Last Week’s Jams (2.9 – 2.16)
Okay, so we took off Monday. Sorry about that, but there was some holidays and I got to spend some time with my kids. Now I’m circling back, and man, we had some bangers last week, or at least in my brain. I really loved hearing new stuff from Salt Lake Alley and Seasonal Falls, both acts from overseas who we’ve loved for quite some time. Plus, it’s an added bonus we got to continue to support our local homies in Touch Girl Apple Blossom as they announce their debut for K Records. We got to premiere a new track from 37 Houses with some powerhouse vocals you’ll want to crank up, plus that new Deathcrash tune isn’t too shabby either. Jump in below.
What a music-filled week we had over here; there was new stuff, covers and even some live show coverage from our friend Michael Maly. Austin was on fire, with a new Voxtrot track, new Paper Sister jam, and of course, those photos from the Almost Heaven show that highlighted our local coverage. I’d also like to say Natalie Jane Hill, who is blowing me away with her new work, is like Austin adjacent, though she no longer lives in town. Old Nathan loves like Red, Pinks and Purples and the Rural Alberta Advantage made an appearance, plus, if we’re looking at long-winded names we wrote about, we couldn’t miss Rolling Blackout Coastal Fever‘s return either! Lots of stuff to enjoy below. Happy Monday!
The fun thing about running a site that doesn’t beg you to pay subscriptions is we can kind of cover whatever we want, whenever we want. I started off the week kind of tossing my hair back to the previous week to get into the new Imaad Wasif and Club 8 jams. Then as we went forward, we covered the last singles from excellent records from both Annabelle Chairlegs and Joyce Manor. Not one to miss out on Austin jams, we got the new tune up from Don’t Get Lemon. Sprinkled it all in with some ATH faves like Prism Shores, Charm School and King Tuff. Give it all a listen!
It was a short week, and we tried to cover as much as we could, getting up a fresh batch of 15 songs (technically 16, but Mt. Fog isn’t on the DSPs) to get you through this cold day. RayRay loved the new madfolk single, but I found some solace in some local jams, as the Living Set brought us another incredible gem. Van Chamberlain had another stunner too, and we were also introduced to Season 2 (the band!). Found my way back to some folkier moments too with new Bill Callahan and Natalie Jane Hill. There’s a lot to dig through, so tune in and crank it up!
We covered a ton of ground last week, though our playlist is missing some of my favorite jams…the new Special Friend and the Leaf Library aren’t on DSPs at the moment. Still, there’s great pop music on here, like the first singles from the forthcoming Maureens and Fort Not LPs, deliciously kicking things off on our playlist. Got big named hitters in the mix too, like Kim Gordon; I got some good noise in too with new Trauma Ray and Dog Chocolate, so the playlist is all over the place, in the best way. If you weren’t reading or didn’t have the time, jump in below.
My goal this year is to cover as much new music as I can, while clearly staying in my lane and straying from the folks rinsing and repeating PR blasts. Walked a fine line last week, bringing in tons of new stuff. The big news for me was that a new record from Heavenly is finally announced, not to mention a long-awaited new LP from the Twilight Sad. There were some good Austin connections via Pullman, Winged Wheel, BS and Daily Worker too, with bands and labels from our town. Big hitters like Cate Le Bon, The Orielles and Dry Cleaning also had new singles comes out, so you’ll find those lurking in here too! Dig in and kick back.
Okay, okay. So we didn’t crush it this last week, but I still feel like if you’re looking for a pound for pound playlist of solid hits under an hour, our coverage is primo. We’ve got brand new stuff from We Are Joiners, featuring one of my favorite chorus moments of the last several months. Plus, if you haven’t heard Lola, which I hadn’t, you should fix that before it’s too late. Like me, maybe a subtle guitar pop tune from the New Tigers makes your week, or maybe you want to get swept away in the synth pop of Pet Owner. I’m not sure where to lead you, but I promise there are worst places to spend an hour of your Monday.
During this time of the year, there’s slim pickings in terms of what’s out there, as labels and bands prepare to kind of whole up for the Winter, but we still have a really solid collection of jams for you. For starters, B. Gray and I met long, long ago at a Twilight Sad show at the OG Emos here in Austin (not the blasphemous new spot), so their new song gets precedent to show our love. We were really stoked to see our Internet pal Matt Kivel, currently of Austin, drop a single form his forthcoming LP, so that, of course, shows up. Then there’s just quality hit after hit, with Diles Que No Maten and Twin Shadow and Vilde and Devin Shaffer (sorry for the polysyndeton). There’s a little bit for you all!
There was a lot of really great music, and in all likelihood, we’re nearing the end of the yearly cycle, where I expect to kind of see a flutter of singles then the lists will pop up! On our end, we covered a lot of the ATX this week, with new stuff from Jet Cemetery, Don’t Get Lemon, Gus Baldwin and Living Set. There were some new tunes that really rocked me, like Deathcat‘s pop punk masterpiece, not to mention the new Winged Wheel noise pop piece. Even managed to find some room for old favorites like Living Hour, Pia Fraus and Bubblegum Lemonade among the masses! Crank this playlist up, as it starts with a banger from Possible Humans.
It was a fun week of super underground jams, though I made sure to throw in some bangers from Jay Som, Joyer and Radioactivity to kind of grab at the masses! I was really excited by the return of Hadda Be, as their new post-punk jam is opening up the playlist; I likewise was stoked to see Cistern drop new of their debut album too! Caught up late to KanKan and Pocket Full of Crumbs recent split 7″, so gave both some special love this week. Be sure that you power-pop fans check in on that Trash Man tune hanging out in the middle of the playlist, but really, not a track you’ll want to skip on this, so dig in!