/22)
Posted: by The Editor
The Popdosemagazine 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.
Snarls – What About Flowers?
What About Flowers? takes the pristine indie rock of Snarls’ debut Burst and beefs it all up. The hooks pop more, like on opener “Fixed Gear,” and the riffs hit harder, like on the dreampop-influenced “For You,” and the five-minute “Sparkling” might well be the best Snarls track yet, a shimmering ballad that builds to a showstopping finish.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
King of Nowhere – “real men”
King of Nowhere’s “real men” is a slow builder, starting with a swaying vocal melody and sparse instrumentation. The guitars open up bit by bit as the song goes along before vocalist Jesse French delivers the line, “your shirt said real men wear pink / I said it would suck to be gay / welcome to the USA” in an almost broken whisper and the song explodes into a ripping guitar solo. It’s emotional and it rocks — a good sign for the group’s upcoming record
Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
dltzk – Frailty
Frailty fits that hyperpop mold, more or less, an album of fits and starts and deep-fried beats and modulated vocals and bubblegum hooks. But dltzk manages to stand out in a gthe enre predicated on standing out with the almost mixtape-like feel of Frailty. Songs flit from acoustic intros to chiptune bridges to electronic dance panic attacks – and that’s all just “misplace.” Other songs, like “movies for guys,” sound like if The 1975’s two modes, pop banger and piano ballad, played over one another, or if 100 gecs decided they wanted to go for radio airtime (“pretender”).
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Etai – “Tree”
Etai’s new “Tree” is a freak-folk track par excellence, a weirdo acoustic song that contorts from a simple ballad to a twisty jam. Extra points for a career-best vocal performance from Etai, too.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Guitar Fight from Fooly Cooly – “Pyramid”
Guitar Fight from Fooly Cooly dropped an absolute ripper with “Pyramid.” Everything that made Soak great is here—brutal riffs, intense vocals, the manic rhythm section. The track takes a left turn after the line, “yeah I’ve got a problem / no I won’t solve it / drink another drink while my liver resolves it” and the riffs turn even more ferocious. It’s the first single off their upcoming EP drought, which should not be one to miss.
Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
Crash the Calm – A Town Named Nowhere, Vol. III
The third installment of Crash the Calm’s A Town Named Nowhere EP series is noticeably less heavy than the second, owing less to early 2000s post-hardcore groups like Thrice and Glassjaw than to airier and more ethereal projects like La Dispute or the recent work of Trophy Scars. It’s the most the band’s work has crossed over with emo, and the slightly softer and more melodic direction works wonders for the Long Island group.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Thank You Thank You – Undiminished Life b/w Look Alive
Two of the recommended albums on Thank You Thank You’s Bandcamp page are Low’s Hey What and Strange Ranger’s No Light in Heaven (on which Tyler Bussey performed). If those two albums were put together, the result might be something similar to “Undiminished Light,” the A-side of Thank You Thank You’s newest single. It combines the noisy hum of the former with the buoyant, untethered jaunt of the latter, all held together with Bussey’s knack for melody. The B-side, “Look Alive,” is an ambient instrumental track that provides a softer counterpoint to “Undiminished Life”’s trancelike buzz.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
The Popdosemagazine’s ‘New Music Friday’ playlist
Each week our editor Lindsy Carrasquillo compiles a playlist of songs our staff has been jamming. We’ll post it on Fridays on Twitter and then include it in each edition of the ‘Weekly Roundup’ to make sure you don’t miss all of the great music we’re recommending.
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