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.
Vivat Virtute – June First
Vivat Virtute is the newest project from John K. Samson of The Weakerthans and Christine Fellows. June First dropped without fanfare on, uh, June first, and it’s three lovely tracks of gentle folk. It isn’t terribly far from the sound of Samson’s 2016 LP Winter Wheat, and it’s always comforting hearing his reedy, expressive voice and hyper-specific songwriting.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Carlotta Schmidt – Carlotta Schmidt
Carlotta Schmidt’s self-titled debut album has a simple yet venust jazz rock sound that foregrounds her expansive voice. Three of the ten songs are catchy originals, and the seven covers are faithful and give a welcome Margo-Price-but-from-Jersey vibe. I predict that this album will be Carlotta’s curtain raiser.
Anne Hurban | @fyrbrdtransanne
nervous – “sunburnt”
On their first-ever single, Austin’s nervous deliver a hazy, heavy slice of ’90s-indebted alt rock, building from a slight, arpeggiated and vaguely alt-country intro to a climactic, gazey finale. On “sunburnt,” they’re as jittery and tightly-wound as their name implies.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Indigo Moiré – How Do I Keep My Head Above Water?
To say Indigo Moiré’s debut LP How Do I Keep My Head Above Water? throws back to the crunchy stylings of early 2010s stalwarts like Balance and Composure or Citizen wouldn’t be wrong, but it’d sell the band short. It’s true they’ve gotten far more aggressive since 2019’s Minestone–”Bless This House” introducing some grunge flavor, “Brand New Day” channeling some heartland rock–but they’ve retained some of the bounce and brightness of that EP. “Time Bomb” is smeared with shoegaze tones, and singles “The Taste of It” and “Whole, Again” are the catchiest tracks the Indonesian three-piece have ever put to tape, and “Chimera” ends the record with a triumphant moonshot riff.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Gaadge – “Oh Wonder”
Heavy but melodious, Gaadge’s hazy speed run “Oh Wonder” is rock and roll how it’s meant to be, the type of shit Joan Jett would play on the jukebox. A tune that’s in and out in under two minutes, “Oh Wonder” will have you hitting replay if just to follow the path the lead guitar cuts through crunch. It’s the first track off Gaadge’s upcoming Somewhere Down Below, out in August.
Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
Bedroom Eyes – “Brood”
“Brood,” the first cut off Bedroom Eyes’ upcoming sophomore album Turned Away, is soft, pillowy shoegaze that packs far more of a punch than most of the band’s contemporaries. The track flits on a dime between lilting verses and angular, brutal bursts of feedback, and it’s a lovely mix.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Fox Wound – Death Blossoms in a Trauma Year
Fox Wound commits to full-on screamo on Death Blossoms in a Trauma Year. It’s the band’s most punishing–and most thrilling–release yet. The five-minute “Congregation of Dunces” pulls some sludge into the mix, and “Pale Flame” and “Coup d’état” lull you in with sparkling riffs before tearing the whole thing down with searing shrieks.
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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