The Alt Weekly Roundup (12/20)
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.
Owel – “Beneath the Static Haze”
Owel’s newest single demonstrates how good the band can sound even if they strip away their classic theatrical sound and go with a more traditional indie pop sound. “Beneath the Static Haze” is jam-packed than most of Owel’s music, but it shows they’re good at anything they try their hand at.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Bob Barnett – “When I Am No More”
“When I Am No More” is a totally new sound for Bob Barnett, the furthest possible cry from the scrappy punk of Captain We’re Sinking or the singer-songwriter tenderness of his last LP Little Wounds. It’s a straight-up indie pop song, stuffed to the gills with jitters and synths. What’s even more shocking than the style change, though, is how well he pulls it off.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Drafting – Everything Is Coming Up
Drafting’s debut EP is dreary and melancholic, as slowcore tends to be; “Chasing the Clouds” is a great showcase of the Kentucky band can take the straightforward wintry sounds pioneered by Codeine and Low and bring it into the 2020s, but it’s a song like “Ordinary” that helps Everything Is Coming Up stand out. It’s far, far more energetic than the genre usually suggests, borrowing more from the heavy riffs of Seam’s harder material than the more typical, sparser end of the spectrum.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Posture & the Grizzly – Posture & the Grizzly
Posture & the Grizzly’s 2016 LP I Am Satan is something of a cult classic for a certain cult of lower-fi pop-punk fans, and the wait for their third record’s been excruciating. Luckily, Posture & the Grizzly delivers. It’s that sugar-rush of eclectic, off-the-wall pop-punk fans have been craving for half a decade, done like only the Connecticut four-piece can.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Gordon Phillips – “The Hotel”
Gordon Phillips is having a hell of a year. Between releasing one of the year’s best records with Downhaul and putting out an excellent split with Signals Midwest’s Maxwell Stern, it’s been a great year for Phillips’ music – but he’s not done yet. He’s closing out 2021 with a new solo single called “The Hotel,” which really throws itself headlong into the alt-country currents that presented themselves on You Are With Me. Like on that EP, it’s a really fitting sound with Phillips’ distinct voice and nostalgic lyrics.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Overgrow – “Spit”
Overgrow’s music is perfect for the end of the year, a comforting blend of catchy pop rock, triumphant post-rock, and spacey indie rock. “Spit” is one of the project’s best songs, a track that captures all those traits Overgrow does well. Whenever their first real LP does drop, it’s sure to be a masterpiece if its singles are any indication.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Worst Party Ever – Dartland
Worst Party Ever’s debut LP has to have been one of 2021’s most anticipated records, and the Michigan-by-way-of-Seattle emo troupe is up to the task. Dartland is far different from the band’s earlier, more singer-songwriter type EPs, but it displays a growth and a restraint that makes up for the change. It feels like it’s an artifact from another era, years ago, some sort of mix between Tigers Jaw’s Charmer and Joyce Manor’s Cody with little less bite and a little more tension.
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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