It’s been another week filled with unimaginable horrors and harrowing viral moments. You’re probably overwhelmed and wondering which thing you should be paying attention to. Might we suggest a break? As the news cycle churns on, many people still participate in the archaic tradition of creating and releasing new music. Though we may never know why this phenomenon exists, it is our duty to listen to it. Here are six songs we put on this week while desperately trying to avoid the chaos.
Castle Rat ‘Wolf I’
If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to hotbox a 1974 GMC Vandura that has been retrofitted to both fly through clouds of smog and fully submerge itself into the dirtiest lake you’ve ever seen, you should consider giving Castle Rat’s ‘Wolf I’ a try. Dreamy ominous vocals? Check. Riffs that immediately raise the bacteria level sign to ‘lethal’ at the aforementioned lake? Double check. Buckle up and try to avoid the water.
Drain ‘Stealing Happiness From Tomorrow’
‘Oh sheeeeeiiiiiiit, bruh! You hear that new Drain single, bruh? Shreds, bruh!’ You’ve likely heard your most sunburnt friend saying something similar to this since Drain announced their new album ‘…Is Your Friend’ last month. With good reason too. Their latest single ‘Stealing Happiness From Tomorrow’ is the musical equivalent of getting spin-kicked in the face, but in a consensual non-crowdkilling way.
Guerilla Toss ‘Life’s a Zoo’
As if it wasn’t enough for Stephen Malkmus to produce the forthcoming Guerilla Toss album ‘You’re Weird Now,’ he also gets to hop on the mic for ‘Life’s A Zoo’ to tell us how lame we are. Maybe it’s not actually directed at us – we have been told to work on our confidence – but ouch. At either rate, Guerilla Toss’s latest is, as expected, a Devo-on-acid-esque trip that manages to cram at least three songs worth of ideas into 4 minutes, which is decidedly not ‘uncool.’
Upchuck ‘Forgotten Token’/‘Un Momento’
Atlanta’s punk greats Upchuck just announced their latest album ‘I’m Nice Now.’ With Ty Segall behind the boards again, the first two singles ‘Forgotten Token’ and ‘Un Momento’ find the band continuing their expansion into the fuzzed-out realm that defined 2023’s ‘Bite The Hand That Feeds.’ The guitars alone sound like they were recorded onto a cassette tape that was actively on fire and then mastered with a microwave. That’s a compliment, obviously. Upchuck has never sounded quite this urgent, which says a lot for them.
The Acacia Strain ‘A Call Beyond’
Gather your supplies and board up all your windows because a new Acacia Strain album is set to land in late October. ‘You Are Safe From God Here’ follows 2023’s ‘Step Into the Light’ and ‘Failure Will Follow.’ After that double album year, you’d be forgiven to bask in the illusion of sonic safety. Lead single ‘A Call Beyond’ should be more than enough to snap you back into your cold and chilling reality.
Need more? Again, we don’t quite get it, but we did make a playlist featuring most of the songs we’ve listened to this year just in case. Check it out below and continue your cowardly escapism: