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Music update, March 2023.

I think March was a pretty good month for new music, although I was on the road so much I had less time to explore than I do in most months. We did get comeback songs or albums from three of my favorite bands from the ‘80s, though. As always, here’s the direct link to the playlist if the widget below won’t load for you.

The Beths – Watching the Credits. This New Zealand quartet shared this power-pop gem, recorded during the sessions for my #1 album of 2022, Expert in a Dying Field, but failing to make the final cut.Also, check out their mini-concert as part of the NPR Music Tiny Desk series, including my two favorite tracks from that same LP.

Jungle feat. Erick the Architect – Candle Flame. Jungle announced their upcoming fourth album, Volcano, due out in August, and released this very upbeat lead single with rapper Erick the Architect of Flatbush Zombies, who gives the song a Q-Tip/Chemical Brothers sort of vibe.

Killing Joke – Full Spectrum Dominance. An actual new track from Killing Joke, released to honor their sold-out show at London’s Royal Albert Hall last month. Jaz Coleman is 63 and still delivers, with a track that would have fit well on 2015’s Pylon.

Depeche Mode – People Are Good. But I thought people were people? This is probably my favorite track from Memento Mori, Mode’s fifteenth studio album and first since the death of Andy Fletcher last May. The album is hit or miss but its best tracks recall the gothic new wave sound they brought mainstream in from Black Celebration through Violator.

Arlo Parks – Impurities. Parks’ second album, My Soft Machine, is due out on May 26th, and all of the advance tracks indicate a vocal style similar to that of Collapsed in Sunbeams but with more electronicelements than the first album offered.

The Japanese House – Boyhood. Not to be confused with Japanese Breakfast or Japanese Wallpaper or Japandroids or the ‘70s band Japan, The Japanese House is Amber Mary Bain of Buckinghamshire, England, and this lush, dreamy song is just lovely – she reminds me quite a bit of Ben Howard circa Old Pine.

Daughter – Swim Back. I’m thrilled that the English shoegaze trio Daughter are back, six years after their last album Music from Before the Storm, a soundtrack to the video game Life is Strange: Before the Storm and maybe the best such example of an album I’ve ever heard. Their third proper album, Stereo Mind Game, comes out on Friday.

Bully – Days Move Slow. I’ve never loved Alicia Bognanno’s nasal, raspy vocal style, which often gets compared to Kurt Cobain’s but I think misses core differences in how they sang (or screamed, as the case may be). This song, about grieving the death of her dog, is one of her best melodies and recalls a lot of 1990s post-grunge indie rock, although once again she’s half-singing through her nose and I have a hard time getting around that.

Black Honey – Cut the Cord. Black Honey released their third album of sunny indie rock, A Fistful of Peaches, in March, featuring this track, “Heavy,” “Charlie Bronson,” and “Out of My Mind.”

Temples – Afterlife. The fourth album from this English psychedelic-rock band, Exotico, drops on April 14th, their first new music since 2019’s superb Hot Motion.

Bartees Strange – Daily News. Another bonus track from Strange’s 2022 sophomore album, the excellent Farm to Table, where he continues to craft his own sound independent of his indie-rock influences.

Hatchie feat. Liam Benzvi – Rooftops. Hatchie can really write a melody, and she’s one of the best songwriters of dream pop working right now, but I have always lamented the lack of power to her voice. It’s boosted here by vocals from Brooklyn singer-songwriter Benzvi,

Christine and the Queens – To be honest. The lead single from his upcoming album PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE is also a throwback to the grandeur of Chris and his prior work. The lyrics explore both his transition and the last four years since the death of his mother, although some of the lines – “I’m trying to love, but I’m afraid to kill” probably lose something in translation.

Alison Goldfrapp – So Hard So Hot. This is indeed the lead singer of Goldfrapp, who released their first album in 2000 (Felt Mountain), releasing her first proper solo record, with this electronica gem as its lead single.

Nabihah Iqbal – This World Couldn’t See Us. Iqbal used to work with the late producer/DJ Sophie as a vocalist, and is about to release her second solo album, Dreamer, on April 28th. This track sounds like something right out of London’s post-punk/”cold-wave” scene circa 1981, right down to the reverbed vocals.

boygenius – Satanist. I will never love boygenius the way critics do, in part because I don’t love the laconic vocal style of all three members (Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker), but their second album, the record, is a big step up from their first record musically, with much better hooks.

BLOXX – Television Promises. BLOXX first hit my radar with 2020’s Lie Out Loud, which had two bangers in the title track and “Coming Up Short.” This new song has a similar punk-pop vibe but more topical and denser lyrics, with some clever turns of phrase at the cost of some of the track’s energy, and comes in advance of their EP Modern Day, due out in August.

Project Gemini – After the Dawn. I could have sworn this was a King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard track at first, but it’s actually British multi-instrumentalist Paul Osborne, who also works as an editor at Shindig! magazine. This track draws deeply on ‘70s and even late ‘60s psychedelia with some nifty guitarwork in the middle.

Slow Pulp – Cramps. Slow Pulp’s first new music since the 2021 EP Deleted Scenes brings back their grunge/shoegaze hybrid, with elements for fans of Snail Mail and Velocity Girl alike.

Island of Love – Fed Rock. This London band describes their sound as “brutal slamming death metal” on their Instagram, but they’re much more punk – no death growls here, fortunately, although this seems to be a running gag – and post-punk with a surprising sense of melody beneath the frenetic guitar and drums.

Metallica – 72 Seasons. I have to admit, this is pretty good. They’ll never be the Metallica of Puppets or Justice, but I’ll accept this substitute.

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→ March 2, 2023
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Music update, February 2023.

February spawned a lot of great music, as it turns out, enough that I have 82 minutes of new tracks for you here. As always, if you can’t see the Spotify widget below, you can access the playlist here.

Temples – Cicada. I seem to like whatever Temples puts out, at least for their singles; their take on psychedelic rock, often with the kind of influences from Asia and north Africa that gave us Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir.” I love the interplay between the guitar and vocals in the frantic chorus here.

Fucked Up – Cicada. What are the odds of two great songs called “Cicada” dropping in the same month? Technically this came out in late January on these Canadian punk/post-hardcore stalwarts’ sixth album, One Day, and if you told me this was a lost track from Hüsker Dü I’d believe you.

Geese – Cowboy Nudes. This is the first new song from this young Brooklyn band (including Mets fan Dominic DiGesu on bass!) since their standout debut album Projector, and it sees them expanding their sound substantially. It’s less dissonant, better produced, and definitely more art-rock than anything on Projector, which was an incredible throwback to the heyday of post-punk.

CHVRCHES – Over. A one-off single from the Scottish trio, who just signed a new deal with Island Records, “Over” goes back a little in time, with a sound reminiscent of “Clearest Blue” from Every Open Eye.

Altin Gün – Rakiya Su Katamam. I didn’t know Anatolian rock, also called Turkish psychedelic rock, was a specific subgenre, but I’m extremely into it after stumbling on this track by this Amsterdam-based outfit. The “i” in the song’s title should be the Turkish character ?, without the dot on type, but I don’t think it’ll display properly.

Brooke Combe – Black is the New Gold. Combe is just 22, from Midlothian, Scotland, and this is the title track from her forthcoming mixtape. The hook was stuck in my head for days, and I like both her singing voice and the slight syncopation (here, stress on the third beat of each measure) that gives the track its subtle groove.

Caroline Polachek – Blood and Butter. Polacheck was half of Chairlift, who produced two of my favorite tracks of the last decade (“I Belong in Your Arms” and “Ch-Ching”), but her solo stuff has left me pretty cold. This is my favorite of her songs since Chairlift broke up, as it has a much stronger melody while still showcasing her impressive voice.

John-Allison Weiss – Tell Me to Go. Another strong single from The Long Way, Weiss’ first album in over seven years and their first since coming out as trans and non-binary.

Bartees Strange – Tisched Off. One of two tracks on a double-sided single from Strange as part of Sub Pop’s singles series, along with a song featuring Daniel Kleederman.

STONE – I Let Go. The first new song from STONE after their 2022 EP Punkadonk is a raucous rocker that’s less punk and more hard-edged rock-and-roll.

bdrmm – It’s Just a Bit of Blood. This British act takes an experimental approach to post-punk and shoegaze, releasing this as the lead single ahead of their second album, I Don’t Know, due out in June.

Squid – Swing (In a Dream). Squid are even more experimental, with a post-punk underpinning but a very definite bent towards the dissonant and the offbeat, but the chorus here is a complete earworm.

wilt – puberty. wilt are an LA-based quartet who’ve released just three songs so far, including this most recent one, which has a slow burn to a big finish with giant guitar riffs that reminded me of the band Hum.

beabadoobee – Glue Song. A cute two-minute acoustic number from beabadoobee, not one of my favorites from her but a solid showcase for her voice.

Beck – Thinking About You. I generally do not love Beck’s slower acoustic tracks, even though they tend to garner him more critical acclaim. I also didn’t like this song the first time I heard it, but then I went back, and I liked it more the second time, and even more the third time. So here it is.

Black Honey – OK. I include just about every single Black Honey puts out at this point. Their third album, A Fistful of Peaches, comes out on March 17th.

Girl Ray – Everybody’s Saying That. A North London trio that started out as an indie act and pivoted towards pop around 2018-2019, Girl Ray just released this funk-tinged pop track right at the start of February, with a great hook in the chorus and a prominent bass line that makes this a hell of a dance song too.

swim school – delirious. swim school describe themselves as “Tesco-value Wolf Alice,” which isn’t that apposite to this particular track, which is way more shoegaze than Wolf Alice’s cheerier indie-pop/rock style.

Inhaler – Just to Keep You Satisfied. Inhaler released Cuts & Bruises, their second full-length, two weeks ago, and I think they’ve stalled; this is more of the same from the Irish quartet, but even a step back in the quality of their melodies. Inhaler has a sound, and that only gets you so far without some hooks like their first album had.

Depeche Mode – Ghosts Again. I mean, if you want to go back to the sound of the ‘80s, you could just listen to one of the bands that made that sound. This is the first song from Memento Mori, the band’s fifteenth album and their first since the death of longtime band member Andy Fletcher. The album drops March 24th, and it sounds like it will be a melancholy affair, which isn’t really my favorite flavor of Depeche Mode.

San Cisco – Lost Without You. The first new song from this Australian trio since their 2020 album Between You & Me is a typically bouncy alt-pop track with witty lyrics that offer a dark contrast to the music. The video, which stars the three in a Sting-like gangster film, is worth a watch.

Demob Happy – Voodoo Science. I was unfamiliar with Demob Happy, who’ve been around for fifteen years, before hearing this track, but I love the guitar riffing here, which reminds me of Porcupine Tree’s heavier moments.

shame – The Fall of Paul. This London-based post-punk band’s Food for Worms dropped last month and the highs (“Fingers of Steel,” “Six-Pack”) are high but there’s too much filler where the band sound like they’re just fucking around, unfortunately.

slowthai – Feel Good. British rapper slowthai’s third album, UGLY, which supposedly stands for “U gotta love yourself,” drops on Friday. I find his music more interesting than appealing, as he’s crossing and mashing up a lot of genres but his technical skill as a rapper isn’t his strength. This is one of the better songs of his that I’ve heard.

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→ February 7, 2023
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Music update, January 2023.

Sorry this is a bit late, but I’ve been writing a few thousand words a day for my regular job. January turned out to be a fertile month for new single and even album releases, more so than usual (I think), so I’ve got a little catching up to do. If you can’t see the widget below, you can access this month’s Spotify playlist here.

Young Fathers – Rice. Heavy Heavy just dropped on Friday, so I haven’t had a chance to dive into it yet, but the reviews are ebullient, and I’ve loved two of the three lead singles. I don’t even know how you can categorize their music, other than that it’s mad and often brilliant.

Belle and Sebastian – I Don’t Know What You See in Me. A Scottish bent to the playlist, at least at the start. Belle & Sebastian returned with their second album inside of a year with Late Developers, which is poppier than last year’s A Bit of Previous and more consistently upbeat. I also loved “So in the Moment” and nearly put that on the playlist instead.

Måneskin feat. Tom Morello – Gossip. I know Måneskin aren’t very admired by critics, but this track, with Morello on guitar, is an absolute banger and was stuck in my head for more than a week after I first heard it.

The Clockworks – Blood on the Mind. This Irish quartet signed with Alan McGee’s Creation Records, the label that signed Oasis back in the early 1990s, in 2019, releasing a bunch of singles and one EP since then but still no proper album. They’re often described in the British press as punk or post-punk but this tack isn’t as hard-edged as those genres, with the high energy of punk but a better groove in the bass and drums.

The Lottery Winners – Worry. These guys can’t miss, at least when it comes to crafting big pop hooks. Their second album, Anxiety Replacement Therapy, is due out on April 28th.

The Rills – Falling Apart. ThisLincolnshire band just missed my top 100 from last year with “Landslide,” but I’m going to guess this one will end up on my top 100 for 2023, as it has an even better hook and is the kind of English indie-rock that, for whatever reason, just speaks to me.

The Empty Page – Dry Ice. This post-punk duo from Manchester released their first album, Unfolding, back in 2016, but their follow-up has been delayed several times since then and is due out sometime this year. “Dry Ice” is the first single from it, released in November, with the next single due out March 3rd.

Etta Marcus – Smile for the Camera. Marcus is a 21-year-old singer/songwriter from London who gets compared to Lana del Rey and who I think would appeal to fans of Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, except I’m not a fan of any of those three singers but I love this song from Marcus.

Arlo Parks – Weightless. Auto-include whenever Parks puts out a new single. There’s a slight shift here with an electronic element in the backing music here, the first single ahead of her sophomore album, My Soft Machine, due out May 26th.

Bree Runway w/Stormzy – Pick Your Poison. This came from Runway’s five-track December EP WOAH WHAT A BLUR!, mostly written by Stormzy, and it’s a very sweet and soulful ballad about heartbreak, a big departure from her usual sound.

Obey Robots – Porcupine. This song showed up on my Spotify Release Radar because it’s tagged as a collaboration with Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, but it’s actually a new project from Ned’s guitarist Gareth “Rat” Pring along with singer Laura Kidd. There’s a definite Ned’s vibe to the guitar work here, though.

White Reaper – Pink Slip. Another January album release, Asking for a Ride is the fourth full-length from these Kentucky garage-punk-pop stalwarts, although it’s just 29:21 long so isn’t that almost an EP? Anyway, I don’t think they’ve ever released a single I didn’t like.

Screaming Females – Brass Bell. Apparently I should know this group already, as Wikipedia tells me Spin named their singer/guitarist Melissa Paternoster the 77th greatest guitarist of all time back in 2012, which… seems aggressive? Anyway, not knowing them is on me, and this song has a great guitar hook and an earworm in the chorus.

shame – Six-Pack. shame’s third album, Food for Worms, comes out on February 24th, with this track and last year’s “Fingers of Steel,” this one in a more experimental vein with a frenetic energy that carries it through some of the discord in the guitars.

The New Pornographers – Really Really Light. This song is … fine. Not peak NP, not Twin Cinema or even Brill Bruisers, but it’s a perfectly cromulent New Pornographers song.

Black Honey – Up Against It. A Fistful of Peaches, Black Honey’s third album, is due out on March 17th, with this the fourth single ahead of its release (“Charlie Bronson,” “Out of My Mind,” “Heavy”), further indicating their shift to a darker sound than they started out with on the All My Pride EP and their self-titled debut album.

Rival Sons – Nobody Wants to Die. Have you seen that Chevy Silverado commercial with what sounds like a blatant Led Zeppelin ripoff for its music? I assumed it was Greta van Fleet, but it was actually a track from Rival Sons from about a decade ago. This is their newest track, and it’s in that same blues-rock vein but nowhere near as derivative.

Tribulation – Axis Mundi. Melodic death metal that’s actually just traditional heavy metal with death-metal vocals – this track, and really a lot of Tribulation’s music, derives far more from early British heavy metal and doom bands like Sabbath and Maiden than from death-metal forebears like Death or At the Gates.

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