Two guys. Drums. A guitar. And a song that is just right, that roars, that grinds, that slinks, that practically flecks sweat with every sonic bend. Sometimes, that’s all you need. This week, the Blue Stones’ “Let It Ride” is … Continue reading This Week’s Model — The Blue Stones, “Let It Ride”
Janelle Monáe does not stand down. Throughout this tumultuous year, she has taken her prominent platform as a responsibility. She may be on the entertainment talk circuit to promote an Amazon series or a psychological horror film, but she takes … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Janelle Monáe, “Turntables”
“I tried so hard/ Not to let you all down,” Jessica Dobson sings on the new single from Deep Sea Diver, deeming the heavy burden “an impossible weight.” There’s only one reasonable conclusion: “So I’ll let you down now.” With … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Deep Sea Diver, “Impossible Weight”
Bashy, clashy, and gnashy, the new cut from Mourn couldn’t have arrived at a more ideal time. “This Feeling is Disgusting” addresses the experience of living in uncertainty. According to the band, the questions they had in mind were the … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Mourn, “This Feeling is Disgusting”
As she’s spun up new pop jelly beans in recent years, Carly Rae Jepsen has developed a reputation for ludicrous productivity, reportedly generating hundreds of new songs for each album. So it’s hardly surprisingly that a pesky annoyance such a … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Carly Rae Jepsen, “Me and the Boys in the Band”
The new song “Boomer” is reportedly inspired by Bartees Strange’s experience of smoking weed with his father for the first time. (“smoking with your parents is something ever my grown human should experience. Full circle shit,” confirmed Strange, via tweet.) That entertaining detail doesn’t get at the crux of the song’s appeal, which is Strange’s astounding musical creative that reveal boundaries between genres to be useless fictions. There are flavors of exuberant hip hop, propulsive rock, jangling indie, and bendy pop. And then the breakdown in the middle sounds like classic blues conjured into reincarnated life (“You can’t hurt me/ I’ve … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Bartees Strange, “Boomer”
Some weeks I am diligent and devoted, scouring as much of the superhighway of information as I possibly can in hunt of the new song that speaks deeply to me in that particular moment. Some weeks I find a song and the process is immediately, unquestionably complete. This week is one of the latter. I mean, come on. Continue reading This Week’s Model — Phoebe Bridgers and Courtney Barnett, “Everything is Free”
Hypnotic and steely, the new single from Ela Minus is a forceful techno anthem for our wounded times. Born in Bogota and based in Brooklyn, Minus makes music with an impeccable sense of craft, layering on airy, rich vocals that … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Ela Minus, “megapunk”
“I can’t believe the worst kinds of people achieve/ Everything they want/ But it takes medication to get me off.” In her new song, Lydia Loveless does a damn fine job of encapsulating what it’s like to live in the … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Lydia Loveless, “Love is Not Enough”
“And soon I’ll the neon shining moon/ And I’ll break you up just like the stars/ I’ll be the Earth without disease/ And you the human inside of me,” Shamir sings at the opening of “I Wonder,” his new single. … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Shamir, “I Wonder”
Coffee for Two 