Circling Back on Smug Brothers

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Try as I might, it simply isn’t possible to dive into every single piece of music sent my way, but I’ve found some time to go back to Smug Brother‘s latest LP. They’ve got some sonic connections to other Ohio acts, which you’ll hear, but if you listen to the tune below, what I’m really appreciating is the clarity and pop-forward focus. Guitars have that crystalline twist to them, but everything else is screaming for melody; the band don’t hold you back here either, jumping feet first into the power-pop pools of glory. If you’re digging on this, join me in circling back to Stuck on Beta, out now via Anyway Records.

Repeat Return with Nothing New

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While Sweden is a beautiful land of pop tunes in my brain, it’s nice to hear a band like Repeat who are bringing a bit of a growl to the scene. The group have previously caught our ears with “Celebrate,” but this new jam is one I’ve been cranking up nice and loud; it’s got riffs that rip right through your house, jagged and snarling in the best possible way. The vocals have that same desire to claw at your eardrums, though they do so with the faintest hint of this earnestness that I can’t escape; they’re both pop-centric and yet angry enough to keep an old punk like me caring. They’ll have a new EP ready for us in no time, or so I’m told!

Last Week’s Jams (6.9 – 6.13)

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I might have cut last week short by taking off Friday in its entirety, as I was hanging in New Orleans with my wife and kids…but I’m pretty sure we packed a fair amount of jams into a short four day work week here. It was good to see my old friends in Other Lives back at it with new music, and offering up an orchestral pop number that’s focused and brief. We featured a couple of great premieres from Forever Star and Dancer, so you can circle back and get hitched onto those two bonkers tunes. Plus, good to see Quin Galavis hitting peak form with a new Living Set tune, so dabble all over and you’ll be able to love a little of it all.

Dancer Return with More or Less

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Dancer are not wasting any time at all with their career; they dropped their debut a little over a year ago, followed by a split EP with Whisper Hiss, and now they’re back with More or Less. Their first single opens with this jagged post-punk guitar, harkening to their early work, but that sort of evaporates, leaving a brighter sound in the ear of listeners. Gemma Fleet’s voice has this sharpness, spiking lyrical lines as she makes her way in-between the bass grooves. Still, they’re not abandoning their edge in favor of pop, as you’ll see at the 1:23 mark when the song carries the pop sensibility on its back as it descends into a punctuated moment of musical madness; Fleet’s “just say yes” hits hard, affirming the group’s ability to flirt with both punk and pop, more or less. There’s so much attitude and flair in this one track, it’s going to be hard to contain all that goodness in one LP, though we’ll find out how they do it when More or Less drops on September 12th via Meritorio Records.

Living Set Share The City is Right

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Over the last 15+ years of running this here little site, we’ve covered Quin Galavis in a lot of different ways, and been fortunate to do so. He’s one of the rare Austin artists that goes about his business in his own manner, like last year when he released Define Your Time in the form of a book. At the moment, he’s focusing on his new group, Living Set, and their latest single is phenomenal. The tune opens with this beautiful little indie rock riff riding hard, with Quin’s voice working atop; he’s got this little hint of a growl in his delivery that I totally adore. Things start to get really interesting after the 1.20 mark, where the tune embraces a heavy hand and unleashes a wall of noise. But, the group are careful not to entirely pull away from the pop sensibility, with the lightest little backing vocal adding in a textural melody. They go back and forth, back and forth, and every time that punch kicks in on the volume I crank it up a little louder…and I loved the ending fade. Such a great tune, and excited for more to come our way.

Dummy Release Bubbelibrium DLC

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While on their own meteoric rise, you have to give credit to the folks in Dummy; they’ve enlisted a bunch of electronic artists (some with pedigrees, some without) to remix their album Free Energy. Getting folks like Wishy and Three Quarter Skies to participate allows the band to give back to the community that’s responsible for their own dive into electronic music. Watching the group grow from their noise purveyors to electronic savants makes sense when you hear the way the pieces all fit together in this unique remix record. You can stream Bubbelibrium DLC all below, and then applaud the band for turning other folks onto their favorite artists.

Juppe Drops Woozy Single

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We felt like you needed something with a bobbing bass line to kick off your morning, and what better than this brand new single from Finland’s Juppe! You’ll hear the groove as soon as you press go, and with that, Juppe bobs and weaves in between the notes, letting his voice crest and fall to maximize the playfulness. Adding to that is this little playful bit of guitar stabs that accents all the poppy little notes that make our day, which according to the artists might have been more out of necessity, as the guitar is rumored to have been down to its last few strings. This tune will get stuck in your head courtesy of Soliti Music.

Other Lives Return with Mystic

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I admittedly have a very long history with the core folks of Other Lives, but even still, I continue to be amazed by just how far the group continue to push themselves, sonically. Jesse Tabish’s haunting vocals have always been the core of the group’s sound; they carry this heaviness that stretches itself across the various layers of music, blanketing it in this beautiful weariness. Still, that’s been there for years, but the arrangements from Jonathon and Josh continue to see the band turn their folk roots into these orchestral masterpieces built for theaters across the globe. They’ve just signed on with Play It Again Sam for their next LP, Volume V, which drops this October.

Gelli Haha Drops Normalize

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Over the last couple of months I’ve been completely mesmerized by the work of Gelli Haha; she’s offering a spin on pop music with a bit of electronic club culture pushing the sound. The influence of the groove on this track is drawn from 80s Nigerian boogie (remind me to look into that!), and it’s got this hazy club bop to it; the sort that sees you grooving on the dancefloor drenched in sweat as the bass shakes your core. Gelli’s voice lets the tune filter in an immense pop sensation, and in a way, it feels like modern disco, dreamily coating the club in a huge sound. Her album Switcheroo drops on June 27th via Innovative Leisure.

Sekunderna Announce Hits for Fika Recordings

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Looks like we’re going to get filled with rambunctious energy, especially if you choose to crank up this new track from Sweden’s Sekunderna, who’ve just announced a brand new LP. While the lyrical work might get lost in translation, the speed and power of this tune is right up my alley; it honestly reminds me of a Swedish answer to Martha. The riffs run fast and sharp, offering the perfect bit of catchy distortion to encourage the drumming to run right alongside. While I may not completely understand the lyrical content, the track itself is brimming with hooks that give you all the feels, courtesy of the vocals. Their new LP Hits will be out on August 22nd via Fika Recordings.

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