We are officially diving into the second half of 2024 here, and not a day too soon. Below you'll find some big local names, a few newbs, and a sadly ill-advised team-up. But enough chit chat—let’s do this.
Local Picks
Edith Head, “I Like Your Shirt”
This newish trio makes itself known with a punchy little four-song self-titled EP. On my fave of the batch, the wah-wah adds texture without overwhelming the track, and drummer Kim Mancini gradually reveals her appreciation of your style before settling on “I really like you.”
Hippo Campus, “Paranoid”
The third single from the Hippo's new album, Flood, due in September, has a peppy lil beat and a haunted lil lyric, with Jake Luppen asking dark questions, like “Do I love you or am I just afraid to leave?,” and getting no answers.
Soul Asylum, “High Road”
I’ll admit it—though they sounded good on the radio back when, Pirner & Co. never quite ascended to my personal alt-rock pantheon. But while I won’t claim this rivals the old hits, I appreciate no-nonsense rockers much more now that they’re in shorter supply. Speed is insistent but not desperate, with just enough vocal strain to let you know he means it.
Alan Sparhawk, “Can U Hear”
On their final albums, Low splintered and reassembled their sound with no patience for their legacy, and Alan Sparhawk's first solo track since the death of his wife Mimi Parker is no less forward-looking. On our first taste of White Roses, My God, due this fall, his voice is processed beyond comprehension, mournful in a way that doesn't feel limited by autobiography.
We Are the Willows, “Forgiveness/Forgetness”
Hilary James repeats "Your love is all in my head” as Peter Miller's chamber-poppers make big, nuanced noises all around her, with some munchkin voices giddily dominating the final third. They’re playing at Surly on Thursday.
Non-Local Picks
Danae Hays, "Dick in My Nightstand"
If country boys can get all het up about their trucks, why shouldn't Hays celebrate the gizmo that gives her something to fantasize about as she splits nachos with the latest Mr. Wrong. After all, "It doesn't get mad at me/When I wanna watch Grey's Anatomy."
Miranda Lambert, “Dammit Randy”
A quiet kiss-off from the queen of ’em, Miranda proves yet again she doesn’t have to reach for her gun or even raise her voice to make her point. She’s gone nearly two decades without a major misstep or dip in quality—has any other popular country star ever?
The Linda Lindas, “All in My Head”
Once viral and somehow still-teen kinda-punks come back with a new awareness of how much harder reality is than imagination. They’re not wrong.
Los Campesinos!, "kms"
They've never topped We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed no matter what fans of articulate defeatism believe, but they do occasionally peep up out of the doldrums with a good joke—like this one, which is about suicide, how naughty!
Serengeti, “Shark Attack”
A new dance craze, if he insists, with a simple funk assist from producer Owen Cubitt. Put one hand on your head. Put the other hand on your head. Now dive down. (For those more attuned to Geti's narrative skills, check out April's Kenny Dennis IV, which follows his indomitable Chicago schlub to Minnesota.)
Worst New Track
Orville Peck & Beck, “Death Valley High”
Peck has always been more infatuated with the stylistic trappings of country than with its craft, so you’d think he'd turn up some meaningful superficiality while rooting around in Mr. Hansen's junk shop. In fact, the masked singer's do-I-mean-it? baritone and Beck's two-turntables-and-a-roulette-wheel production are too perfect for each other—what you hear sound like a competition to see who can put the quotation marks around "fun" first. This shoulda stayed in Vegas.
