Run The Jewels throw a street party, Larkins feel run down, Wyldlife kiss and tell, Pup share their shock tactics, Khruangbin make time for you and more in today’s Roundup. Welcome to another … um, Monday, right?
VIDEOS OF THE DAY
1 | Run The Jewels | Ooh LA LA
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Run The Jewels have shared the music video for their new single Ooh LA LA (feat. Greg Nice & DJ Premier), the first from the ferociously anticipated new album RTJ4. Shot in early March, just prior to the impact of Covid-19, the video was already a commentary on class divisions & capitalism, themes which have now been painfully revealed as more urgent and important to address than ever. Featuring cameos by hip hop legends Greg Nice, DJ Premier, Rage Against the Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha, a legion of dancers, a fleet of hot air balloons, and a mountain of burning money, the video is an ebullient celebration of resistance, illuminating the duo’s unique ability to straddle the worlds of pointed social commentary and raw, boisterous fun. “We shot this video only a few weeks before the pandemic hit with no clue as to what the future held. the fact that we got the chance to do it is damn near miraculous in hindsight,” state the duo. “In conceptualizing the video with our friends Brian and Vanessa Beletic we imagined the world on the day that the age old struggle of class was finally over. A day that humanity, empathy, and community were victorious over the forces that would separate us based on arbitrary systems created by man. This video is a fantasy of waking up on a day that there is no monetary system, no dividing line, no false construct to tell our fellow man that they are less or more than anyone else. Not that people are without but that the whole meaning of money has vanished. That we have somehow solved our self created caste system and can now start fresh with love, hope and celebration. It’s a dream of humanity’s V-DAY… and the party we know would pop off.”
2 | Larkins | Are We Having Any Fun Yet?
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Following the release of their critically acclaimed EP Hit and Run in February, rising Manchester act Larkins burst back into the spotlight with their huge new offering Are We Having Any Fun Yet? The first teaser from their upcoming new body of work, Are We…? emerges as a hugely bold, exciting statement of intent. The scale of the track, with its anthemic, thudding bassline and hyper-personal lyricism from frontman Josh Noble, is an electric, charismatic, and ambitious move that will be sure to continue the intrigue and attention around them. With epic, cinematic visuals shot by award-winning Manchester duo Grandmas, it’s another marker of Larkins’ creative ambitions.”
ALSO ON THE PLAYLIST
3 | Wyldlife | Kiss and Tell
THE PRESS RELEASE: “NYC punk/rock ‘n’ roll four-piece Wyldlife dropped a music video for Kiss and Tell, off the band’s recently released fourth album Year Of The Snake. Of the video, frontman Dave Feldman says: “The concept was made by the director, and our friend, Randy Slavin. It’s been about 10 years since we’ve worked with him, so I guess he let all these weird f*cked up ideas marinate in his head. We shot this without any permits and were constantly looking over our shoulders for cops/cyclists/joggers who would be like, ‘What the fuck?’ I mean, we had toy guns but they look pretty realistic.” Stuffed with catchy riffs and choruses, charmingly specific lyrics and a palpable love of ’70s punk, glam and power pop, Year Of The Snake is the long-anticipated follow-up to Wyldlife’s Out On Your Block.”
4 | Pup | Anaphylaxis
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Toronto’s Pup released the massive Morbid Stuff last year to critical acclaim, earning countless year-end nods, their late-night debut on Late Night With Seth Meyers, and a largely sold-out world tour that had them on the road for a solid nine months. Now the band returns with Anaphylaxis, their first new material of 2020, accompanied by the claymation video directed by Callum Scott-Dyson. “I got the idea for the song when I was at my partner’s cottage and her cousin got stung by a bee and his whole head started to swell up,” says singer Stefan Babcock. “His wife, although she was concerned, also thought it was pretty hilarious and started making fun of him even as they were headed to the hospital. He ended up being totally fine, but it was just funny to watch him freaking out and her just lighting him up at the same time. It reminded me of all the times I’ve started panicking for whatever reason and was convinced I was dying and the world was ending and no one would take me seriously. In retrospect, I always find those overreactions pretty funny. So we wrote a goofy song about being a hypochondriac and tried to make our guitars sound like bees at the beginning of it.”
5 | Khruangbin | Time (You and I)
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Khruangbin, the Houston-based group comprised of bassist Laura Lee Ochoa, guitarist Mark Speer, and drummer Donald “DJ” Johnson, are pleased to announce their new album, Mordechai, out June 26. Mordechai comes two years after the release of their beloved and acclaimed breakthrough, 2018’s Con Todo El Mundo, and was preceded earlier this year by Texas Sun, the group’s collaborative EP with Leon Bridges. Today, they present the vibrant, Felix Heyes & Josh R.R. King-directed video for Mordechai’s lead single, Time (You and I).”
6 | Jessy Lanza | Face
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Jessy Lanza proudly announces her newest LP, All The Time, out July 24. In celebration, she shares its second single, Face, with an accompanying video directed by Winston Case filmed during their travels across the States. Jessy says the song’s inspiration came from watching people’s faces on the New York subway. “I was fantasizing about what everyone was thinking based on their expressions,” she says. “I found myself projecting my own feelings onto the strangers I was looking at. I went home and wrote the lyrics imagining that the commuters were having telepathic conversations with each other. The questions I imagined them asking each other oscillated from sexual to confrontational: ‘Baby is it just enough? Tell me do you want it all? Baby are you feeling tough? Feeling tougher more than not?’ ”
7 | Various Artists | Lift Up Louisville
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The city of Louisville presents Lift Up Louisville, a collaborative effort by Teddy Abrams, the widely acclaimed Music Director of the Louisville Orchestra, Jim James, Will Oldham, Ben Sollee, Scott Carney, Dani Markham, Patrick Hallahan, Jecorey Arthur, Jason Clayborn and several other notable figures from Louisville’s diverse music community. All proceeds benefit the One Louisville COVID-19 Response Fund, Louisville’s central funding source to provide emergency resources throughout the region. Lift Up Louisville is part of Mayor Greg Fischer’s Lift Up Lou movement, which encourages the city’s cultural talent to fight social isolation and maintain a sense of community during quarantine. Says Abrams: “We hope that this song provides inspiration and pride for Louisvillians, and that it functions as a reminder that the city’s artists believe in service to their community in addition to performance at the highest levels. We’d love to see other cities take this model and build their own songs, creating a quilt of songs reflecting the various musical communities of towns around the world.” To build on this idea, Louisville will be actively encouraging other cities around the world to produce their own collaborations in an effort to assemble a beautiful musical montage of this moment in history.”
8 | Buscabulla | Regresa
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Buscabulla has dropped the trailer for their upcoming debut album Regresa. It comes in the form of a mini-documentary, exploring the duo’s journey of moving back home from New York to Puerto Rico, and recording their first album. The film was directed Chris Gregory-Rivera & Michael Kirby Smith. Buscabulla is set to release their long-awaited debut on May 8. Full of angst and an underlying sense of loss, Regresa — which means “return” or “to come back” — is a bittersweet, introspective, eye-opening journey. “The album reflects the joys of being back but it’s also melancholic,” Raquel says. “You can feel like a stranger in your own home because the island is going through very hard, weird times. Most people our age have fled. We have also changed after being away for so long.”
9 | 93Punx | Zombie
THE PRESS RELEASE: “In honour of the recently announced landmark of The Cranberries’ iconic video for Zombie hitting 1 billion views on YouTube, subversive rock band 93Punx has released a music video and short documentary for their slow-burning incendiary cover of the seminal track. 93Punx embraced the universality of the message and adapted it slightly to reflect the current strife of race relations within the U.S. This new interpretation of Zombie takes on extra resonance amidst these times of cultural discord, splicing performance footage of 93Punx with excerpts from the original Cranberries video and news footage of violence inflicted on people of color including the tragic shootings of unarmed Tamir Rice and Philando Castile by police officers. 93Punx captures the parallels between this racial prejudice in America with the political violence in the war-torn Northern Ireland of the early ‘90s.”
10 | Imonolith | Instinct
THE PRESS RELEASE: “After kicking off their video series The Quarantine Sessions last week during their individual Covid-19 isolation, modern metal band Imonolith has their the next playthrough ready for fans for the track Instinct from their recently released debut album State of Being. Drummer Ryan Van Poederooyen comments: “The music industry has been flipped upside down with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, we’re getting creative in how to stay engaged with those people who support us. Imonolith came up with an idea called The Quarantine Sessions. This is how it works — From our various living rooms/rehearsal spaces in self-isolation, we are recording videos of ourselves playing through each song off of our debut album State of Being. You can see how we perform these songs on our respective instruments. We release one song every Monday on our Imonolith YouTube page.”
11 | Fortunate Losers | Fascist
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Canadian hard rock powerhouse Fortunate Losers have dropped their latest single Fascist. It drives the band into a more deep, intense ballad-esque state, with Devon Cox’s emotional vocals cutting through, delivered with genuine sincerity. The track showcases the versatility in this highly talented, up and coming, rock act. Powered by their first, full-length album, Cut Teeth, released in 2018, Fortunate Losers have been slugging in the trenches in their mining town home of Sudbury, Ontario whilst widening their fan base by hitting larger centres like Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa and have not been shy to load up the trailer and hit the Canadian highways.”
12 | Trope | Shout
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Trope is an alternative prog/rock band located in Hollywood, LA. Formed in 2016, the band have been perfecting their sound and songwriting, leading to their highly anticipated debut album Eleutheromania. Combining hypnotic rhythms with dark, progressive elements, singer Diana Studenberg gives the band their recognizable sound with her delicate-to-angst vocals which cascade dramatically atop their dynamic melodies. Leading single Shout is a cover of the well loved song by Tears for Fears. Bursting with resonating guitars, powerful vocals and crashing drums, the track builds into an anthemic release. Trope have taken Shout and made it completely their own. Studenberg explains, “Due to the song’s pop sensibility and 4/4 beat, it didn’t fit into the Trope realm at the time. But as things progressed and electronic instrumentation was replaced with organic instruments including bass, guitars and ebow, the tune took a darker turn and actually really worked for Trope.”
13 | RAC | Change The Story (ft. Jamie Lidell)
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Grammy-winning producer and songwriter André Allen Anjos, known as RAC, shared Change The Story (ft. Jamie Lidell) the third single from his upcoming album Boy. RAC said of the track, “at its very core, this song represents freedom to me. It was written with such a playful energy. I ignored all the typical pop writing rules and just had fun with it. I have very vivid memories of listening to Jamie when I was growing up never imagining in a million years that I’d get to work with him.” Change The Story features British singer/producer Jamie Lidell on vocals. Known for his diverse range of genre exploration, Jamie is a veteran producer and vocalist in his own right. In 2013, he garnered critical acclaim from his self-titled album and has gone on to craft a strong catalogue of songs which explore the IDM and soul worlds as well as joining forces with the likes of Beck and Simian Mobile Disco.”
14 | Passion | Poundcake
THE PRESS RELEASE: “UK hard rockers Passion have released a covers EP, Under The Covers featuring tributes to classics by Van Halen, RATT, Slaughter and Winger!”
15 | Okkultokrati | Loathe Forever
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Okkultokrati are now sharing their new single Loathe Forever, from their upcoming new album La Ilden Lyse, nearing release on May 15. La Ilden Lyse — which roughly translates to Keep The Fire Burning — is an album of pure, cold, grim, rawness. Themes of enduring life, transcending death, worshipping the moon, and triumphant, satanic darkness are all at play here, and the album sounds harder, faster, and nastier than ever. No more messing around. Keep it black, keep it metal, all the time. “Pushing beyond the grasp of simply life and death, crossing over despite one’s fleshy limitations and mortal flaws. Everything physical decays, rots and fades away, but ideas are forever. Transcending life, contempt/alienation/(self) hate/loathing are eternally constant. Embrace the frostbitten darkness and ride with us to the badlands.”
16 | Connan Mockasin | I Want Troll With You (Gentle Dom Remix)
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Mexican Summer announces Looking Glass, a new single series celebrating the human condition through remote connection that benefits artists directly during these uncertain times. Presented as digital singles via Bandcamp, all proceeds go to the artist, or a charity of their choice. Today, they release I Want Troll With You (Gentle Dom Remix), a beautifully twisted reinterpretation of Connan Mockasin’s original remixed by Gentle Dom, aka MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden. Tracks from Kikagaku Moyo, Matchess and Sessa will be shared later this week, with further singles to come.”
17 | Alex McArtor | Biggest Fan
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Seventeen-year-old singer-songwriter Alex McArtor has a powerful voice and pensive soul, which she displayed on Biggest Fan, her elegant new track. Biggest Fan is the first song McArtor ever wrote and takes its inspiration from The Carpenters’ Superstar. She was 15 at the time. “I wrote Biggest Fan back when I was very much at the age of when you’re riding the wave of naivety,” McArtor said. “I wanted to write a song that expressed the idea that sometimes people or things are better left untouched for the sake of not killing the magic, or the fantasy that surrounds them… the mystery of the unknown.”
18 | Frnd Crcl | Deception
THE PRESS RELEASE: “New Jersey’s Frnd Crcl (pronounced Friend Circle) have officially released their next single Deception off their upcoming sophomore album Internet Noise, which drops on May 1. Echoing the sounds of the early 2000s heyday of pop-punk, the four-piece has made a name for themselves in the Tri-State music scene, while constantly challenging and modernizing their sound. Formed in 2018, Aaron Smith (Drums) and Dom Giacalone (Lead Guitar), along with dual vocalists Zac Johnson (Guitar) and Adam Skirvin (Bass), combine their unique musical backgrounds to create a fresh take on the genre. Frnd Crcl is not afraid to incorporate lyrical wordplay, the occasional pop culture reference, and influences from various genres across the board.”
