The Alt Weekly Roundup (7/30)
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.
Sunstroke – Frank
In less than six minutes, Sunstroke solidifies their place as leaders of today’s melodic hardcore scene. On the title track of the Frank single, the band delivers a driving alt rock cut given some extra heft with the gruff Kindlon-style vocals (and lyrics), and on the B-side they pay homage to New Jersey hardcore band Memorial Day. Their take on “Ceiling” approaches four minutes—the longest track in their catalog by far—and stacks up to any of their original material. It’s tough to cover a cult classic group like that, but Sunstroke is up to the task—and one day we might look at them the way they look at Memorial Day.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Cheem – Guilty Pleasure (Deluxe Edition)
By and large, the songs on the deluxe edition of Cheem’s Guilty Pleasure might even be stronger than the ones that originally made the cut. Collected from various splits and singles over the past few years, they nearly double the record’s original length and add some new wrinkles to the album’s off-the-wall sound. “Migraine” and “EOE” might be the most straightforward Cheem cuts to date, anchoring the record a bit before “Bios” and the two remixes that close the album send it off to the stratosphere.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
No Good With Secrets – In Stereo
Madison James kicks off In Stereo by intoning, “I’m no good with introductions / I’m no good with secrets / but I’m glad you wanna waste your time with me” over a steady downstroke and straightforward march from the snare that bubbles into a wash of fuzz. The opener works in a humble, self-referential way, but also introduces us to the No Good With Secrets sound, which finds James a little more restrained than with their emo band Ogbert the Nerd, leaning into bubbly pop melodies delivered in a jangly lofi setting. Over the course of In Stereo‘s 21 minutes, James concocts a perfect blend of gritty ragers, hooky power pop, and folk-punk shoutalongs—a balance that’s most clear at the record’s high point, the phenomenal run of the ’80s rocker “Whatever You Want,” the sugary sweet acoustic “In The Morning,” and the massively catchy “See You Clearly.” It’s unclear whether No Good With Secrets is a project James is planning to move forward with or simply a way to get a few songs out of their head, but either way, In Stereo is one of the most instantly engaging records I’ve heard all year.
Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
Daze / Glia – Mellow / She’s So Gone
The Texas shoegaze scene is booming, and two of its most underrated acts, Daze and Glia, have come together for a killer split. Daze’s “Mellow” is anything but, a tense and harrowing cut of dreamy alt rock that wades into darker territory than many of their peers tend to. On “She’s So Gone,” Glia are a little less experimental than on some of the cuts off May’s delightful LP Happens All the Time, turning in a bright four minutes of slow-building classic-sounding shoegaze. The bands complement each other perfectly here.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Gravess – i still feel it, crawling, under my skin
The mix of post-rock and post-hardcore is nothing new, but what makes Gravess’ i still feel it, crawling, under my skin unique is the way some of these tracks pull shoegazier textures in. The Florida project’s debut comes across at times like a Sunbather more indebted to skramz than black metal, especially in the 11-minute two-part title track pairing. On the front half, cuts like “mndgbin” come across like blown-out takes on screamo.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Dead Selves – Rico
Rico, the sophomore album from Atlanta’s Dead Selves (and their first in five years), is a theatrical romp through indie folk, barroom pop-punk, garage power-pop, and a host of others styles. Each individual cut’s got its own feeling, but taken as a whole Rico is even greater than the sum of its parts.
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 post it on Fridays on Twitter and then include it in each edition of the Weekly Roundup to make sure you don’t miss any of the great music we’re recommending.
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