The Alt Weekly Roundup (4/1)
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.
Slingshot Dakota — “Louder”
The triumphant return from power-pop duo Slingshot Dakota is fittingly titled. “Louder” features pounding drum fills, a bombastic hook, and massive, screeching keyboard strokes that pierce through its momentous climax. It’s wild how much noise this band makes with just those two instruments, and “Louder” is merely one of many snippets of grandeur from their forthcoming record, Heavy Banding.
Eli Enis | @eli_enis
Self Defense Family — “Awaiting Acknowledgement”
One of the most prolific—and perhaps most innovative —punk bands of our time is back. Self Defense Family will release Performative Guilt in April, but until then “Awaiting Acknowledgement” should be enough to tide fans over. The song is a mid-tempo elegy to a dead friend and will easily go down among the band’s best.
Zac Djamoos | @greatwhitebison
Brutus — Nest
Belgium trio Brutus have released one of the best sophomore albums in recent memory. Nest is earnestly crafted in experimentation, building off the band’s reputation of being a whirlwind fusion of punk and metal. Drummers are often the most dynamic and important element to a band yet can often be criminally overlooked. Stefanie Mannaerts is an undeniable force providing a hodgepodge of fervor and skill behind the kit, as well as vocally.
Tyler Holland | @InTyler_WeTrust
Animal House — “What’s Going On Outside?”
Animal House’s new single “What’s Going on Outside?” is your classic surf-rock track, with gritty guitar riffs and lyrics that hardly hold a deeper meaning. In a good way.
Bineet Kaur | @hellobineet
Blush — Forever Is a Long Time
Not to be confused with, like, the dozen other bands named some variation of “blush,” “blushing,” or “blushed,” the Brooklyn band Blush put out one of the most slept-on albums of 2017’s back half. Now, the songwriting project of Maura Lynch has returned with two new tracks that, together, find the band’s sweet spot between biting and soothing. And it’s somewhere in the middle of dream pop and indie-rock.
Eli Enis | @eli_enis
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