Just a lil reminder about these playlists: Not all local musicians put their music up on Spotify. Can’t say I blame ’em, what with the streamer’s shitty pay rates. But because that app remains a guilty convenience I rely on here, un-Spotified picks won't show up on the playlists. I want to make sure you don't miss any of them, so click on the links and let Bandcamp do the rest.
Local Picks
Despondent — “Front Lawn”
The first track on this quartet’s three-song EP Unsee is the best—always a good plan. Guitars are a little jangly, singer Nora Button’s vocals a little chirpy—always a good pairing. And the song gets its work done in a brisk 2:19.
Fruitpunchloverboy — “Fancy Coat”
Squelchy bass, skittish funk, filtered vocals, juicy guitar break, bona fide hooks—what is not to love?
killusonline — “Dysphoria”
At the risk of scarin’ the hoes, killusonline prefer to call their rap-rock “chaotic-death-grind-rap-core.” Their new EP, None Like Home, marshals heavy funk to battle somewhat indiscriminate targets—on this track, for instance, frontman Mory rages against “the industry.” MVP: Max Folina and his pinched siren of a guitar.
Leslie Rich — “Heck&Away”
"Holding hands is a bittersweet/Way of keeping me at arms reach," Rich's footloose younger self decides, convinced that love is too much work (at least for the time being). Rich is playing a release show for his new EP, Jumpstart, at Icehouse on May 21.
SYM1 — “Meet Me Online (MMO)”
“It's about being a slut online,” Ms. 1 explains, simply, about her new single, available in three mixes on a new EP. But you’d hafta be p. slow on the uptake not to figure that out yourself. Nevermind the forward “I require/Your desire”— even the beat can’t keep it in its pants.
National Picks
Tony Allen & Adrian Younge – “Don’t Believe The Dancers”
Fela’s drummer, an Afrobeat architect in his own right, died three years ago at 79, but he left plenty of recordings in the can. Among them is a full album with jazz-minded hip-hop producer Younge called Tony Allen JID018, and its first single is an instrumental that, while unduly flutey at times, suggests prodigious polyrhythms are in store.
Amaarae – “Co-Star”
Amaraae was raised in Accra and Atlanta, and musically the West African predominates here, with a frisky, airy beat and is-that-a-kora? accompaniment. Lyrically, she puzzles over your zodiac sign, but she’s so flirty and playful about it that even this vulgar materialist Capricorn is charmed.
Girl Scout — “Monster”
Four Swedes, not all of them girls, and none of them particularly monstrous, though singer Emma Jansson avers otherwise. She’s just a little mixed up about love is all, a state that's matched perfectly by the sometimes loud, rarely noisy, always catchy guitar pop that the band introduced on its EP, Real Life Human Garbage, earlier this year.
Megan Moroney — “I Sleep on My Side”
This Savannah gal’s got a good sense of humor: Her first single "Tennessee Orange" begged her folks back in Georgia not to disown her for dating a Vols fan, and her debut album, Lucky, only falters when it gets too introspective. Better than any of its terrific singles, though, is this dismissal of a fella who’s too much of an opposite to attract her, with a chorus punchline I won’t spoil for you here.
Palehound — “The Clutch”
El Kempner’s indie-as-classic-rock guitars rush and bend and plunge and spiral until an ambivalently apologetic lyric climaxes with countless “you didn’t need my help”s.
Wanna get a local song considered for the playlist? To make things easy on both of us, email keith@racketmn.com with MONDAY PLAYLIST in the subject header. (Don’t, as in do NOT, DM or text: If I’m in a good mood, I’ll just ask you to send an email; if I’m in a bad mood I’ll just ignore it.)
