Indie rock covers of holiday songs are plentiful enough (those YouTube channels and Bandcamp pages have got to get filled up somehow) that I’m amazed it’s taken this long for a prominent artist to take a pass at “7 O’Clock … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Phoebe Bridgers (featuring Fiona Apple and Matt Berninger), “7 O’Clock News/Silent Night”

I do my best to write to write about the songs dropped conspicuously in this digital spot every Friday, trying to capture what about them captivated me to pluck them from the mass of new music that storms the landscape … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Torres, “Gracious Day”

In this age and day, it takes some moxie to adopt a band name that isn’t particularly distinctive. When establishing dominance over Google search results is at least part of the strategy for reaching an audience and therefore heightening chances … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Sorry, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star”

It was probably inevitable that a holiday-themed song would crop up in this weekly space at some point during this stretch of the year. Although my general aversion to melodized yuletide cheer made me suspect that I’d cave in to … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Kacey Musgraves, “Glittery”

When a music artist is of an age that a high school locker assignment is still a typical area of concern, it compounds the tendency to assume every song is a confession. Rather than pure invention, they must be using … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Billie Eilish, “Everything I Wanted”

Way back when, I showed up at my college radio station convinced that I needed nothing more to achieve music fan bliss than a bunch of brutish, sloppy dudes banging out raggedy rock songs using the foundational combo of guitars, … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Hazel English, “Shaking”

It’s that opening sound, like the “Edge of Seventeen” riff infested with twenty-first century anxiety. And here we are, back in Haim territory, where the three Cali sisters draw upon the finest pop music inventions from a few decades ago … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Haim, “Now I’m In It”

According to Courtney Barnett, “Keep On” was a song she practiced every night when touring Europe last year. The stellar singer-songwriter took fellow Australians and label-mates Loose Tooth on tour with her and became enamored with one of their songs, … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Courtney Barnett, “Keep On”

Because sometimes nothing sounds quite as good as big ol’, messed up, slap and bash rock ‘n’ roll. The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City, the new album from Beach Slang, releases January 10, 2020. Continue reading This Week’s Model — Beach Slang, “Bam Rang Rang”

Hailing from Atlanta, the band Omni plays in a style that leaves me fairly helpless. In the most succinct description, Omni plays post-punk, placing their retro sound quite squarely in the chronological territory that loomed very large — and was … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Omni, “Courtesy Call”