She Drew The Gun cut to the chase, an all-star punk Crew speak in unison, Dan Potter Sings keeps a civil tongue, Snapped Ankles deliver the proof, Sinoptik make a nine-minute call — so you might as well settle in and enjoy your Tuesday Roundup. This might take a while:
1 | She Drew The Gun | Cut Me Down
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Liverpool-based Louisa Roach’s band She Drew The Gun have released the video for Cut Me Down, lifted from the newly announced album Behave Myself, out Sept. 24. Louisa said, “The video is Inspired by the Las Tesis collective protests in Chile where thousands of women took to the streets and performed a song and dance using blindfolds in protest of structural state violence against women. It brought a whole new level to the idea of a protest song, and spread around the world becoming a transnational feminist act of solidarity. The video captures a performance by dancer Tilly Woodward, who embraced the meaning of the song, and brought it to life with her interpretation. She is brilliant.”
2 | The Crew | One Voice
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Punk rock collective The Crew release One Voice, a rousing anthem about unity released to raise funds for the kids music charity Musack. The Crew features Fletcher Dragge & Byron McMackin of Pennywise, Mike Muir of Suicidal Tendencies, and Tim Armstrong & Matt Freeman of Rancid. “Collaborating with Tim Armstrong, Mike Muir and Matt Freeman has been an awesome experience,” saus Dragge. “Obviously Byron McMackin and I go way back. Byron and I had a demo of One Voice laying around for couple years, and I thought it would be cool to bring a couple old friends on board to breath some new life into it. Watching these guys lay down their own personal trademark styles on this song was nothing short of amazing! I think it’s safe to safe we’re all pretty fucking stoked on the final product, and being able to donate proceeds to Musack feels pretty awesome as well. Find it, crank it up, and enjoy!”
3 | Dan Potter Sings | To The Beat Of A Civil War
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Dan Potter Sings’ To The Beat Of A Civil War will appear on the upcoming album Again?!, due on June 11. The raw hard hitting punk-pop song speaks to the recent explosion of right-wing activism and racial prejudice taking place in western democracies. Using sarcasm and irony as artistic tools, the storyboard lyrics skewer this rising point of view in imaginative and fun ways. Dan says: “To The Beat Of A Civil War was written before the infamous Jan. 6 Capital riot, but this tragedy served as a great visual representation of the song. I decided to collect together a ‘greatest clips’ selection of this warped event to use as the backdrop in the lyric video and it became a perfect compliment to the pummeling guitar riffs and spiteful words.”
4 | Snapped Ankles | The Evidence
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “We were delivered an email demanding to know if there is evidence of our existence, so we collected all our content into one song: The Evidence. It is taken from Forest Of Your Problems, which will be arriving on July 2. The shy woodwose were captured by visual artist Daisy Dickinson’s camera traps in their natural environment, their first time filmed in the wild.”
5 | Sinoptik | The Call
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ukrainian psychedelic prog-rockers Sinoptik will release their album The Calling in June. Today they share their fourth single from the record, The Call. Filmed at the Museum of Cosmonautics dedicated to Sergei Korolev in the city of Zhitomir, Ukraine, The Call clocks in at over nine minutes, and serves as proof that Sinoptik are not just here to rock, but also have a message to spread. They say: “The Call, as well as the album title The Calling, are dedicated to the one who calls and to the one who hears the call. To the ones who sacrificed everything for their dreams and hopes, and proved with their work and minds that there are no boundaries and that anything is possible. This song is about the trueness and belief that continues to create peace and saving humanity.”
6 | Mdou Moctar | Taliat
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ahead of the release of his new album Afrique Victime this Friday, Modu Moctar has released the hypnotic song Taliat. “Oh poor girl / She gave him her heart and he broke it / I pray to God to never experience unrequited love and the pain of a broken heart,” Moctar sings in Tamasheq over lyrical electric guitar runs and ecstatic rhythm. “Taliat means woman,” Moctar says. “In our community, women are queens, they have a lot of power, that why I use the term taliat to talk about them. A woman in the Tuareg community has to be protected, but she also has to be treated as equal.”
7 | Lakou Mizik & Joseph Ray | Ogou (Pran Ka Mwen)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Few albums manage to evoke a time and place with such startling effect as the unlikely collaboration Leave The Bones (out Aug. 6) between the multi-generational Haitian band Lakou Mizik and Grammy-winning electronic music artist Joseph Ray. Haiti is a word that conjures up a lot of images — it is a country judged by many, most of whom have never set foot on its shores. But its history is rich, its people proud and defiant, and nowhere is that more evident than in its music. Culture is what defines the country — its drums and Vaksins (horns) are symbols of freedom and pride, liberty and struggle, and the joy of dancing. Leave The Bones paints a musical portrait, a fresh glimpse of an oft misrepresented country.”
8 | Zuffalo | Can You Run Out?
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “One night in Toronto, when conversations of their favourite live bands led to dreams of being their own favourite live band, Zuffalo were born. Zuffalo’s music is guitar-driven, uplifting psychedelic rock with folk- and pop-based melodies and harmonies. Their new album Birdbrain and the single Can You Run Out? just landed. Can You Run Out? was written by Sean Steele (guitar, vocals) during lockdown, and is about longing for human connection.“We were setting up to record a song of Sean’s called Time is a Flat Circle, when on a break, Sean played a demo of Can You Run Out? off of his phone to our producer/engineer Mackenzie Jordan. Mikey walked by overhearing and stopped in his tracks. “What’s that?!? We should record that!” So we immediately went to Can You Run Out? without any rehearsal. The acoustic guitar and bongos really glue everything together, with the acoustic sounding especially interesting because it was recorded into a cardboard box with a microphone inside.”
9 | Nick Ferrio | Television Of Roses
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Nick Ferrio is sharing Television Of Roses, the title track from his upcoming album (out June 18). Television Of Roses is the light that flickers before your eyes and convinces you otherwise. “This song and this album are about making the personal political and how it kind of takes a personal awakening to realize that,” says Ferrio. “And I think part of that awakening is realizing you’re being duped, knowing that you should know better, but for so long you have been convinced otherwise … I think I wrote this during the last Ontario provincial election, kind of as a way of thinking through populism in politics, the long con, and how easily the public can be tricked by someone like Doug Ford. We can now see how poorly he’s served Ontario through this pandemic, and really is anyone surprised that Doug Ford, the brother of Rob Ford, would have a difficult time leading Ontario through a pandemic? I didn’t think so.”
10 | Curtis Harding | Hopeful
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Simply calling Curtis Harding a “soul man” feels reductive. Harding’s voice conveys pain, pleasure, longing, tenderness, sadness and strength — a full gamut of emotions. Today his voice takes on an optimistic lilt in his single Hopeful. Directed by photojournalist Lynsey Weatherspoon, the video was filmed in the West End of Atlanta. “Working on the visuals for Hopeful was very cathartic because it gave me the chance to revisit and reflect on the activities from 2020,” Weatherspoon said. “Curtis’s song really brings home what we’re all feeling and how we can progress to the hope we have for our future. His energy is unmatched and he immersed himself into the process, which helped us create a powerful storyline for the video.”
11 | The Checkered Hearts | My Best Friend’s Girl
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Checkered Hearts are the L.A. duo of Hillary Burton and Lisa Mychols. Their sound is a mixture of explosive power-pop and reminiscent of long-lost favourites of the ’80s and ’90s. Their new single and lyric video is a cover of the classic cut My Best Friend’s Girl, which comes off their upcoming EP Joystick, a collection of tracks by The Cars, Housemartins, Phil Seymour, Kirsty MacColl and The Knack. In addition, the release includes a bonus track — a special version of an original Lisa & Hillary song.”
12 | Gruff Rhys | Mausoleum Of My Former Self
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Gruff Rhys has released Mausoleum Of My Former Self, the third single and video from his forthcoming album Seeking New Gods, out this Friday. His seventh solo album, Seeking New Gods was recorded following a 2019 US tour with his band and mixed in L.A. with superstar producer Mario C (Beastie Boys). According to Gruff, the track is about “human aging — people become different people but they’re still an avatar for who they used to be.”
13 | Atomic Bronco | Headfirst
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Atomic Bronco have released Headfirst, their second single of the spring, ahead of a full EP release on June 1. Headfirst follows up on previous single Cruel and provides a further glimpse into the musical stylings the EP Spectrum will hold. Atomic Bronco are a retro-inspired yet decidedly modern indie/alt rock act from London. The creation of producer and songwriter Kyle Nuss, Atomic Bronco blend an interesting mix of indie, alternative, garage rock, lo-fi and classic rock. Nuss is originally from the heart of rural America, but now makes guitar-driven music in his East London studio.”
14 | Island | Do You Remember The Times
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “London’s Island return with the announcement of their new album Yesterday Park, which is out June 25. Alongside the news, Island share the single Do You Remember The Times. The track sees the band continuing to step away from some of their old approaches, bringing in new ideas and exploring more intricate dynamics and instrumentation. They drew a lot of influence from the ’90s — particularly beat-driven ’90s hip-hop — and that can definitely be heard in the single’s energetic and groove-heavy rhythm section. Combined with the band’s ever expansive and highly atmospheric guitar lines and ruminative yet anthemic vocals, the new track sees the band further lean into a theme of nostalgia that is at once poignant and sanguine.”
