The Alt Weekly Roundup (3/30)
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, and live sets. Check back each Monday to see what we were jamming the week prior.
Car Seat Headrest—”Martin”
“Martin,” the newest single from Car Seat Headrest, barely sounds like them. But I gotta say, the band’s newfound restraint is a good look. Will Toledo’s whispery vocals mesh well with the horns that pop up in the bridge, and its relatively short run-time makes it extremely re-playable.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Melkbelly—”Sickeningly Teeth”
Melkbelly have released another single from their upcoming sophomore record, and it shifts from dreamy to nightmarish in mere seconds. “Sickeningly Teeth” keeps the listener on their toes, and contains a fire within it that feels like needed catharsis for our dark times.
Eric Bennett | @seething_coast
Manchester Orchestra—Who Is Your Humble? (Demos 2006-2007)
As any Manchester Orchestra fan knows, there are nearly a hundred unreleased demos locked away somewhere on Andy Hull’s computer. He’s been hinting on Twitter that he’ll finally be releasing them, and he’s just dropped Who Is Your Humble? (Demos 2006–2007) on Bandcamp to quell any doubt. A portion of the proceeds from the acoustic album are going to charities helping people deal with the coronavirus, so if you can spare a couple of dollars for a piece of indie rock history, you really should. It’s worth it.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Easy Sleeper—3:45
Easy Sleeper bill themselves as a band that’s influenced by Real Estate, Omni and Algernon Cadwallader; a beautifully peculiar grab bag of sounds that confirms emo’s infiltration of the commonplace indie-rock canon. The band’s two-song debut offers a glimpse at what this brave new world sounds like; guitars splashed with a tasteful jangle; accentuated basslines that bear the brunt of the melody; and scruffy vocals that dare to crackle emotively but instead retain their La-Z-Boy composure. It’s Midwest emo skill crossed with post-chillwave indie craft, and it’s the goddamn future.
Eli Enis | @eli_enis
Trace Mountains—”Me & May”
Trace Mountains’ new album is shaping up to be their best yet.“Me & May,” the band’s latest single, is a gorgeous lullaby. As songwriter Dave Benton sings about “the world you’re making every day and the one that always gets away,” it’s a nice reminder that, however insane the world might seem today, a better one is always possible.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Damper—”Skin Whispered Bark”
The abrupt transitions that Damper makes on “Skin Whispered Bark” may seem a little jarring at first, but there’s something enticing about the San Francisco group’s desire to cram a lot of big ideas into one song. From a capella harmonies to Look Mexico-esque emo/math rock to high-powered yelping and back, Damper takes many surprising turns on “Skin Whispered Bark,” and they all lead to one very exciting track.
Jordan Walsh | @jordalsh
Maxwell Stern—”Water Tower”
As the vocalist in Signals Midwest and Meridian, and a member of Timeshares, Maxwell Stern has been around the block. He’s also been dribbling material onto Bandcamp since 2014, and “Water Tower” is his latest and first for Lauren Records. The punk musician takes a more singer-songwriter approach on this one, a brisk mid-tempo rocker in the vein of Bright Eyes or The Weakerthans.
Eli Enis | @eli_enis
Cheesemind—”Say Good Bye”
Cheesemind, an indie rock band from Amoy, China, really deliver some excellent vibes on “Say Good Bye.” The track is from the group’s recently released Say Good Bye Enterprise, and it boogies in a laid-back kind of way; a blissed-out guitar and trumpet harmony adding a little something extra to bop along to. This song feels good. I think we need a couple songs that feel good right now.
Jordan Walsh | @jordalsh
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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