The Super Bowl is over, the confetti has been swept up, and you have nothing left to look forward to in this unforgiving winter. You might be considering drastic measures like reading to alleviate your boredom and depression. We’ll be the first to say it, reading is the lamest and least productive way to spend your time. Why stare at a book when you can do literally anything else?
What if we told you there was a form of media that offers the benefits of consuming the written word without the chore of using your imagination or eyes? No, it’s not magic. It’s music, and there is an endless supply of it on the internet. Here’s just a sampling of some of our new favorites to listen to while scrolling mindlessly on our phones and refusing to expand our vocabularies and brain strength.
IDLES “Hall & Oates”
IDLES finally released their highly anticipated fifth album ‘TANGK.’ Featuring production from Nigel Godrich, Kenney Beats, and the band’s guitarist Mark Bowen, the record expands even further on the sonic exploration that defined their previous effort ‘CRAWLER.’ There are some seriously somber and vibey moments throughout the entire record, making the band’s standard high-octane flair punch even harder when it rears its head. Hyper-speed garage rocker and album highlight ‘Hall & Oates,’ for example, sounds even more raucous than it already is when slotted right after lead single ‘Grace’ – which ICYMI now has a deep-faked Chris Martin lip-syncing to the lyrics in its new video. It’s these chaotic moments of sequencing that make the record a gut-wrenching rollercoaster that is sure to translate well in their already batshit live sets.
Dick Valentine “Island of Pigs”
When Electric Six’s fearless leader, Tyler Spencer, isn’t belting out the horniest dance-rock anthems you’ve ever heard, he’s working diligently on his ever-expanding solo discography under the name of Dick Valentine. His eleventh album, ‘Do You Notice?’ quietly dropped at the beginning of the month, and it is filled with the high caliber ear-worm gems you would expect at this point in his storied career. The thumping bass and bombastic riffage of his more notable projects has been replaced with jangly guitars and a bit more vulnerable lyricism, especially on album highlight ‘Island of Pigs,’ but the intensity has not diminished a single iota. While Spencer’s solo material might not make you want to put the kids to bed quite like an Electric Six joint, it will still get you moving, or at very least, bobbing your head just a bit.
Sheer Mag “Eat It and Beat It”
In case you missed it, Philadelphia’s garage-punk legends Sheer Mag inked a deal with Third Man Records last year and have steadily been teasing their upcoming third album ‘Playing Favorites.’ The fourth and presumably final lead single for the record, ‘Eat It and Beat It’ harkens to their seventies-inspired hard rock roots, with the band likening it to a call to arms for the next generation of aspiring rockers. This is easy to believe with the arrangement, packed wall to riffs and dirty as shit production. The straightforward and fun anthem only briefly meanders to drop into a brief ‘what the fuck was that?’ psych section before barreling right back into the hook. With Sheer Mag proclaiming this track to be the handbook for all future guitar heroes and fist pumpers, then the new legion of incoming degenerates will have quite the cohesive blueprint to follow.
Hot Water Music “Burn Forever” & “Menace”
Gainesville, Florida’s post-hardcore legends Hot Water Music are celebrating their 30th year of existence with the announcement of their tenth album ‘Vows.’ It is set to be a star-studded event featuring members of Turnstile, Thrice and the Interrupters just to name a few. In addition to the new record, the band will also be embarking on an anniversary tour with Quicksand, which has prompted several PTO requests from our staff. As if this wasn’t enough to give everyone a collective heart attack, two new singles, ‘Burn Forever’ and ‘Menace,’ have also been thrust upon the public. Both are absolute shit-kickers that will make you consider upping your blood pressure medication before copping tickets to your town’s show this spring.
METZ “99” and “Entwined (Street Light Buzz)”
It’s been four long years, but METZ is back, baby! Toronto’s experimental punk outfit just announced their fifth album ‘Up On Gravity’ hill with the release of two excellent and wide-ranging singles ‘99’ and ‘Entwined (Street Light Buzz).’ No strangers to covering large expanses of sonic ground, both tracks feature the band exploring far corners of punk terrain. ‘Entwined’ explores tight angular riffs while bordering on math and psych-rock, all the while cradling a lyrical theme of human connection. Conversely, ‘99,’ a song about late-stage capitalist greed builds on droning noise guitar before exploding into a glam-technicolor chorus. Remember those demos you recorded on your last acid trip? These tracks are what those would have sounded like if they were even a little listenable.
HANABIE. “O・TA・KUラブリー伝説”
Our Managing Editor has been on a pretty big Japanese metal-core kick lately. As a result, the writers’ room has been subjected to hours upon hours of the self-proclaimed “Harajuku-core” outfit HANABIE. Don’t get us wrong, it’s sick as fuck and their latest single ‘O・TA・KUラブリー伝説’ is a certified banger. It’s just that she insists on playing it at full ear-splitting volume on nearly every speaker in the building. It’s becoming a productivity issue, and every time we ask her to turn it down she starts cleaning a gun or sharpening one of the many blades in her office. This normally wouldn’t intimidate us, but she makes direct eye contact the entire time and refuses to blink until we turn away.
HEALTH “Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away)” (Deftones Cover)
LA industrial-rock trio HEALTH – who have in the past collaborated with Deftones’ Chico Moreno – just released a dreamy-as-fuck cover of the seminal ‘Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away).’ While the blissful shoegaze-meets-metal elements of the original remain largely intact, the walls of fuzz guitar are replaced with swirling synth pads and heavily processed electro-drums. While a bit of chugging guitar makes an appearance, it’s barely audible until about two-thirds of the way through the otherworldly rendition. One of our most stoned staffers has been jamming on this one pretty frequently after his afternoon ‘walks’ and we can’t say we blame him.
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists “The One Who Got Us Out”
Believe it or not, but Ted Leo and the Pharmacists’ breakthrough and highly influential album, ‘Shake the Sheets,’ is turning twenty years old this year. It’s one of those records that you likely refer to as ‘timeless’ to further ignore the fact that you were much younger, hopeful, and agile in 2004. To mark the occasion, Ted Leo will be taking his Pharmacists – both figurative and hopefully literal – out for a few dates across the country where they will play the album in its entirety. This means you won’t need to ruin the show for everyone around you by constantly screaming ‘PLAY THE ONE WHO GOT US OUT.’ We doubt you won’t still do it, though. We all know how quickly your patience and attention span runs dry these days.
Because we know you’re too despondent to do it yourself, we’ve compiled these and several other questionable tunes into a playlist for you. It’s literally the least we could do. Click here to like, follow, and trick your friends into thinking you’re a tastemaker in the world of punk, indie, hardcore and metal.