The Alt Weekly Roundup (4/27)
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.
Knifeplay—B-sides & Rarities
On their great 2019 album Pearlty and their also great 2017 EP No Funeral, Knifeplay stayed true to their name and juggled sinister slowcore and damp, noisy shoegaze with an aura that threatened to draw blood. But on the B-sides & Rarities comp they quietly dropped over the weekend, the Philly band open their sound up to dejected folk, rotted indie-rock, and ambient noise music. It’s some of the best material they’ve ever released, and the Bandcamp liner notes indicate everything was recorded between 2014 and 2020, so some of these songs may signal a new direction to the project.
Eli Enis | @eli_enis
Skullcrusher—”Places / Plans”
Skullcrusher, the project of LA’s Helen Ballentine has shared the first single from her debut EP. Despite the name, Skullcrusher’s music is decidedly reserved. “Places / Plans” is a clean and stirring song, and Ballantine’s voice hangs in the air like a ghost in the corner of your room.
Eric Bennett | @seething_coast
Jónsi—”Exhale”
Sigur Rós’ Jónsi’s new single isn’t too far off his band’s brand of shimmery post-rock, but it’s fresh enough not to sound like a Sigur Rós cut. Co-produced by A.G. Cook of PC Music, “Exhale” is a slowburn of ambient beats and Jónsi’s soothing falsetto, ever-building to a conclusion that feels at once massive and comfortingly intimate.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Field Medic—”-h-o-u-s-e-k-e-y-z”
Field Medic shared “-h-o-u-s-e-k-e-y-z”, a spiky indie-folk song. The lush sound isn’t much of an indicator of this, but it’s a song about being furious.
Bineet Kaur | @hellobineet
H A U N T E R—“Swim”
The first single from H A U N T E R’s upcoming debut LP wafts in and out in perfect keeping with the gaseous specter from whom the project takes its name. Featuring vocals from Nature Shots, “Swim” is suspended between jittery jazz drums and synthesizers bubbling at a low boil. It’s over quickly like a fleeting visit from a ghost you hope will return very soon.
Jordan Walsh | @jordalsh
Alenni—”Used To”
Alenni is the solo project of Another Michael member Alenni Davis, and her new single “Used To” arrived three years to the day from her last release. The track beams with bright, silvery synths, and Davis’ voice calls to mind Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner. Full of calmness and melancholy, it’s perfect for listening to while curled up in bed.
Eric Bennett | @seething_coast
Provoker track—”Since Then”
The latest track from L.A.’s Provoker is a wiry post-punk song with a spastic drum machine beat, streaky guitar leads, and a rubbery bassline holding it all together. It’s a simultaneously disorienting and hypnotic composition, as the vocals wash in and out within the mix as additional instrumental layers are added, but the sturdy melody never ceases to glimmer through it all. It’s a weird one, in a good way.
Eli Enis | @eli_enis
Richard Edwards—”Inchyra Blue”
For as prolific as he is, Richard Edwards seems to never quite get the attention he deserves. The Margo & the Nuclear So and So’s frontman’s latest solo single “Inchyra Blue” is a beautiful ballad that’s great for soundtracking a rainy day indoors – so it’s perfect for quarantine. “This ain’t the time for me to fall in love,” Edwards declares in the first verse, and he couldn’t be any more right.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Worrystone—”Waking World”
Coming to you like a vision from the haziest, dreamiest beach afternoon, the first single “Waking World” by Worrystone feels like watching the ebb and flow of ocean waves while you’re wrapped in your favorite blanket. It’s comforting, calming, curious, and all painted in sunset reds and purples.
Olivia Keasling | @residentkilljoy
The World Is A Beautiful Place…—”In Circles” (Sunny Day Real Estate cover)
I don’t think I could have identified a more perfect band to cover Sunny Day Real Estate’s indelible classic “In Circles” than The World is a Beautiful Place. A cover that deviates just enough from the raw nature of the original, TWIABP pulls “In Circles” into the mystical, high-definition theater of Sunny Day’s underappreciated The Rising Tide.
Jordan Walsh | @jordalsh
Destroy Boys—”Honey I’m Home”
Destroy Boys’ latest single “Honey I’m Home” captures the triumph of leaving a situation that made you feel belittled. It’s rollicking and seizing, pulling from both punk and rock and roll stylings.
Bineet Kaur | @hellobineet
The Alternative’s ‘New Music Friday’ playlist
Each week our editor Lindsy Carrasquillo compiles a playlist of songs our staff has been jamming. We’ll post it on Fridays on Twitter and then include it in each edition of the ‘Weekly Roundup’ to make sure you don’t miss all of the great music we’re recommending.
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