Hot enough for you? If you answered ‘no,’ that’s probably good because devastating heat waves aren’t going to get better anytime soon. Climate catastrophes aside, you’re still probably looking for new music to distract you from the increasingly terrifying state of the planet, and we’ve got the goods. Here are six songs to play immediately if your electricity and internet are still somehow working.
Been Stellar “Start Again”
New York City transplants, Been Stellar, have been slowly building a healthy and impressive buzz since their formation nearly a decade ago. Now, they have finally released their debut LP ‘Scream From New York, NY.’ It absolutely rips and plays out like a love letter to the entire history of East Coast post-punk while ushering in a new wave of its own. Cancel all your plans before putting this one on. Album opener ‘Start Again’ will immediately draw you in, and even with your horrible attention span, you’ll have a hard time not listening all the way through to the end of the record.
Laura Jane Grace and The Mississippi Medicals ‘All Fucked Out’
Mere months after releasing her excellent album ‘Hole In My Head,’ is back with a new single featuring – by our count – her 8,000th band The Mississippi Medicals (Mike Patton, Mikey Erg, and Paris Campbell Grace). ‘All Fucked Out’ plays out like a countrified circus tune, making the underlying themes of extreme apathy sound like something to celebrate rather than lament. Reportedly, the single is part of an unannounced EP, proving Grace isn’t as ‘Fucked Out’ as she would lead you to believe.
Ghost ‘The Future Is A Foreign Land’
We’ve made a lot of jokes at the expense of Ghost over the years. Our therapist thinks it might have something to do with our general fear of joy, fun and dancing. We still haven’t met our deductible and the co-pay is expensive as hell, so it will be a while before we figure out if that’s true. Their new single ‘The Future Is A Foreign Land’ with its ‘60s spy movie vibes and catchy as hell riffs definitely lends credence to Dr. Morrow’s theory, though. We’ll get back to you after we ‘ironically’ listen to it a few dozen more times.
Crack Cloud “The Medium”
While we’re on the topic of mental health, Canada’s multimedia collective Crack Cloud just announced their third album ‘Red Mile,’ which is due out next month. For those who don’t know, Crack Cloud was formed as a sort of pseudo-rehab, with members meeting via addiction recovery communities. The spirit of healing permeates their often explosive discography. Their latest single ‘The Medium’ is no exception, combining elements of ‘70s punk, modern synth rock, and immediate lyricism to form an absolutely triumphant sound.
King Krule ‘Time For Slurp’
Last year, UK songwriter and producer Archy Marshall released his fourth album ‘Space Heavy’ under his moniker King Krule. He also released a handful of tracks that, until now, were exclusively sold on flexi-discs for attendees of that album’s tour. Though it was initially stated that the aforementioned songs were never to be released, they have now been condensed into a single EP entitled ‘SHHHHHHH!.’ There’s not a dud in the bunch and we’ve never been happier to call someone a total fucking liar in our lives.
Foreign Hands ‘Shapeless In the Dark’
You may have been wondering why you had to cut your 34-year-old friend out of a youth medium tee earlier this week. It might have something to do with the fact that Foreign Hands dropped their debut album ‘What’s Left Unsaid.’ Fans of 2000s era metalcore have a lot to celebrate this release. The drums are tight as hell, the guitars do that ‘chugga chugga’ thing, the vocals are clear but edgy, and the bass is… definitely doing something metalcore-ish we think. Lest you think of the band as a tribute to a bygone era, album highlight ‘Shapeless In the Dark’ proves the outfit is also pushing the genre forward into the modern era.
Now that we’ve told you some new things to listen to, you should be ready to face the world with a fresh new attitude and a sense of hope you haven’t felt in years. To double down and make sure the message sticks, however, we’ve compiled all these tracks and more into an ever-growing playlist. Click here to like, listen, and practice even more avoidance.