There’s no getting around it, “Together Together,” the new song from the L.A. duo Mediocre, calls to mind Wet Leg. It has the wry, understated sense of humor, the easygoing but buoyant cadence, and the sense that they’re tapping in … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Mediocre, “Together Together”

With a sound like rolling thunder, the new track by Australian band Cable Ties acknowledges the stress of modern life. But “Time for You” is ultimately about the way a caring, rewarding partner can cut through all the worry and … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Cable Ties, “Time for You”

Much as I admire the ambition and sonic sweep the National often bring to their music, I must admit that nothing they do hits me in the solar plexus quite like those instances when they strips things down and have … Continue reading This Week’s Model — The National, “Eucalyptus”

The band Drugdealer, which is mainly an outlet for Los Angeles singer-songwriter Michael Collins, manages to make it seem like the pop-rock music of the nineteen-seventies never really went away but remaining in a blissful state of perpetual, gentle revision … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Drugdealer, “Lip Service”

Back Earth, Wisconsin is a village located in the western portion of Dane County, around twenty-five miles from the state capital. The 2010 census tallied the population at just a few dozen residents over thirteen hundred. It is the home … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Ratboys, “Black Earth, WI”

My intention with these recurring posts under the This Week’s Model banner is to always highlight my favorite new song released during the preceding seven days, but there are a few sub-rules I try to follow. For instance, in order … Continue reading This Week’s Model — boygenius, “Not Strong Enough”

I stole the above photo from Pitchfork, callously cropping out the watermark they included. Given this transgression, I should quote and specifically link to the adoring article they published about the Asheville, North Carolina band Wednesday. Here’s writer Quinn Moreland … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Wednesday, “Bath County”

 Together, Sam Bielanski and Matty Morand are PONY, a band that hails from Toronto and specializes in fuzzy, buzzy, perfectly compact pop songs. Their latest, “Très Jolie,” performs the grand, glorious magic trick I seek so fervently. From it opening … Continue reading This Week’s Model — PONY, “Très Jolie”

In the pantheon of great opening stanzas, I would like to submit the following new entry: “When I was younger/ Younger and dumber/ Felt like a flower/ You came to pick me/ From out of the city/ You turned me … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Indigo De Souza, “Younger & Dumber”

In need of some big, room-filling rock ‘n’ roll that’s laced with the sort of dread that can only be inspired by a novel written by the author of Watership Down? Don’t worry, Canadian trio the Rural Alberta Advantage is … Continue reading This Week’s Model — The Rural Alberta Advantage, “Plague Dogs”