No Jokes, Just Me - A Normal Every Day Fool
Right up top: I'm not doing any April Fool's bits in the newsletter this week. You can trust any links I share and you can trust that I'm only including stuff that I sincerely recommend.
Okay, that's out of the way.
The Playlist
There is so much to talk about this week. Right out of the gate, we have the new albums from PUP and Red Hot Chili Peppers, plus the Hrishikesh Hirway EP that we got to hear a preview of last year. You've already heard me gush about each of these artists, so I'll save my words today and move to the stuff you're maybe less likely to stumble upon.
Harry Styles has dropped the beautifully 80's synth drenched As It Was as he begins the release cycle for his third LP, out May 20th. It's tempting to want to pass up artists like Styles, but deny those hipster tendencies and give this a spin. You don't have to be a One Direction fan to recognize that this is gearing up to be something special.
We aren't getting a lot of lead time on Vince Staples' new record, with the first single coming out only one week and a half before the full record, which we'll have next week.
G.I. Bill is the one-man post-hardcore project of Oklahoma City's Sam Allen, borrowing more from the lo-fi hardcore roots of the genre than most who claim the post-hardcore label. This track is big, catchy, and just enough to whet my whistle and make me want more.
If it's on Sub Pop, I'm likely going to be interested, and that goes double for today's Man Man track Dig Deep. Borrowing from the crooning pop and verby surf-rock of eras past, this experimental rock track is a roséwave earworm that deserves to be blared out of a bluetooth speaker next to the pool all summer long.
I felt a lot of feelings hearing Angel Olsen sing about All The Good Times, as she describes a relationship that's failed, ending in confusion and discord. It's a gorgeous country-tinged piece of indie pop and I'm excited to hear the rest of the record on June 3rd.
Well I won’t be the one to keep holding you back
If there’s somethin’ you’re missin’ then go right ahead.
Angel Olsen - All The Good Times
Did I hear someone say that they want more from Sub Pop? Well, Seattle's favorite label has more for you today in the way of TV Priest, whose brand of grunge-drenched alt-punk reminds me of IDLES, especially in vocalist Charlie Drinkwater's surly vocal delivery.
The Callous Daoboys are a mathcore act that features multiple vocalists and an electric violinist. This feels like The Chariot in all the cool ways that I've been hungry for. There's a similarity in how the vocal meter hits that just feels like Josh Scogin's fingerprints. Yeah, you got my fuckin' attention.
Lord, rid me of my word vomit.
The Callous Daoboys - A Brief Article Regarding Time Loops
I'm going to let the video for PC Music artist Planet 1999's new track crush speak for itself.
Sacred Bones Records has a compilation coming out in May that celebrates their 15th anniversary by inviting artists to cover their labelmates' songs. Today, we get to hear Marissa Nadler cover David Lynch's (yes, that David Lynch) 2013 track Cold Wind Blowin'.
I'm never one to pass up some Laura Jane Grace, so her guest spot on Bloods new pop-punk/alt-punk track I Like You is just something that y'all are gonna have to enjoy along with me. Going directly from this into Entertainment by Marci, the first solo single from Marta Cikojevic of TOPS. It's chill, driven by a bass line that leaves just enough space to be filled with an electric piano that evokes the feeling of driving through an empty tunnel late at night. Is that too specific?
Sports Team is beginning the promo cycle for their sophomore record, GULP! with a brit-rock track that criticizes the distillation of all of modern life into non-stop content for entertainment. The real winner here is that rad guitar lead that's going to be in my head all week.
I clicked on the DistroKid-generated YouTube "video" for hyperpop artist patient's new track left in your dust so that I could write this and was met with "No views" in the field where normally there uh... should be views. I love this track and expect that if you're already predisposed towards hyperpop, you will too. It feels right.
I can't pretend to know anything about amazarashi, but this piano-driven track is really something. It's passionate, mourning, and cinematic, borrowing from 80s power ballads to create something special in collaboration with the manga Chi. About the Movement of the Earth.
The new record from bluegrass artist Molly Tuttle is out today, which I have personally been highly anticipating. And we see Japanese Breakfast covering Bon Iver's Skinny Love.
I don't have as much time to go track-by-track through the playlist anymore, so I'll leave you with a few last notable releases:
Christian Lee Hutson's record Quitters was co-produced by Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst.
Christian metal band Islander has a star-studded new album out, with features from Brian "Head" Welch of Korn, Lacy Sturm (ex-Flyleaf), Sonny Sandoval of P.O.D., HR of Bad Brains, and Spencer Chamberlain of Underoath, among others. I'm pretty excited to take a look through this one.
Finally, we've got Laura Jane Grace for a second time, as she joins Jeff Rosenstock as guests on Tim Kasher's Forever of the Living Dead.
Okay, have a great April and let me know what I missed or what you thought was particularly notable this week. See ya in seven.