Bite Me Bambi uphold the ska, Counterpunch keep it brief, Le Destroy get their freak on, Arlo Parks connects with Caroline, Actual Villains lose it — and that’s just a taste of your Tuesday Roundup. If you still need proof that Christopher Walken has it all figured out, here it is.
1 | Bite Me Bambi | This Love Is Dead
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Orange County ska/pop/punk septet Bite Me Bambi have dropped a new digital EP titled Hurry Up and Wait (fitting for the year of the Covid). It collects the singles the band released in 2020, and adds an exclusive bonus track titled This Love is Dead. The band say: “For those who don’t know, Bite Me Bambi is way into true crime. We touched on a Law & Order spoof — Ska & Order — during our last video Carried Away, and since the new single This Love is Dead has a murder/crime theme we decided to revive it. Which of the suspects committed the murder? You will have to watch and find out!”
2 | Counterpunch | Handbook For The Recently Debriefed
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Chicago punks Counterpunch have released Handbook For The Recently Debriefed, the title track off the upcoming 7” out Jan. 29. With their new songs, Counterpunch write a commentary on the society around them. The new tracks are their first new songs since the band’s 2014 album Bruises. Formed in 2004, Counterpunch’s metal-drenched skate-punk has taken around the world alongside some of the biggest names of the scene.”
3 | Le Destroy | Freak
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Austin electro-pop artist Le Destroy released her single and video Freak. Le Destroy is currently working on her upcoming album Trashumanism due in 2021, co-produced by musician Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson). “The song is an homage to the different ways we seek pleasure,” says Le Destroy, also known as Kristina Olson. “If someone knows what they like, who they are, and can embrace the things that bring them pleasure and happiness, regardless of whether it’s sexual in nature or not, that’s a very powerful thing.”
4 | Arlo Parks | Caroline
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Arlo Parks shares the video for Caroline, the latest preview of her debut album Collapsed In Sunbeams, out Jan. 29. Directed by Brock Neal-Roberts, the video dives into the middle of an earnest and emotional love story, with shots of Parks beautifully detailing the deeper narrative in between. Parks says: “Making this video with Brock was such an organic and emotional process. We wanted to make something distinctly human and tender, I’m so proud of this piece and the way it reflects the story behind Caroline.“
5 | Actual Villains | Losing My Religion
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Actual Villains — featuring Close to Home’s Andrew DeNeef and producer/ guitarist Hiram Hernandez — have dropped a dynamic cover of R.E.M.’s Losing My Religion, just in time for the original song’s 30th anniversary. DeNeef says, “To me, R.E.M.’s Losing My Religion has always been a quintessential alternative rock song. Since its release 30 years ago, it’s been one of the only songs from my childhood that I never grew tired of as my musical tastes went through multiple stages of evolution. I’ve always felt the lyrics are about the frustrations of feeling like you’re losing control, at the end of a rope, trying to find yourself through the noise and confusion of the world. A feeling I know all too well lately.”
6 | Alex McArtor | House On The Bay
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Indie-soul artist Alex McArtor has shared the video for House on the Bay. “The song chronicles me and some friends escaping the confines of our school and heading down to a friend’s place on the bay,” says McArtor. The video was directed by Sanetra Nere Longno and Peter Longno at a ranch in East Texas. “I tried to capture the feeling of youthful, reckless abandon,” McArtor continues. “I had a lot of fun shooting the video with Sanetra & Peter. Like the song, we wanted to keep it carefree, but also have some moments of introspection.”
7 | Evangelia | Fotiá
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Evangelia has released a live performance video of her current single Fotiá. Filmed in Los Angeles, the new video showcases the Greek American singer-songwriter, along with co-writer/co-producer Stolar (Aloe Blacc, Selena Gomez) on bouzouki and a pair of dancers, in a stripped-down take of the euphoric dance-pop song about passion and listening to your heart. “Performing in a venue was not something I thought I’d have the opportunity to do in 2020, so being able to put together this live show weaving in aspects of my Greek culture was a dream come true.”
8 | Sulene | Whiskey.weed.sex.candy.
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “South African-born, Brooklyn-based Sulene is welcoming everyone to her gothic disco party with new single and video Whiskey.weed.sex.candy. Sulene balances her dark feelings and hope simultaneously, taking cues from synth-pop and the underground dance scene, while reflecting on past addictions. Throughout the chorus she pours out, “Oh, I gotta do better / Or I’ll be here forever,” bringing a self-awareness to the cyclical and self-indulgent destructive decisions she’s been able to overcome.”
9 | And Now The Owls Are Smiling | Dirge II: Rejection
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “As time gently draws a pall of velvet darkness across the closing eyes of this broken year, Nre, the bard of And Now The Owls Are Smiling, emerges from his solitude once more. He brings with him Dirges, a new collection of songs for the heavy-hearted who shield their sorrows from the world like a flickering flame in a storm, to whom the sadness is a treasure, a pathway of memory, a gift never to be relinquished. out Jan. 29, Dirges is the distilled essence of that deep melancholy, a bleakly beautiful landscape of tears painted in shades of grey. Once again Nre has entwined the sweepingly majestic with agonizing intimacy to create the stunning sound of And Now The Owls Are Smiling.”
10 | Paper Tapes | You & I
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Paper Tapes have released their first video, for the track You & I. Directed by Antoine Magnien, it was filmed in France at the house of Paper Tapes leader Cyril Angleys’ grandmother. The song comes from Paper Tapes’ recent debut EP Homecoming. Influenced by the ’70s film score, the outsiders that became heroes like Stereolab and Air, the psyche-pop of Todd Rundgren or the R&B of Neptunes, Angleys assumes boldly but with finesse his carelessness of time and genres.”
11 | Sars | In Blood and Burn
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Sars is a metal sextet from Turku, Finland that combines a fresh mixture of hardcore, death metal and other genres. Sars took its first breaths during the summer of 2016 thanks to Sami Leinonen and Timo Heikkilä, but things took off when they introduced Juuso Linsamo in 2019. Now that Sars has shaped its form, it is time to spread the sickness with video for first single In Blood and Burn.”
12 | Andy Keels | Get Up Stand Up
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Filled with rolling drum patterns and infectious guitar melodies, Get Up Stand Up is an energetic slice of indie-rock from Surrey’s Andy Keels. With a constant desire and energy to create, Andy headed to the prolific Germano Studios in New York with Grammy-nominated engineer and producer Dave Rowland (The Killers, Kanye West, Justin Bieber, John Legend) to refine his prolific back catalogue of sounds.”
13 | Sofia Talvik | The Mess We’re In
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Swedish artist Sofia Talvik is taking on Covid deniers and climate change deniers in her new video. The pungent song This Mess We’re In is a reflection of all the craziness of 2020, and is filled with strong images of anti-mask rallies and land devastated by fires and storms. ”I guess you could call it a doomsday Christmas song, because why not, it’s 2020,” she says. It shows in this gutsy video.”
14 | Omar Khorshid | Hebbina Hebbina
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “On Feb. 26, Omar Khorshid’s With Love — an instrumental album released in Lebanon in 1978 — will be reissued. The album features Khorshid’s trademark twangy guitar over Arabic melodies enhanced by fascinating fuzzed-up arrangements and early synthesizer sounds. Featuring reworkings of such favourites as Farid El-Atrache’s Hebbina Hebbina (a Brian Eno favourite), the album is a fascinating example of modern Arabic music aimed at fusing traditional influences with the more contemporary ones.”
15 | Mishio Ogawa | Hikari No Ito Kin No Ito
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Archival label Light In The Attic Records will continue their acclaimed Japan Archival Series with Somewhere Between: Mutant Pop, Electronic Minimalism & Shadow Sounds of Japan 1980–1988. Expertly curated by Yosuke Kitazawa and Mark “Frosty” McNeill (dublab), the compilation is due out Jan. 22. Somewhere Between brings together sought-after songs — many of which have never been released outside Japan — encompassing ambient pop, underground electronics, liminal minimalism, and shadow sounds like the left field techno-pop of Mishio Ogawa’s Hikari No Ito Kin No Ito.”
16 | The Voidz | Alien Crime Lord
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Julian Casablancas and The Voidz have released a new track titled Alien Crime Lord. Said The Voidz: “We wanted to make a song that sounded like Jean Claude Van Damme standing up on a speeding motorcycle while firing perfect bullets through the windshield of an oncoming nemesis, then finishing the job with a controlled flip over the top of the vehicle that ends in a maelstrom of denim and flames.”
17 | Lande Hekt | December
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Bristol songwriter Lande Hekt presents December, the latest track to be lifted from Hekt’s debut solo album Going to Hell, out Jan. 22. Hekt says: “This one is about feeling scared to do anything about it when you like someone. It’s a bit of a self indulgent teenage issue, worrying whether anyone will fall in love with you or not, but I think it’s also trying to work through the worries that go along with realising you’re gay.” Going to Hell represents a time when she was coming out. “This record is important to me because it’s the first time I’m releasing anything as an outwardly gay person.”
18 | Kodiak Arcade | Silicon Hill
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “As a project, Graeme Cornies’ Kodiak Arcade is a hi-fi homage to the lo-fi sounds of the past. It’s a set of sonic landscapes, where the humanity of the organic performances are intertwined with sounds that can only be created by modern tech. Silicon Hill began with a dream: Two friends sat on a hill at sunset, looking into the distance at a newer sort of Art Deco city skyline. Everything around the city was a desert, though there was no sand in sight. The whole desert was made of a sort of semi-soft silicon with faint lines underneath — like patterns of a motherboard under the desert’s milky surface.”
19 | Stimulator Jones | Shaman’s Dose
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Stimulator Jones’ Shaman’s Dose is a percussion-driven number from his album La Mano, due in January. Drawing on a myriad of influences , Shaman’s Dose delves into the more experimental spectrum of electronic music. Stimulator Jones says: “I laid down the drums by themselves first, without any idea what the music was going to be. I quickly wrote a syncopated bass line and added that, then fleshed it out with chords from an upright piano and a Hammond organ line embellished with a swirling rotary effect. Next I came up with an intermittent little glockenspiel melody, which was then doubled with an electric guitar. Tambourine and percussion was added as the finishing touch, and the track was born. The title was inspired by a friend’s story about an out-of-body experience on magic mushrooms.”
20+21 | Jenny Owen Youngs | Little Bird + Long Long Gone (Demo)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Jenny Owen Youngs offers two new singles, Long Long Gone (Demo) and Little Bird. The latter, explains Youngs, “was written as a love letter to my closeted teenage self … My co-writer and producer of the track Adrianne Gonzalez and I turned the act of writing this song into a time-travel exercise; if we could speak directly to our teen selves, freaked out by high school and freaked out to be gay, what would we say? This song is the answer.”
22 | The Lasso | Satellite
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Detroit multi-instrumentalist and producer The Lasso brings an end-of-year cosmic funk and soul treat for everybody. The purple-powered Minneapolis Sound jam features Rachele Eve, A. Billie Free and Cousin Mouth on vocals while everybody’s favorite sax player The Saxsquatch and cello phenom Jordan Hamilton get down instrumentally. The Lasso, of course, does his thing on synths, drums, guitars, Rhodes, percussion, and even some extra vocals. Expand your musical sphere and ease into something freeing.”
23 | High Desert Queen | The Mountain Vs The Quake
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “High Desert Queen are an American rock band in the ascendancy. The band’s sole aim was to make the kind of music they could file away on their record shelves, alongside the likes of Queens of the Stone Age, Elder, Tom Waits and The Allman Brothers. “We like the idea of creating Texas Desert Rock,” explains singer and guitarist Ryan Garney. “Music that has its roots in blues, stoner rock and doom but most importantly of all, sounds like it’s from Texas. Fortunately for us the creative process feels pretty easy since we don’t really care what kind of songs we write, as long as they have a groove and feel good.”
24 | Drones | Epitaph
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Drones’ forthcoming album Our Hell Is Right Here is an extremely personal journey for vocalist Lois McDougall and the latest single is no exception.“Epitaph is the emo anthem of our new record,” says McDougall. “The umbrella term ‘mental health’ is so widespread and complex that it can be hard to pinpoint the exact problem that one person is experiencing … A diagnosis can really help free you from the spiraling mess that depression can cause, and writing Epitaph was just one step of that process for me.”
