Posted: by The Alt Editing Staff
The Alternative Weekly Roundup is a column where our staff plugs a variety of new releases in a concise, streamlined format: albums, singles, videos, live sets. Check back each Monday to see what we were jamming the week prior.
Arranged in April – “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie”
Four months after their exceptional debut, San Antonio four-piece Arranged in April is keeping up the momentum with a new single. “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie” is a tense, spindly slice of screamo that festers over its three minutes until the band just can’t take it anymore. Arranged in April is one of the most exciting new bands in the ever-popular emo scene, and “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie” is proof that their LP Rooted in Desire wasn’t just a fluke: they’re the real deal.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Total Wife – “peaches”
Ahead of their upcoming album Come Back Down, Total Wife’s final single crystallizes the Nashville duo’s collage of power pop, shoegaze, and electronica. Atmospheric synths submit to white-hot guitar, embodying the hurricane that canceled the session where they ultimately wrote “peaches.” When composer/producer Luna Kupper began to fall asleep during late-night mixing sessions, the songs followed her into the space between dreams and reality. A self-described “psychological mixer,” their immersive music straddles varying states of consciousness.
Giliann Karon
Maura Weaver – “The Face”
“The Face” is one of the biggest, brashest songs Maura Weaver’s released since leaving the pop-punk band Mixtapes years ago. The final single from her upcoming Strange Devotion juxtaposes Weaver’s breathy, weightless voice with a crisp heartland rock riff, resulting in her best track to date.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Just Penelope – “June July”
Just Penelope, a trio of Indiana University music students, flex their storytelling skills on their debut single “June, July.” Thumping bass propels forward the swirling vocals, while lyrics wrestle with the transition to young adulthood. According to vocalist/guitarist Ella Curiel, who wrote the track about a skateboarding injury following a parental argument, “chaos has a certain swagger to it that makes you forget the consequences of your erratic actions.”
Giliann Karon
Aren’t We Amphibians – “This Is Teamwork!”
The second single from Aren’t We Amphibians’ upcoming debut album sounds like 2019 in the best way possible. “This Is Teamwork!” echoes the tuneful, mathy emo that Macseal and Charmer were coasting on in those days, and the tasteful horns lend the song a jaunty energy.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
The Alternative’s ‘New Music Friday’ playlist
Each week we compile a playlist of songs our staff has been jamming. We post it on Fridays 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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