Here is another dose of fresh music recommendations, survivors of a massive cull of the hundreds of songs that came through my inbox over the last seven days. Care to check my work?
1. AJR, I Won’t
Single (Mercury/Republic)
Recommended If You Like: Being yourself
Adam, Jack, and Ryan Met have strung together a nice run of hits over the last five years or so and look likely to continue that with their fifth album which will come on a new label. This song, teased on social media and other places as “???” was confirmed with this title on July 29 and immediately started getting radio airplay. If you caught the band on their OK Orchestra Tour, you would have heard the song played in full.
2. IDLES, Stockholm Syndrome
Crawler (Partisan)
RIYL: Shouty intensity
The song isn’t new—it’s been out since last fall—but IDLES has picked up tremendous momentum this summer, including with a successful set at Lollapalooza in Chicago earlier this summer. The reaction was enough for the band to create a brand-new video for the fifth single from their second album. Punk noise at its finest.
3. Taming Sari, No Shelter
Single (Indie)
RIYL: Modern classic rock (I know that’s an oxymoron, but work with me.)
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Is it just me or are more young bands opting for a sound that features shades of 70’s-style classic rock? Ottawa’s Taming Sari has dropped something that sounds like it would be very much at home in 1974. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course. They’re just part of a new generation discovering some of the sounds that made rock great almost 50 years ago. They even set the video in an old-school roller rink.
4. Morrissey, Bonfire of Teenagers (Live)
Single (Indie)
RIYL: Well, it’s Mozzer innit?
Morrissey is playing live again—funny that he hasn’t canceled a bunch of shows already—and fans are passing around a video of a new song performed in Las Vegas earlier this summer. This track was inspired by the bombing outside the Manchester Arena after an Ariana Grande concert. Twenty-three people died and 1,017 were injured. Afterward, Oasis’ Don’t Look Back in Anger became an unofficial healing song for the attack. Mozzer doesn’t feel that way.
5. 408 + Taylor Acorn, Backfired
Single (Break Silence/Regime Music Group)
RIYL: Spilling your emotional cuts
If you’ve ever been in a toxic relationship—and really, who hasn’t at some point—you’ll identify with this short, sharp song that was initially envisioned as a country-pop crossover. It didn’t turn out that way. In fact, I hear more hurtin’ blink-182-style than anything else.
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