I’m glad the track starts with the drums. Although I remain among the truest of the true believers in Sleater-Kinney, I don’t dispute that the absence of drummer Janet Weiss has been keenly felt ever since she stepped away from the group on the eve of the release of the 2019 studio effort The Center Won’t Hold. Luckily for listeners, she had other gigs to fall back on, including Quasi, the longtime group she’s shared with ex-husband Sam Coomes. For the first time in about ten years, Quasi has a big batch of new music coming out, and they’re right up to the times with their latest single, “Doomscrollers.” The lyrics dig right in to the anxieties of our divisive, COVID-contorted culture: “And all the kids in their virtual classes/ Stuck at home sitting on their asses/ And all the houses lost to fires/ The anti-vaxxers and the climate deniers” as the clean, lean indie rock thumps away. It’s definitely a sound I’ve been missing.

Breaking the Balls of History, the new album from Quasi, is scheduled for release in February.