The Alt Weekly Roundup (11/25)
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.
Romantic States — Ballerina
Although Romantic States have been putting out music for the last decade, their new album Ballerina is the first time the Baltimore duo made it onto my radar. Their bare, intimate sound would fit nicely on the Double Double Whammy roster of the mid-2010’s (Frankie Cosmos, early Florist, Told Slant, Free Cake For Every Creature, etc.) but the vocal delivery is more weathered and less youthfully twee. The arrangements are decidedly minimal but the songs are rhythmic and trance-like if you just let ’em spin for a while.
Eli Enis | @eli_enis
glass beach — “classic j dies and goes to hell part 1” Official Music Video
I was recommended glass beach earlier this month in a Twitter thread where I asked what albums came out this year that not enough people are talking about. Before I knew it, I was being sucked into a dreamy and chill, but exhilarating world and had the first glass beach album on repeat. And then the band signed to Run For Cover records and released the video for “classic j dies and goes to hell part 1”, the album’s five minute opening track that gives you a sneak peek at the rollercoaster ride that is the rest of the record. I’m still not sure exactly what glass beach is, but the mystery is certainly part of the fun.
Scott Fugger | @scoober1013
gun jr — “xbipolarbearx”
Mineral Girls, the oft-overlooked scraggly punk/emo heroes of Charlotte, NC, were known for rousing anthems, their raw production, and a jaded pathos that ran like an exposed electrical wire through their lyrics that reportedly caused at least one label to pass on the band. It makes perfect sense that the next project from members of Mineral Girls would be even more raw and jaded. The lead track of gun jr’s new two song EP is alternately despondent and chaotic, the guitars hashing out an angry basement argument, shit crashing and exploding as singer Brett Greent moans “Is this my dream or yours, maaannnnnn.”
Keegan Bradford | @franziamom
Weathering — “I Come Down”/”New Air”
Emo group Weathering shared a pair of simmered, smoky songs molded by reverberated riffage that provide drive and momentum. The songwriting melds symbolism with narration, like in standout line “my footprints in the soft earth of your front yard”.
Bineet Kaur | @hellobineet
Downhaul — Tornado Season
Downhaul put out a standout album this year called Before You Fall Asleep and now they’re back to tie up the record cycle with a new EP. Tornado Season’s two new tracks are a continuation of the twangy emo sound the band brought to fruition in the debut LP while the four-track re-imaginations of “Old Wood” and “Balcony” show off the fact that Downhaul’s music can shine in any sonic setting.
Scott Fugger | @scoober1013
This Strange Paradise — “Comfort”
Albany-based indie rock band, This Strange Paradise just released their first single through the Saint Rose college’s record label. With a big room sound and driven guitar leads, the song rattles like a blues track with tones similar to those of Turnover.
Luciano Ferrara | @lucianorferrara
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