So many artists, so little time. Each week we review a handful of new albums (of all genres), round up even more new music that we’d call “indie,” and talk about what metal is coming out. We post music news, show recaps, track premieres, and more all day. That includes a lot of tour announcements, a list of tonight’s NYC shows, and NY shows that just went on sale. We publish a monthly playlist of some of our favorite tracks. Here’s a daily roundup with a bunch of interesting, newly released songs in one place…
PET SYMMETRY – “S.S. DECOMPRESSED”
Pet Symmetry, which is one of Evan Weiss’ many bands (along with Into It. Over It., The Progress, and like 100 others) and also feattures Erik Czaja (Dowsing) and Marcus Nuccio (What Gives, ex-Dowsing), have released a new single and proceeds from purchases made between today (3/26) and April 1 will go to the World Health Organization. (The single artwork also references the popular handwashing meme.) As you’d expect from Weiss, it’s a ’90s-style emo rager and it sounds fresh today too.
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BLAKK SOUL – “HELP” (ft. JOELL ORTIZ)
Tacoma, WA R&B/soul singer Blakk Soul is releasing his new album Take Your Time on April 17 via Mello Music Group (his label debut), and the album’s chilled-out lead single is “Help,” which features Brooklyn rap lifer Joell Ortiz.
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MOUNTAIN TIME (mem MINERAL) – “ROSEMARY, ETC)
Mineral, Gloria Record, and Zookeeper frontman Chris Simpson now has another new project, Mountain Time, whose debut album Music For Looking Animals comes out June 26 via Spartan Records. First single “Rosemary, Etc” finds Chris exploring earthy, Americana-tinged folk rock.
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THE MOUNTAIN GOATS – “EXEGETIC CHAINS”
The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle recently shared a new song via livestream, “For the Snakes,” promising “more news very soon.” He hasn’t revealed the news yet, but he has shared another new song. “And then there were ten,” he wrote. “Didn’t want to wait to share this one.” Introducing “Exegetic Chains,” he said, “any musical references you hear to my own stuff or other people’s stuff, lyrical references, are all there on purpose.”
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END – “PARIAH”
END is the supergroup of vocalist Brendan Murphy (Counterparts), guitarist Will Putney (of Fit For An Autopsy and producer for Knocked Loose, Vein, Every Time I Die, and tons of other cool bands), guitarist Gregory Thomas (ex-Misery Signals, ex-Shai Hulud), bassist Jay Pepito (Reign Supreme, ex-Blacklisted), and drummer Billy Rymer (ex-The Dillinger Escape Plan), and they’re following their 2017 debut EP The Unforgiving Arms Of God with their first full-length, Splinters From An Ever-Changing Face, on June 5 via Closed Casket Activities. The first single is “Pariah,” which is an absolutely filthy dose of modern metalcore.
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FLAT WORMS – “THE AUGHTS”
LA punk trio Flat Worms will release their new album Antarctica on April 10 via God? Records (which is run by Ty Segall). New single “Antarctica” was recorded in one take with Steve Albini at Electrical Audio in Chicago and, lyrically is about this new century, though more specifically it was inspired by guitarist Will Ivy’s visit to the Tombs of the Kings archaeological site on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. “It is the ruins of what used to be very elaborate and luxurious tombs for the wealthy during the Hellenistic and Roman periods,” says Ivy. “It seemed to represent the mood of our new century: growing apocalyptic tension, fallen empires, our anxiety laid bare.”
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DOUG TUTTLE – “DARKNESS UNDER BLIGHT”
Onetime MMOSS man Doug Tuttle has been releasing a few singles this year and here’s the latest which is a little less guitar-oriented than fans may be used to, putting piano forward but still with a late-’60s kind of vibe.
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RVG – “CHRISTIAN NEUROSURGEON”
Melbourne’s RVG have shared a second single from their forthcoming sophomore album, Feral, which is out next month. “It’s a very simple song about cognitive dissonance,” says bandleader Romy Vager. “It’s not just a song about bagging Christianity, its more about how we have to hold onto certain ideas to be able to survive, even if they’re not true.” The song is a ringing bit of alt-rock that recalls The Go-Betweens and Hoodoo Gurus, while the video takes the song’s title to campy, horrific extremes.
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NATION OF LANGUAGE – “SEPTEMBER AGAIN”
“September Again is about struggling with the feeling that with each passing year you’re only becoming a worse version of yourself—less capable of wonder or grand ambition, less sure of your footing in your own life,” says Nation of Language frontman Ian Devaney of the group’s moody new synthpop single. “I used to just pick up a book like ‘Crime and Punishment’ or a detailed history of the Italian campaign in WWII. Those kinds of artistic/academic adventures now feel so much more daunting for some reason. There is a grit that is required to relentlessly pursue these things like I used to, and I can feel that part of me slipping. I tell myself it’s simply because I’ve picked a lane in life and I only have so much time, but there is always the nagging suspicion that I have, in reality, deteriorated in some meaningful way. The song comes out of this war within myself where one part of me is desperately wanting to get back there, while another part is only looking to what lies ahead in the life I’ve made for myself.” Nation of Language’s debut album is out digitally on May 22.
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BRAIDS – “SNOW ANGEL”
Braids have a new album, Shadow Offering, on the way, though its release date has been pushed back from April to June 19. They’ve shared another new single, “Snow Angel,” an intense nine-minute epic. The song “was written in the immediate wake of the 2016 US election,” the band says, “as our collective conscience took a sharp inhale. It’s a diary entry of sorts – a snapshot of the mind grappling with our era’s endless barrage of content and destruction, continents away and close to home. “This” moment, with our world in the midst of a pandemic, is admittedly a new context. But I can’t help but sense the song speaks to feelings many of us are experiencing – uncertainty, angst and a desperate desire to make sense of it all. After much back and forth wondering if we should be releasing any music at this time – especially a song that dives into tender parts of the psyche – we’ve decided to not postpone, and that it’s sometimes better to feel it all, than to shy away and cover our eyes.”
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THE MEMORIES – “THE SIGN” (FT COLLEEN GREEN)
LA group The Memories have covered Ace of Base’s ubiquitous ’90s hit “The Sign” and have brought in Colleen Green to sing lead vocals. They’ve kept the cod reggae vibe but have slowed it down considerably.
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CALEB GILES – “GOOSE” (ft. AKAI SOLO)
New York underground rapper Caleb Giles (who also plays sax in Standing on the Corner) is back with a new single featuring fellow underground New York rapper AKAI SOLO, and it’s a very appealing dose of psychedelic rap.
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DISHEVELED CUSS – “SHE DON’T WANT”
Disheveled Cuss, the new solo project of Tera Melos singer/guitarist Nick Reinhart, has released a new song off his upcoming debut album (due June 12 via Sargent House, pushed back from May 8), and it’s an offering of sunny, power pop-tinged alt-rock that sounds like Weezer or Wavves and should add a little joy to these dark times.
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XIBALBA – “EN LA OSCURIDAD”
LA metalcore staples Xibalba will release their fourth album, Años en infierno, on May 29 via Southern Lord, and the first taste is the nasty as all hell “En La Oscuridad.” “The song will beat the shit out of you. We chose the song because we felt it was our hardest song and one that would get stuck in your head,” the band told Decibel. Indeed.
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WVRM – “ANGEL OF ASSASSINATION”
South Carolina grinders WVRM are a week away from releasing Colony Collapse on Prosthetic, and today they’ve unleashed another shit-kicker from it.
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GOOD RIDDANCE – “ILLUSION OF CONTROL”
Good Riddance are releasing a new benefit EP, Benefit for World Food Program USA, which features four not-yet-released songs from the sessions for last year’s Thoughts and Prayers, and here’s the first one. Read more here.
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CRAIG FINN – “ALL THESE PERFECT CROSSES”
The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn is releasing All These Perfect Crosses, a compilation of songs from the sessions of his last three solo albums that “didn’t fit the theme or the flow of the record they were recorded for” and a few demos and acoustic versions of previously released songs. The title track is out now and you can read more here.
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BEN GIBBARD – “LIFE IN QUARANTINE” (studio version)
Ben Gibbard has officially released his new single “Life In Quarantine,” which he recently debuted live-in-studio, and proceeds go to Seattle non-profit Aurora Commons. Read more here.
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CHROME WAVES – “THE ETERNAL” (JOY DIVISION COVER) / GRIDFAILURE – “TEMPLE OF THE MORNING STAR” (TODAY IS THE DAY COVER)
Midwest blackgaze band Chrome Waves and NYC industrial act Gridfailure are releasing a split this Friday on their Bandcamps with new original songs from each and covers of Joy Division and Today Is The Day, respectively. Here are the covers, which you can read more about here.
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GARY OLSON (THE LADYBUG TRANSISTOR) – “GIOVANNA PLEASE”
Gary Olson has led Brooklyn baroque group The Ladybug Transistor since 1995, and has been a champion of local music as well via his Marlborough Farms studio where he’s recorded countless bands over the years (like Crystal Stilts, Mates of State, and The Essex Green). He’s also a go-to trumpeter for just about any indiepop band playing live in NYC who needs one. Ladybug doesn’t play too often anymore, with members far-flung around the country, and Gary is set to release his self-titled solo debut in May. this is the string-laden first single featuring members of Serena Maneesh.
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MACHINE GUN KELLY & TRAVIS BARKER – “MISERY BUSINESS” (PARAMORE COVER)
We’re whatever many days into quarantine and rap-rock guy Machine Gun Kelly has teamed with blink-182’s Travis Barker from the safety of their own homes to do this faithful cover of Paramore’s “Misery Business.” Idk if you ever really needed to hear MGK sing this song, but it’s got one of Zac Farro’s coolest drum parts and it’s fun to watch pop punk drum god Travis Barker put his spin on it.
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Looking for even more new songs? Browse the ‘New Songs’ archive.
