The Alt Weekly Roundup (5/30)
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.
Public Opinion – Modern Convenience
It’s fitting the first lyrics you hear on Public Opinion’s Modern Convenience are a howling “I hate the the way that you are, where you’re heads at / where you’re headed and where you’ve been,” as the group embraces the sleazy huge guitars, bombastic drums, and cranked up bass of early 2k garage rock revival with a ferocious punk edge on the EP. There’s a brashness and rawness to the whole thing that makes for a great fifteen minutes or so of no-nonsense rock.
Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
Short Fictions – “The Great Unwashed”
If you’ve been surprised by the poppier direction Short Fictions have taken on the first two singles from Every Moment of Every Day, then “The Great Unwashed” is for you. It taps back into that screamo urgency that marked their first releases, and it’s even got a tense, tremulous interpolation of the classic union anthem “Solidarity Forever” to drive the whole thing home.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Martha – “Please Don’t Take Me Back”
Listening to the new Martha track kind of feels like seeing an old friend for the first time in years and immediately falling back into your old rhythm with them. The group sounds as great as ever on the anti-nostalgic “Please Don’t Take Me Back,” with an infectious strumming pattern and some sick lead lines from the guitars. At a tight two minutes, it’s hard not to keep hitting play again and again on this tune.
Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
Petrol – Cheap Hotel
Petrol’s Cheap Hotel is as dark and dingy as the name and cover art suggest—and it’s a thrill. The slow creep of “Not Today” unfolds into a Manchester Orchestra style assault, “GWS” revels in clean jangle, and the noise punk of the clanging interlude “Kelly Green Pt. I” is a welcome detour from the relative calm of the rest of the LP. They describe themselves as Modest Mouse worship on the internet, and that band’s quirkiness certainly comes through in the melodies of “Bloodbath” or the twisting leads of “Regina,” but Cheap Hotel, taken as a whole, feels like it could only be Petrol’s own.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
The Zells – “Bryan Ray Trout, 1999”
The Zells have smashed catchy, crunchy power pop with ‘90s pop culture in their new single, and it is as addictive as sour candy. “Bryan Ray Trout, 1999” is about an imaginary encounter with Skeet Ulrich that ends with the actor getting beat up at a Hollywood party, but the real star is the sticky, Pavement-esque melody and the fuzzed up guitars.
Jami Fowler | @audiocurio
Hot Moms Club – Hot Moms Club
Hot Moms Club’s self-titled EP is a collection of hazy, sunny tunes that almost seem to slow down time, inviting you to get lost in the lush sounds coming mainly from the acoustic and vocals, with an occasional flourish from some lap steel. Like the greenery juxtaposed with cars on the cover, the album feels like a hike not far from the city, slowed down in nature and separated from the fast pace of modern technology, but not far away from it. While the EP has a consistent feel, each track is a little different from the others, and the sparse, fingerpicked “Everything” particularly draws you in after the more layered tracks preceding it.
Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
Stay Inside – “Hollow”
Stay Inside’s upcoming Blight EP is shaping up nicely. “Fracture” was a pulverizing, gripping lead single, and “Hollow” finds the band perfecting their more melodic side. It’s a perfect blend of alt rock hooks and beefy, heavy riffs, cut from the same cloth as the best stuff on The Artist in the Ambulance. It’s the sound of a band only getting better.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Same – “The Bell”
Same’s new track “The Bell” is an ode to a lack of motivation while going through daily motions. The tune kicks off with a strummed acoustic and bouncy backbeat under the lines “I hate the bell that reminds me to start / don’t like the sound tearing my dreams apart.” As the lyrics continue following a look at the everyday (“drive the car that still needs repaired / the windshield crack refracts the sun glare”), the group subtly adds more instruments on top of the acoustic, hitting a turning point with a drum fill a a little after a minute in and switching into an extended jam.
Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
Hippie Trim – “Toothpaste”
German melodic hardcore five-piece Hippie Trim’s newest single “Toothpaste” is a spacier take on the sound than any of their previous material, embracing the atmosphere of dream pop with the blistering energy of punk. Fans of Drug Church should take note.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
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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