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.
Hammok – Look How Long Lasting Everything Is Moving Forward
On Hammok’s debut LP, the Norwegian punks throws everything at the wall. Look How Long Lasting Everything Is Moving Forward careens from blackened hardcore (“Long Lasting,” “Nothing’s Never Better”) to garage rock anthems (“Wannabe (Billboard No. 1”) to straightforward pit-starters (“Trap Door”). Everybody’s been talking about hardcore these days, and Hammok’s one of the most exciting new bands in the genre.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Perennial – Lemon on Plastic
Perennial just dropped a five-minute EP that is like a sound collage inspired by art movements, and the first song just kicked me down the stairs, shoved me in my car, and made me drive 90 mph. Okay, that last part might be untrue, but it sure felt true as the pummeling garage rock riffs and jittery, bombastic beat of “Art History” definitely made me lose my mind for a 65 seconds. For fans of: art, counting, jumping up and down like a maniac at 8 in the morning, things that are LOUD.
Jami Fowler | @audiocurio
Willow Avalon – Stranger
After dropping singles in collaboration with some of our favorite Run For Cover artists, Willow Avalon has dropped her debut album, Stranger. It’s the perfect spring release to help shed our winter coats with its twang inspired track list that will satiate fans of Field Medic and First Aid Kit.
Kyle Musser | @godvfwine
Shell – The Need to Separate
Shell’s new EP The Need to Separate pulls together the murky atmosphere of shoegaze and the lacerating heaviness of post-hardcore in a way that doesn’t feel derivative of a past era. These songs are dark and punishing, but the production blunts it just enough to let the hooks shine through.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
32elephants – “New Wave Summer”
32elephants caught my ear with their first single “New Wave Summer” at the start of the year and has perhaps singlehandedly carried me all through the winter since. It’s the sort of sunshine-laced emo that feels addictive in its vibrancy and simple longing. If I didn’t know this was from a band in the Netherlands I would have believed them to be a new local act in Southern California.
Loan Pham | @x_loanp
Late Bloomer – Another One Again
It’s often a bad sign when it takes a band six years to follow up a record; Another One Again is an exception. Late Bloomer’s fourth LP is their best work to date, from the clean shimmer of opener “Self Control” through the jangling “Behind Your Ear” to closer “Bright Kid,” one of the most aggressive tracks in their catalog. About a third of these songs incorporate pedal steel, too ,which adds a depth to their sound and gives them a rustic quality. Fans of anyone from Superchunk to The Replacements to The Sidekicks can find something to love in Another One Again.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
bby – kill me
The newest single from bby is helping ensure that this band stays on our radar and is keeping us excited for what comes next. Any fans of Foster the People’s Torches should point their attention to this.
Kyle Musser | @godvfwine
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