It’s finally March, and you’re starting to feel the madness. While winter should be over, the month will likely continue to taunt you with blissful – albeit terrifyingly unseasonable – 70-degree days before plunging you into another snowstorm. Your joints can barely handle the whiplash caused by the fluctuating temperatures. While you should be pretending to finally start prepping your garden, you are instead writhing on a heating pad while cursing the cruel and unforgiving outside world.
Just because your body is getting old, doesn’t mean your music taste should follow suit. Since you’re just lying around wasting away, you might as well listen to all of this new music we’ve picked out for you. It won’t help your increasing knee and shoulder pain, but it will at least help you get a head start on a sick playlist to jam during the one week of the year you actually enjoy being outside.
St. Vincent “Broken Man”
Many fans of Annie Clark’s avante-pop guitar wizardry have split her discography into two categories: Pre-abduction Annie and post-abduction Annie, with her eponymous fifth album marking the dividing line between earthly and otherworldly. With the release of her latest single, ‘Broken Man’ from her forthcoming album ‘All Born Screaming,’ a new category is born: Alien Overlord Annie. We here at the Hard Times would like to be the first to bow down to the almighty ruler that is St. Vincent. May her revived reign over us be long and unforgiving.
TWRP “A Human’s Touch ft. McKenna Rae”
If you’re anything like us, you spend the majority of your time wracked with indecision when trying to choose between listening to E.L.O or ABBA during your sad little workout regime. Your physical and mental health is rapidly depleting and you wish there was a way to combine the qualities of both bands so you can hop on that treadmill or whatever and move on with your day. Fortunately, Canada’s costumed heroes TWRP have done just that with their latest McKenna Rae featuring single ‘A Human’s Touch.’ Now you only have yourself to blame for skipping leg day for the sixth month in a row.
Hinds “Coffee”
When Hinds announced last year that their rhythm section had quit the band, many feared that the Madrid-based indie-punk outfit might be calling it quits for good. Fortunately, those fears have been effectively vanquished. The detour only meant that lead vocalists, guitarists, and founding members Carlotta Cosials and Ana García Perrote would be going back to basics. Their latest single “Coffee” finds the duo picking up right where they left off, delivering their trademark dueling vocals with hooks that are as catchy as they are bratty.
Chastity Belt “Chem Trails”
Last year, Chastity Belt’s seminal debut LP ‘No Regerts’ celebrated its tenth anniversary, reminding several of our writers that they were a band. You’ll have to excuse their forgetfulness, as the indie outfit has been a bit dormant since their 2019 self-titled album was released. Much of our staff can’t remember last week, let alone five years ago. Anyway, the band’s latest album, ‘Live Laugh Love,’ will be out at the end of the month and it seems the effort will be worth the wait. The latest single, ‘Chem Trails,’ finds the quartet in classic form with a truly hypnotic arrangement. If you don’t feel like you’re floating by the time the chorus hits, you probably aren’t listening close enough.
FEVER 333 “READY ROCK”
FEVER 333 have been teasing their highly anticipated, but still unannounced, second album since the early spring of last year. After announcing a new lineup in early spring last year – which includes ex-Mars Volta drummer Thomas Pridgen and viral bass sensation April Kae – the band dropped the chaotic single, $WING, before taking their unhinged live show on the road for an extended run of summer dates. This left us and other fans chomping at the bit for new rumblings of music from the act. Our collective wishes have been more than fulfilled with the release of ‘READY ROCK’ – a dizzying punk, hip-hop, metal, and funk fusion that will make your head feel like it’s been plucked from your body and thrown into a forest fire.
Pissed Jeans “Everywhere Is Bad”
Spring is just around the corner and you might be starting to plan out your next vacation. Perhaps you’re already narrowing down your shortlist of cities and attractions to visit. Before you go any further, you might want to ditch your travel planner and listen to ‘Everywhere Is Bad’ from Pissed Jeans excellent new album ‘Half Divorced.’ Three and a half minutes in the hands of this ferociously biting track about the sad state of America will have you too depressed and listless to go anywhere, saving you tons of money in the long run. Who needs a vacation when you can just listen to this album on repeat, anyway?
Okay, so we definitely did say these would help you get a headstart on making a sick playlist, but we all know you’re actually not going to do it. That’s why we’ve made one for you. It doesn’t just have these songs on it, either. It has every song we’ve ever written about this year, and will continue to grow until it becomes so long and disorienting that it develops sentience and tells you to get a job. You can click here to check it out unless you’re a coward who hates great music.