It’s a tricky time to be an emerging artist. Arlo Parks started 2020 with a headlining tour through Europe that couldn’t be completed because of public heath lockdowns, prompting the need to find other ways to keep her name out … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Arlo Parks, “Caroline”

“The Spirit Of,” the new track by Cloud Nothings, cracks open my id and sluices in everything my younger self ever wanted in a song. It’s guitars and drums and bass, and producer Steve Albini making a lovely smear of … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Cloud Nothings, “The Spirit Of”

It started with a promise: Well, it really started with a fan who posted a joking rendition of the Goo Goo Dolls hit in the style of Phoebe Bridgers, catching the eye of the artist herself. Then, on Election Day, … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Phoebe Bridgers and Maggie Rogers, “Iris”

This song shouldn’t still be relevant. When Tracy Chapman made a rare television appearance this week, performing on the eve of Election Day for Late Night with Seth Meyers, she selected a song she wrote over thirty years ago and … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Tracy Chapman, “Talkin’ ‘Bout a Revolution”

On “Angelina,” the new single from the L.A. band Kitten, they build a breezy pop sound and deploy a burrowing, irresistible hook to create a perfect song of summer. And why shouldn’t they? The summer never ends where they live, … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Kitten, “Angelina”

I worked at a little college in the mountains for several years, mostly working with a student crew to book shows and other programs into our little coffeehouse. Those students definitely had their favorites, and, because they had excellent taste, … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Mal Blum, “Nobody Waits”

What am I supposed to do? Not be enthralled by performer who’s tapping into to tuneful grin of Veruca Salt and poppy brashness of Letters to Cleo, but updating the whole sound to feel shiny and new as we careen … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Beabadoobee, “Together”

“Stupid boys with broken hearts/ Love to watch you fall apart” is a pretty irresistible chorus, especially when delivered with the bright brio Bleached bring to their songs as a default. There are more tumultuous undercurrents to the sentiment, though. … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Bleached, “Stupid Boys”

I think it’s the probing, slightly spooky synth line opening the song that takes me back to the college wonderments of decades past. And yet “Sad Cowboy,” the new single from Goat Girl, doesn’t sound like a throwback to me. … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Goat Girl, “Sad Cowboy”

Seventy-one candles make for an awfully bright birthday cake. When I was sitting in my basement bedroom back in high school, studying Bruce Springsteen lyric sheets like they were holy documents (and, to me, I guess they were), I wasn’t … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Bruce Springsteen, “Ghosts”