Another week, another slew of new music. Of course, you don’t know that because you’ve been listening to Title Fight exclusively for the last five years. To say we’re concerned about you doesn’t even begin to describe our level of disturbance. There’s an entire world out there, and you’re banishing yourself from it with your dated and uncomplicated tastes. Fear not, we’re here to break you out of the vicious cycle that has consumed you whole. Here are eight songs to help guide you into a magical state in which you have relevant pop-culture references and maybe even friends.
Blink-182 “Dance With Me”
As their forthcoming album looms ever closer, the newly reformed blink-182 continues to pummel us with new hit after new hit. “Dance With Me” – whose accompanying video features an inexplicable scene in which a nearly 50-year-old Tom Delonge, dressed as a barely passable Joey Ramone, breaks through a wall to non-consensually grab a guy’s dick – is as much of a return to form as any we’ve heard from the band at this point. It’s got that thing where the guitar drops out and Mark just plays a single bass note really fast with the drums. It’s got a chant along part in the chorus (featuring an ‘o’le’ for some reason). It also has Travis doing his patented batshit drum fills all over the place. Sure, it’s no ‘First Date,’ but it gets the job done.
FIDLAR “Move On”
FIDLAR’s latest details the trials and tribulations of starting anew when ‘best friends turn into used-to-be-friends’ according to lead singer Zac Carter. Weaving from genres as disparate as metal and ska, ‘Move On’ is a blistering ride that is sure to make you feel better about your utter and complete inability to accept adulthood realities and their sorrows. While we’re used to hearing the likes of the now-trio FIDLAR on video game soundtracks like ‘Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater,’ it appears this single in particular is headed for EA Sports’ upcoming ‘NHL 2K4’ soundtrack, fulfilling long foretold punk and hardcore prophecies.
Lung “Cash Machine”
Cincinnati, Ohio’s larger than life cello/drum duo is back at it. This time in the form of a split LP with Conan Neutron & the Secret Friends, entitled ‘Adult Prom.’ While we’re pretty sure it’s the soundtrack to the scariest imaginary school dance we’ve ever attended, it undeniably rips in its entirety. If you’re new to either band, ‘Cash Machine’ – which is sadly not a cover of Shelley FKA Dram’s song of the same name, but still great – serves as an incredible primer for those getting into Lung, as it features their signature dizzying harmonies and shark-toothed cello from Kate Wakefield, as well as kick-your-entire-shit-in drums from Daisy Caplan.
Mary Lynn “Turn It Around”
Have you ever wondered what it would sound like if Taylor Swift hung out with a bunch of dirty punks (Matt Healy doesn’t count) and recorded a rock record? Wonder no more, because singer-songwriter Mary Lynn has made your depraved thoughts a reality. On her third record, ‘Where I Wanna Be,’ MMFL (as she is lovingly known as by fans) blends her trademark powerhouse hooks and lyrical vulnerability with ferocious guitars and a thundering rhythm section, marking a notable departure from her previous piano-driven efforts. Album highlight ‘Turn It Around’ is a raucous power-pop hit that’s sure to ‘turn around’ whatever sour mood you’re inevitably in today.
Jobs “There Is Differing”
We’ll be honest, we’re not sure this is even music but that isn’t stopping one of our senior writers from playing it on repeat while demanding we acknowledge it as such. To say it’s grown on us would be an understatement. Brooklyn’s experimental quartet JOBS has a long history of toying with the boundaries of the indie-pop-realm, and ‘This Is Differing’ from their latest album ‘Soft Sounds’ is anything but ‘differing’ from their norm. While their genre is incredibly difficult to pinpoint, be warned that this track may kick-start your recurring prog phase. We won’t apologize to you or your friends due to the aforementioned warning.
Blood Command “Bare Witness”
Oh shiiiiiiit. Blood Command is back, and apparently with a fucking vengeance. Their latest album ‘World Domination’ rips through twenty blazing death pop tracks in just over a half an hour, making for a disorienting, chaotic, incredibly satisfying ride. Album highlight ‘Bare Witness’ combines some of the band’s heaviest elements into one mini-epic that barely breaks the two-minute mark. Let this be a lesson that no one wants to wait a full three minutes for your hardcore band to get to the breakdown.
U.D.O “Touchdown”
Fall is here. It’s the season of colorful crunchy leaves, gourd flavored coffee drinks, and grown men having near heart attacks and brain aneurysms when their favorite football team fails to do the thing they’re supposed to do with the ball, or whatever. Whether you’re a rabid fan or think the whole sport is stupid, Germany’s long-standing heavy metal institution U.D.O has you covered with their single ‘Touchdown.’ Maybe it’s syntax, but the brilliant thing about this one is there is no way to tell if its lyrics are sincere or satirical, making it a great song to play on game day or in front of the friends to which you pretend not to like sports.
Viagra Boys “Punk Rock Loser”
Every weekday, at around 8:55 in the morning, a flurry of interns at Hard Times HQ scramble to set up a complex series of Bluetooth speakers leading to the front door of our offices. From there they queue up last year’s Viagra Boys single ‘Punk Rock Loser’ and wait for our Managing Editor’s Uber to arrive. A clause in her contract requires us to provide her with a walk-in theme. It’s incredibly disruptive, and it doesn’t look half as cool as she thinks it does when she walks in deliberate slow-motion to the entrance of the writer’s room, but rules are rules and we’re afraid of her lawyer.