There’s something happening in Cincinnati. Within the past year, I’ve been enamored with music from Queen City acts Wussy and the Ophelias. Now this week brings a great new track from Louse, another band who calls the city home. “Sugar in the Wound” was recorded not long after Louse released the full-length album Passions Like Tar last fall. In just over two and a half minutes, the track sounds epic. It’s got a post-punk sound at its core, but its been lavished with the luxuriance of a band like the Ocean Blue. Meanwhile, Sam Sounders’s lead vocals have the pinched emotional intensity of Robert Smith in his prime.

“Sugar in the Wound” isn’t associated with a longer release yet, but it is available for purchase as a digital single.