Posted: by The Editor
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.
You Could Be a Cop – “Does Everybody Dream? Pt. 2”
Following the release of their comprehensive Collected Discography, You Could Be a Cop seemed to be done. So the release of the eight-plus-minute single “Does Everybody Dream? Pt. 2” is a bit of a surprise. Like the 13-minute original track, it incorporates some post-rock flair, and like most of their post-self-titles material, it features contributions from friends, in this case Linn Frøkedal, Mathias Østrem, and Sjur Lyseid. It’s a beautiful track overall—hopefully it isn’t the last we’ll hear of the Norwegian brother duo, but if it is, it’s a perfect sendoff.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Money – “Flacco”
Some of the best alternative rock is currently coming straight from Oklahoma, and Money have been one of the bands to look out for after they debuted a self-titled EP on Sunday Drive Records last year. Their new single “Flacco” builds on their previous work and retains their post-grunge stylings with chunky basslines, mid-tempo drum beats, and heavy melodic guitars but leans into an overall cleaner sound with vocals coming through brighter than before and a higher quality of production. Money would easily appeal to fans of the current string of alternative rock bands like Narrow Head and Fleshwater.
Loan Pham | @senseofexile
Taking Meds – “Memory Lane”
“Memory Lane” is every song you half remember your older sibling playing growing up. The best song Taking Meds has ever released, it’s fuzzy and catchy and timeless. It’s a nice reminder that a great song doesn’t always need layers and frills—sometimes it can just rock.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Tiny Voices – “Minnesota? Wild.”
Our Weekly Roundup editor Zac Djamoos premiered Tiny Voice’s “Minnesota? Wild.” last week, but I wanted to add a hearty cosign if even just for the gamut of riffs run through in the song. It’s one of those great emo tunes that would work well enough with the epistolary lyrics and crunchy rhythm guitars, but gains an extra layer from the winding lead lines that are impressive without being intrusive, peeking out from the back of the mix at just the right moments.
Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
Superbloom – “Head First”
The first song on Superbloom’s first record was called “1994,” and that’s exactly what they sound like. Of all the modern day grunge disciples, they’re probably the band that comes closest to actually recreating that sound and aesthetic rather than sounding like Hum or if a shoegaze band was angry. Their newest single, “Head First,” pulls a little bit from the spacier styles many of their peers operate in, but it never sacrifices the grit that helped them stand out in the first place. Alongside the previously released “Daisy” and “Falling Up,” it’s a hint that the band’s upcoming Life’s a Blur will be even better than their debut.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Personal Damage – Atrophy & Entropy
Personal Damage is hardcore punk in a classical sense. On Atrophy & Entropy, they avoid hulking breakdowns for something that calls to mind first-wave hardcore. I specifically hear a lot of California in their approach, recalling early Dead Kennedys and Circle Jerks. There’s just as much a focus on melodic phrasings as speed, making for something that feels quaint in the modern hardcore context.
Hugo Reyes @hvreyes5
Midwife & Vyva Melinkolya – “NMP”
The collaboration between Madeline Johnston of Midwife and Angel Diaz of Vyva Melinkolya draws on each artist’s strengths in crafting ominous and ambient slowcore. First single “NMP,” off the upcoming EP Orbweaving out on May 12th, is a spacey desolate track where Johnston’s angelic voice gently pleads before rising to a crescendo of promises to be good, to be kind. It plays out like a lone radio signal that’s trying to make contact as it slowly thrums through the airwaves for anyone lost in the same liminal spaces between the not quite and the no longer there.
Loan Pham | @senseofexile
PINK MEXICO – “Dungeonhead”
PINK MEXICO’s “Dungeonhead” is an enticing bit of moody, doomer shoegaze. The despairing refrain of “in a strange town / in a time that’s fucking stranger / and I don’t know why I’m still here / anymore / in a strange world / in a time that’s fucking stranger / and I don’t know why we’re still here / anymore” is largely echoed in the feeling of the music, with the soaring, snyth-soaked bridge being the exception—the only moment of hope sneaking through the eve-of-the-apocalypse atmosphere PINK MEXICO invokes.
Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
Patch Kid – “Double Knot”
Patch Kid really goes for it on “Double Knot.” It’s math emo dialed up to 11, played at breakneck speed as though the future is cancelled and this is their last shot. It helps, too, that the song’s hook is undeniable.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
The Alternative’s ‘New Music Friday’ playlist
Each week our editor Lindsy Carrasquillo compiles 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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