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.
A Country Western – Life on the Lawn
A Country Western’s Life on the Lawn exists at the center of where indie rock is in 2024. On their third LP, they fold tasteful alt-country (“The Spine,” “Wasting the Weekends”) and sunny guitar pop (“The Dreamer,” “Magnetic”) into their blown-out shoegaze. It’s an unexpected pivot from one of the more interesting bands in the Philly shoegaze scene (and “How Far” proves they’ve still got that), but it’s a supremely rewarding listen.
Zac Djamoos |@gr8whitebison
Lester – Lost in Thought
The debut EP from Lester is a great sampler of the types of emo they do well: “Fireworks” is a great slice of ’90s emo-punk, say, and “Film” goes all-in on math rock. All of it is pulled off expertly.
Zac Djamoos |@gr8whitebison
Resignation / Family Medicine – Long, Distant Letter
Long, Distant Letter, the new split from Ohio’s Resignation and Missouri’s Family Medicine, throws it back to the early days of emo, when it was still coming to its own out of punk and hardcore. Resignation’s half is emo-punk par excellence, redolent of groups like Samiam or Texas Is the Reason, and Family Medicine’s contributions are two powerful shots of melodic hardcore – and they go together perfectly.
Zac Djamoos |@gr8whitebison
bonus – “Bug”
Only a month after their excellent was a dog EP, Miami’s bonus is back with a killer new track. “Bug” builds off the queasy emo template of bonus’ debut, beefing things up with a huge chorus and a fuzzy, bouncy lead riff.
Zac Djamoos |@gr8whitebison
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