Another week has gone by and what do you have to show for it? Though you may be older, you certainly aren’t wiser. We may be able to help with that. Studies suggest that listening to music can improve intelligence as it activates both sides of the brain. Unfortunately for you, it doesn’t work quite as well when you exclusively listen to the same four albums from ten years ago over and over again.
It goes without saying, but you’ll need to change course immediately with your listening habits if you want to have any hope of stimulating your mental growth. Here’s a handful of new songs that should get the blood flowing and make you good at holding conversations again.
Move “1,000,000 Experiments”
In a broken nation sadly filled with bullshit and racist ‘Try That In A Small Town’ rhetoric, Boston’s Move are channeling collective fury through immensely satisfying and politically bent hardcore. Calling back to the genre’s explosive and revolutionary political roots, they are making an awful (read, fucking amazing) racket with their debut LP, ‘Black Radical Love.’ Making up for a pandemic-driven delay in releases, each song carries an immense sense of urgency, picking you up just to kick your shit in over and over again. There isn’t a single miss on the record, but last month’s lead single ‘1,000,000 Experiments’ pairs quite well with a folding chair, if you ask us.
Courtney Barnett “Different Now (Chastity Belt Cover)”
Chastity Belt is celebrating the 10th anniversary of their incredible debut album, ‘No Regerts,’ this year. To mark the occasion, Courtney Barnett has covered a song that isn’t on the record at all, but is still a solid track. Borrowing the drum machine-laden production of her previous full-length, ‘Things Take Time, Take Time,’ Barnett’s version of the band’s beloved single adds new sparkle without sacrificing the meditative drone of the original. Barnett will be releasing the single as a split 7″ with collaborator and songwriter Kurt Vile at the end of October seemingly delaying your band’s vinyl release even further.
Slaughter Beach, Dog “Summer Windows”
Modern Baseball‘s Jake Ewald is preparing to release his fifth LP as Slaughter Beach, Dog late next month. ‘Crying, Laughing, Waving, Smiling’ is promising to be another tour-de-force for the acclaimed Philly songwriter. Much like the album’s previous two singles, ‘Summer Windows’ cranks the Americana vibes up while condensing Ewald’s standard novella-length lyrical refrains down to their most essential elements. If only we could get those in our comments section to take on similar editing abilities.
Dan Andriano and the Bygones “Dry”
You may remember Dan Andriano as the guy who wrote all the Alkaline Trio songs that destroyed you mentally during your brooding emo days. What you might not know is that Andriano has a pretty prolific solo career as well. Backed by his band the Bygones, the Chicago bassist and songwriter has just released his new single ‘Dry.’ It’s a horrifyingly relatable waltz about the pain of growing old. From joint and bone woes to the loss of longtime friendships, the song has it all covered. Before you get too sad to put it on though, please be advised that the guitar solos fucking rip.
TWRP “VHS’ feat. Electric Six
Ever wonder what Styx or Journey would sound like if the singers from Electric Six and TWRP hijacked both bands and forced them to write a good song for a change? That, in essence, is the core of TWRP’s insanely fun new single, ‘VHS,’ which as mentioned, features Electric Six. Every part of the song should be corny as hell, but they go too hard for anyone to actually care or notice. This is a great track to put over a montage video of your buffest friend working out. We guess it could work for your progress video too, but everybody knows you’re too lazy to go to the gym.
Sincere Engineer “Anemia”
Chicago’s Sincere Engineer is at it again, gracing us with yet another scream-along single from their forthcoming album ‘Cheap Grills.’ Steeped in the Midwestern Emo tradition, ‘Anemia’ is fuzzy, catchy, brooding, jangly, anthemic, and most importantly, fun as fuck. Deanna Belos’ voice soars atop a wall of power-chord guitars to deliver the most joyous reading of a line like ‘I’m a walking open wound’ we’ve heard to date. You’ll know when the album drops, because it’s likely that everyone will be screaming every song out of their car windows.
The Armed “Liar 2”
The anonymous experimental hardcore collective (or cult as some call them), the Armed are currently building up to the release of their new album ‘Perfect Saviors’ later this month. That is, of course, assuming this isn’t another patented misdirect from one of the genre’s most mysterious groups. Their latest single ‘Liar 2,’ does well to keep the mystique alive. Weaving in and out of pop, industrial, noise, and hardcore, the track offers curious listeners a major case of musical whiplash. Much like eyes on a horrifying car crash, our ears can’t seem to be pulled away. We understand this may be considered hypnotism and possibly how the band recruits its members, so listener beware.
Turnstile/BADBADNOTGOOD “Alien Love Call” ft. Blood Orange
If you’ve been paying attention at all these past couple of years, you’ve likely heard about Turnstile. While fans have been clamoring for new music from the outfit, we’d wager to guess that no one would have expected them to surprise drop an EP with BADBADNOTGOOD. The joint release, ‘New Heart Designs,’ drastically rearranges three tracks from the band’s outstanding full-length ‘Glow On.’ More than mere remixes, these tracks seem to rebuild the original arrangements from the ground up. Perhaps the most fitting arrangement comes to us in the form of ‘Alien Love Call’ which, like its namesake, sounds truly out of this world here, especially with a bonus Blood Orange verse thrown in for good measure
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Guess what, now that you’ve read the article you can listen to the songs over and over again by listening to the playlist which will be updated each week.