While we may have tormented you all with Ska Week for several days straight, we at The Hard Times know what the people want, and that’s music other than ska. Here’s what we’ve been listening to when we aren’t watching that fucking adorable baby hippo bite people all day.
The Cure “Alone”
It may shock you to learn that The Hard Times staff and contributor pool contains a lot of dudes in their 40s. Based on this revelation, however, it should absolutely not surprise you that we’ve had The Cure’s first single since 2008 on repeat. “Alone,” a nearly 7-minute track, is instrumentally lush, vocally heart-wrenching, and devastatingly moody, so pretty much pitch perfect for any fan who feels like they’re watching the world burn before their very eyes.
CANDY “Football”
On the complete other end of the musical spectrum, we’ve been blasting this 58-second absolute skullcrusher by hardcore genre-pushers CANDY. “Football” is less than a minute of utter fucking brutal chaos, and yet doesn’t fall into the trappings of many other grind-adjacent groups. This track manages to address so many different sonic ideas in such a short time period that we are considering asking the band how they retain such maximal efficiency while melting our faces off.
The Voidz “Square Wave”
The Voidz, fronted by Julian Casablancas, recently released a full-length album titled “Like All Before You.” Our pick from that tracklist is “Square Wave,” a jangly, lowkey indie groove with some delightfully odd vocal effects that kind of make us wish Julian had been on more Daft Punk songs. Play this one during your 2014 tumblr themed Halloween party.
Helvetets Port “Black Knight”
Swedish metal band Helvetets Port appear to have actually created a time machine to transport themselves to 1986, because man, “Black Knight” is so precisely of the era that we genuinely thought we were listening to our dad’s tapes for a second there. If you’ve missed the feeling of listening to some good ol’ traditional metal while drinking a beer on a folding chair in your garage, we’ve got the guys for you.
Special Interest “Nothing Grows Here”
Special Interest hails from the New Orleans DIY scene, and they are always making some genre-blending exciting shit. “Nothing Grows Here” is a techno-punk rager that is somehow both at home in a deleted scene from a Blade movie and in the playlist that your coolest friend updates literally every day. Catch them on tour if you want to experience the midpoint between Machine Girl and Soul Glo, and then have your mind exploded.
The Armed “NEW! Christianity”
Detroit natives The Armed have been consistently cranking out new and confusing (non-derogatory) work since their debut nearly 15 years ago. “NEW! Christianity” combines dreamy vocals, gritty screams, double bass pedal, and sparkling synths in some sort of unholy (again, non-derogatory) fusion that is leaving us hitting play for the dozenth time to just get a grip on everything happening here. That’s a rare feat and boy, we are hooked.
We know you’re not about to spend a whole day by yourself without the constant distraction of music, so be sure to save the playlist on Spotify and keep any thoughts from your head for over 13 hours.
And if you want to avoid another Ska Week, sign up for our Patreon to vote for the next victim.