Rudy Touzet came to play, Lina Nikol takes after Marvin, The Claudettes go deep and dark, Bloody Hell bring on the night — and we’re officially approaching the halfway point of your Weekend Roundup. Now might be a good time to take a break and stretch. You don’t wanna cramp up:
61 | Rudy Touzet | Play Me Again
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Pop singer/songwriter Rudy Touzet shares his electronic dance track Play Me Again. It details the feeling you get when you are with someone and you never want that moment to end, just like when you have that one song you can’t take off of repeat because it’s just that good. The 21-year-old Miami-born Cuban/American singer describes himself as a “shy guy” who gets along with everyone while still being able to maintain his awkwardness. “Music is the only thing that gets me out of reality when I need it the most,” he shares. “I want people to feel my voice and either dance it out, cry it out, or sing it out.”
62 | Lina Nikol | Get It On
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “R&B artist Lina Nikol released her single Get It On alongside an elegant visual. Get It On does the perfect job of embodying the burning desire to satisfy an unexplainable connection. Lina Nikol seeks to bring back powerful vocal riffs and sexy rhythms to R&B music while keeping the sound fresh and innovative. The release of Get It On is just the beginning of what this new powerhouse artist has to offer the world.”
63 | The Claudettes | Kept Them In The Dark
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “High Times In The Dark is the fifth and most recent release by Chicago “garage cabaret” band The Claudettes. Two songs were recorded during those album sessions but saved for future standalone release. The latest is Kept Them In The Dark, a song that Claudettes pianist/songwriter Johnny Iguana wrote just after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 went into effect. “I remember seeing Paul Ryan bang that gavel, with such a big grin,” says Iguana. “There was all this back-slapping, practically high-fiving, and all I could think was that there are victims of these policies — and they know it.” Iguana thought of an apt comparison to the perpetrators and victims of this crime. “I pictured Ariel Castro’s relatives, seeing his boarded-up basement windows and knowing he had stopped accepting visitors. Maybe Ariel had been acting strangely and nervously for a while. Maybe they suspected there were victims down there but didn’t do anything about it.”
64 | Bloody Hell | In The Night We Burn
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Formed to cause confusion and fear in people who don’t understand what heavy metal is about, Finland’s Bloody Hell have been wowing fans around the globe with their loud, unapologetic, speed demon tyranny for two decades. Last month, they kicked off the headbanging party with the full length’s first single Burn Witch Burn and today, the band are ready to start this bash’s second act with their lyric video for the next single In The Night We Burn. They say: “This is a fast track and it includes the very first riff that Jaakko & Marko made! It took only us about 17 years to write a song around it and get it to the moshpit!”
65 | Skeletal Remains | Desolate Isolation
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Founded in 2011, California death metal force Skeletal Remains are celebrating the band’s 10th anniversary by releasing reissues of 2011’s Desolate Isolation demo tape on vinyl, including various bonus content compiled from one decade of Skeletal Remains. Additionally, there will be reissues of their first two studio albums Beyond the Flesh and Condemned to Misery, which will include remastered sound available. All reissues will be released on May 21. Here’s a new lyric video for Desolate Isolation.”
66 | Kardboard Kid | Tokyo Dreaming
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Serving up an immaculate synth-driven soundtrack, the multifaceted songwriter, and producer showcases his extensive music knowledge with a powerful and emotional take. Jamie Sellers has already clocked over 10 years behind the scenes, racking up a plethora of chart successes with Ronan Keating, Alesha Dixon and Liv Dawson to name a few. Widely regarded as one of the U.K.’s top producers, his debut solo project feels like it will understandably garner much attention.”
67 | Miesha & The Spanks | Mixed Blood Girls
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Calgary’s Miesha and The Spanks, the guitar-and-drum garage-rock duo of frontwoman-guitarist Miesha Louie and drummer Sean Hamilton, release their new single Mixed Blood Girls — the fourth from their upcoming Singles EP out on April 16. “It’s (some of) my story as a mixed Secwépemc girl from the East Kootenays,” Miesha informs. “My dark skin and white features left me open to compliments on my ‘beautiful tan’ and when they found out it wasn’t, I was ‘too pretty to be an Indian’. From ballet moms to dudes in bars, I’ve heard it all.”
68 | Vinyl Hero | Sledgehammer
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Montreal’s Vinyl Hero pay homage to one of the great English rockers with their cover of Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel. The song will be celebrating its 35th anniversary next month. Committed to breaking the mold of creativity and stretching the boundaries of good old rock ’n’ roll, the band pull no punches when delivering bouncy, enthusiastic songs. The cover of Sledgehammer is no exception and is the first in a series of singles set to be released as they explain: “We decided to release single by single. To make it easier for our fans to get to know us better and join us in the excitement after every single release. Fans should be expecting a bunch of new material for 2021.”
69 | Body Void | Fawn
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Body Void deliver their latest single Fawn, from their upcoming new album Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth, which comes out April 23. They say: “Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth is both a clarion call and the sound of devotion. The expansive sounds and sludgy atmospherics make this a definitive doom record but with a progressive edge that hints at noise, punk and black metal.”
70 | Onchocerciasis Esophagogastroduodenoscopy | Flayed Tellurian Husk
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Flayed Tellurian Husk is the third single from Onchocerciasis Esophagogastroduodenoscopy’s terrifying album The Rotted Plinth Of Sachiel. It’s difficult to put into words just how extreme this band is — but luckily we don’t have to, because you can hear the insanely fast and heavy track for yourself! Flayed Tellurian Husk is an utterly obliterating attack which will leave your mind in ruins! Click on the link below and prepare to be destroyed! Vocalist Jesse Agiomamitis said, “This is probably the heaviest track on the record, but it depends what your definition of heavy is I suppose. Vocally, this was also the most reworked track on the album. Every track, except Profane Psalms, had the entire vocal take finished and entirely re-recorded at least twice.”
71 | Richie Quake | Rules
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Brooklyn artist and producer Richie Quake has returned for his single Rules. Written by Richie and N.Y.C. songwriter/producer Andy Stavrapolis, Rules experiments with pop, R&B, and psychedelic influences. Richie delivers his signature falsetto that grooves effortlessly, wrapped in sultry guitar riffs and vintage synth sounds. An ode to a bygone era yet still fresh and modern, he expertly balances familiarity with innovation. “Rules is about falling in love with someone against your better judgement and the confusion or guilt that comes along when love and bad timing coincide,” explains Ritchie. “In my last relationship, I fell for my ex-girlfriend when I was still dating someone else and, even though I tried hard to deny my feelings, I still ended up giving in to my desires and breaking my own rules.”
72 | Nigel Hall | Wake Me
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Grammy-winning soul provider Nigel Hall puts his skills to good use, carving out a creative space to call his own with his second album Spiritual, set to release May 14. Today, Hall releases Wake Me, his first single from the album. Nigel states, “What made me love this song is the chords and the lyrics. I can identify with the words. I know what it feels like to dream of things you want to continue when you wake up.” Hall continues, “It is just a vibe, all the way through.”
73 | Amigo The Devil | Murder At The Bingo Hall
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Amigo The Devil (aka Danny Kiranos) has released the new track Murder At The Bingo Hall from his upcoming sophomore album Born Against. The new album is set for an April 16. Murder At The Bingo Hall is a tongue-in-cheek first-person account of a fiercely competitive, and somewhat paranoid, gamer who takes his bingo a little too seriously. While the title of the track may imply a possible homicide, the figurative murder signifies the protagonist’s triumph over his opponents with his weapons of choice, the dabber and the bingo card. The intensity of the rhythm builds as he inches closer to victory one square at a time, until he jumps up and screams, “someone should call the cops! I’m killing it.”
74 | Alma Grace | Aventura
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Today, Mexican-American artist and activist Alma Grace is releasing Aventura, the second single from her forthcoming debut EP Frida, due out May 5. Alternating between English and Spanish, Aventura is an ode to her own multicultural and bilingual upbringing — a theme that is carried throughout the Frida EP. “I loved the double meaning of the word “aventura”— it simultaneously means adventure and affair, and Frida certainly had her fill of both,” Grace writes. “Frida (Kahlo) is rumored to have had affairs with everyone from Leon Trotsky to Georgia O’Keeffe. She lived her life loving whoever she wanted to love — a courageous philosophy for a woman in the early 1900s and in the modern day.”
75 | UV-TV | Distant Lullaby
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “New York City trio UV-TV say their next album Always Something comes out on May 28. In expectation of the new record, the band released the lead single Distant Lullaby. Recalling the effervescent power-pop of Blondie, The Primitives or early-R.E.M., Distant Lullaby is as immediate as it is infectious. Rose Vastola of the band says: “Distant Lullaby is an honest proclamation of the inability to let things go unresolved. The melody popped into my head while demoing the tune late one night with Ian Bernacett on acoustic guitar. Partnered with distortion, fuzzy bass and floating cowbells we wanted Distant Lullaby to be an instantly catchy song.”
76 | Kavanagh | Citizen 202
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “A juggernaut of propulsive alt-rock and skyscraping shoegaze, at just 1:44, Citizen 202 breaks through the sound barrier before jumping to lightspeed in a sensory dazing smash’n’grab. With utopian ideals and a sense of oneness at its core, it’s a track that dreams of transcending borders, categorisation and discrimination. David Emmons of Kavanagh says: “Citizen 202 is an intergalactic cry. We are not members of a town, or a country, or even this world. We are members of the universe. We are Citizen 202. Escaping from our specific time on this planet, and melting through the stars. We are energy. We are life. We are something more.”
77 | PinkFiz | Did I Ask?
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “PinkFiz is an 18-year-old punk pop artist from Cambridgeshire. She started her solo project during lockdown 2.0 as a way to continue writing and creating while stuck in isolation. PinkFiz represents female empowerment and the songwriters pride in being an independent female artist and producer. Her latest single Did I Ask? touches on female consent. Inspired by the riot grrrl scene and other feminist punk music, the emotion-fuelled track emits an energetic, angsty vibe, oozing with confidence and badassery. PinkFiz confides, “I wrote this song about the phrase ‘she was asking for it’ because I was really angry that day about it and I needed to get all my frustration about it into words and into a song.”
78 | Lagoon Wavey | Cliffside
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Barbados alt-R&B artist Lagoon Wavey shares the single Cliffside and announces that his debut EP The Shore will be released May 28. Lagoon Wavey effortlessly blends mellow electronica with stunning vocals and his Caribbean heritage to create a distinct and lush sound that sets him apart from the pack. He adds: ”Cliffside is the push and pull of being at your wits end for the sake of love, knowing you’ve had enough but still yearning for the person you’re with.”
79 | We Love Surf | What A Ride
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “We Love Surf return with the new single What A Ride!, which anticipates the fifth album to be released in October. The song tells of a long ride on a beautiful wave in a secret and sometimes even dangerous spot. In this period, away from concerts, surfing is more important than ever for the band. We Love Surf love to play and go to the seaside with a surfboard. We Love Surf are a rock ’n’ roll/beat/surf duo (voice/guitar and drums) that was born in 2010 to achieve the connection between surfing and music.”
80 | Krosst Out | Runaway (ft. Melotika)
THE EDITED PRESSS RELEASE: Alt-rock hip-hop artist Krosst Out returns with a hard-hitting track: Runaway ft. Melotika. The two team up to create a dynamic, punk-influenced hip-hop ballad that’s reminiscent of 1977. “I’ve been calling it 1977 punk meets rap or Sid and Nancy meet hip-hop,” Krosst Out shares. “I wrote this at the same time I was writing my album Phone Calls With Ghosts, which I think if you listen you can hear that. I was in the same headspace, the same creative flow. In the end though I just felt like this song deserved to be a standalone track.”
