Stream Orange Dots Latest LP, Deflated
Another band from the hotbed of Oakland, Orange Dots, has just released the stellar Deflated LP, and I figured you could find a bit of joy in listening to this collection. The PR describes it as “Aztec Camera songs but reimagined by Robert Wyatt,” which should have all you rushing to click the play button here. Personally, I’m loving “A Lot to Take” as my current standout jam, offering this sort of smoothed out jazzy pop you might expect Edwyn Collins to throw your way. But, perhaps what’s so intriguing about Deflated isn’t the hits, it’s the way Sean McDonnell moves back and forth between different brands of pop offerings; you’re not going to find a single song here that sounds like any of the others’ instead, they’re all naturally linked by Sean’s songwriting expertise. This whole LP is now available via Recorded Psychic Readings.
In 2018, 
What does a band do when they’ve made ten album together? How do you keep the energy and creativity flowing? For Melbourne’s 
Launder‘s been lauded by tons of the heavy-hitting sites, claiming that his brand of “shoegaze” is super melodic, putting him on the radar of tons of people. Perhaps it caught the attention of DIIV‘s Zach and Colin, who helped pen the first two singles off the forthcoming Happening LP. The songs are really good, though I wouldn’t necessarily call them “shoegaze.” despite the sort of heavy-handed riff work being omni-present. Songwriter John Cudlip seems more fascinated by toying with melody, and the way you can work it in and out of heavier guitar sounds, with a hint of darkness at play too, which is where it kind of falls into that “gaze” category I reckon. I’m digging it, and interested to see how the rest of Happening shapes out; it’s release on July 15th via Ghostly International.
If you haven’t been listening to UK punks 
Feel like kicking off Friday by throwing a little fun pop punk right in your face, courtesy of Australia’s