PNKSLM | Heartbreaking Bravery

April 10, 2018

One Week, 10 Songs

April got off to an extraordinary start with a few dozen songs making a viable bid for inclusion on this list, which represents the material that emerged in the month’s first week. Ultimately it was the 10 below that prevailed in a surprisingly overcrowded field for what proved to be a curiously stacked week. The last “Best Of” compilation for this category had a handful of artists making consecutive appearances in this column but only one of them returns a third time. The rest of this field is a mixture of favorites, old and new, with each offering up a song worth celebrating. All of them can be heard below. Enjoy.

1. gobbinjr – afraid of me

An artist that’s slowly but surely built a steadfast reputation as an emerging star in the bedroom pop genre, gobbinjr makes a bold statement with a full-on switch to full band indie pop in the vein of Frankie Cosmos and it works beautifully. “afraid of me” is as rich and memorable as anything gobbinjr’s released so far and proves that the project’s scope might be a lot more expansive than initially suggested. It’s a breezy tune that’s ready-made for spring and summer mix tapes.

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2. En Attendant Ana – Night

A new name to this site, En Attendant Ana manage to make a huge splash here with “Night”, a driving burst of basement pop that doesn’t hesitate to look upward and immediately start trying to grab the stars. A beautifully produced track, “Night” also demonstrates the band’s penchant for composition, turning on a dime from one section to another, sustaining a magnetic, romantic atmosphere. It’s the rare kind of song that can convince you an artist’s name is worth remembering.

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3. Forth Wanderers – Ages Ago

The previous two Forth Wanderers songs that have been released in the lead-up to their forthcoming self-titled were featured on this site and “Ages Ago” makes a very convincing case that the band may very well have one of the year’s finest records on their hands. “Ages Ago,” the band’s latest track, isn’t just their most polished outing to date, it’s their best. Tapping fully into their mixture of irrepressible energy and open melancholy, “Ages Ago” offers the kind of duality that builds incredible material. It’s spellbinding.

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4. Grouper – Driving

Few artists are managing what Grouper‘s been doing for the past few years. Every new song plays like an elegant masterwork, deftly demonstrating every last bit of songwriting talent in the most breathtaking fashion imaginable. “Driving”, the latest from the ambient act, is among the past few years’ most quieting and soulful works. It’s nearly impossible to not want to hang onto every second as the song gently washes over you and it’s equally difficult to not want to immediately hit play again when it ends in a whisper.

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5. Boys – That Weekend

In an impressively brief time, PNKSLM‘s established itself as one of the leading labels for introspective basement pop. One of the best acts on their consistently incredible roster is Boys, who usher in a career best here with “That Weekend”. Bits of dream-pop, powerpop, and post-punk all congeal into an incredibly wistful track, full of a sense of genuine longing. It’s a perfect way to spend two and a half minutes and stands as a testament to both the band’s promise and considerable talent.

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6. Been Stellar – Everyone Smokes in the City

Been Stellar’s another new name to Heartbreaking Bravery that makes an incredible first impression with “Everyone Smokes in the City”, a track that echoes the best work of The Strokes. The band separates themselves from the over-abundance of bands that proudly bear that influence by exercising restraint in a way that simultaneously informs the song’s tension and provides it an additional level of energy. It’s fun, it’s promising, and it’s an easy standout.

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7. Yumi Zouma – France (Grands Boulevards)

The second ambient-leaning act on this list that seems to perpetually top themselves, Yumi Zouma return with the most gorgeous work of their career in “France (Grands Boulevards). Gentle tones, a tender vocal delivery, and some intuitive production heightens the work as it glides along, wrapped up in its own journey. Unassuming and beautiful, “France (Grands Boulevards)” marks an enticing new chapter in the band’s history.

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8. Petal – Better Than You

Kiley Lotz, the songwriter spearheading Petal, is a commanding solo performer. Charismatic, entertaining, and fully in control, Lotz can reduce an audience to whispers and extinguish those a few minutes later. That being the case, Lotz also knows how to turn up the volume and let it rip, as is the case with the enormous “Better Than You”, which has shades of Waxahatchee‘s rowdier work. Fed up and determined, “Better Than You” is an unmissable statement from a singular talent and bodes well for Petal’s future.

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9. Yours Are The Only Ears – Fire In My Eyes

A pair of great tracks from Knock Hard — the forthcoming release from Yours Are The Only Ears — have already been released but “Fire In My Eyes” exceeds those heights. One of the best tracks of Susannah Cutler’s illustrious works that have found release under this moniker, “Fire In My Eyes” finds Yours Are The Only Ears experimenting with precision (and continuing a fruitful collaborative history with LVL UP and Trace Mountain‘s Dave Benson). As always, the narrative aspect carries exceptional emotional weight but the arrangements have rarely been as effective or powerful.

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10. Say Sue Me – Coming to the End

Completing something of a hat trick, this is Say Sue Me‘s third consecutive appearance in the “Best Of” columns for songs, each track teasing the exceptional Where We Were Together. “Coming to the End”, appropriately, is the record’s final track and its most breathtaking moment. A sprawling 7 and a half minute slow-burn, “Coming to the End” has the time to display just about every reason Say Sue Me’s been turning heads over the past year. Melancholic and explosive in turns, it’s a masterwork of dynamics and controlled atmosphere, never ceasing to be anything less than gripping over the course of its runtime.

It’s a towering track, epic in scale and wildly confident in its ambition, bringing to mind the recent work of Young Jesus while remaining true to the enchanting identity the band’s managed to carve out for themselves over their brief but promising discography. The guitar solo that makes up the bulk of the song’s back half goes sideways as often as it reaches skyward but, as is the case with the band, you don’t just hope it’ll arrive at its intended decision but know it will with an abundance of grace, no matter erratic it may seem. When it fades, it’s hard not to think “Coming to the End” isn’t close to perfect.

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A small list of other outstanding songs to be released this past week:

Culture Abuse, Kevin Krauter, Beach Skulls, Frøkedal, Cagework, Demo, Elke, Cold Fronts, Exitmusic, Beach Bunny, Mr. Husband, Dusted, Wedding, Ellevator, Wooter, Juliana Daugherty, Varsity, Drinks, Freedom Baby, Joan of Arc, The Gloomies, Shakey Graves, Agnes Obel, Nova One, Dreamend, Light Vibes, Wallows, Ace of Wands, Team Picture, Andy Cook, SASAMI, Marmalakes, The Goldberg Sisters, Freak Heat Waves, Jack Ladder, Valley Queen, Ganser, Esbie Fonte, Ryley Walker, Jon Hassell, Jamie Cruickshank, Ivan Moult, Matthew Sweet, I’m Kingfisher, Palberta, Holy Boy, Daniel Tanghal, Francis, Espanola, Kat Cunning, Dumb, and OPIN.

September 14, 2017

Holiday Ghosts – Can’t Bear to Be Boring (Stream)

The last few days have been monstrously impressive for new singles, with tracks from Nervous Dater, Worst Gift, Bethlehem Steel, Everyone Is Dirty, Julia Jacklin, Mini Dresses, Makthaverskan, Far Lands, Swimming Bell, Monogold, Flotation Toy Warning, Swimming Tapes, Prawn, Autobahn, Peach Pit, Jonny Polonsky, Jesse Kivel, Grooms, Outsider, Ross McHenry Trio, The Clientele, Destroyer, and Silk ‘N’ Oak all making great impressions. As good as all of those were, “Can’t Bear to Be Boring” deserved a feature spot.

Holiday Ghosts have been teasing their impressive forthcoming self-titled debut with excellent tracks for a while now but none of them have wielded the kind of irrepressible drive and sardonic wit that define “Can’t Bear to Be Boring”. Defiantly chaotic and clearly influenced by the work of Courtney Barnett, “Can’t Bear to Be Boring” manages a charm all its own. Lo-fi, catchy, clever, and charismatic, the track proves Holiday Ghosts are willing to extend their boundaries in unexpected ways. It’s one of the most joyous two and a half minute blasts of basement pop anyone’s likely to hear this year. It’s a welcoming party that should not be missed.

Listen to “Can’t Bear to Be Boring” below and pre-order Holiday Ghosts here.

June 1, 2016

Hater – Radius (Stream)

hater

After a flurry of new material emerged yesterday, Wednesday was kind enough to keep the momentum going, producing new songs from Cross Wires, HSY, Sur Back, Kilo Tango, School ’94, Wymond Miles, Strange Relations, and JOYA. Additionally, there were outstanding clips from Margaret Glaspy, Middle Kids, Public Access TV, Angel Olsen, Icky Blossoms, and Brass Bed. Finally, the full streams were capped off with extremely strong releases from the following artists: Casket Girls, Moonface and Siinai, Cough, The Stargazer Lilies, Dream b/w Comfort, Kalispell, and a reissue of elvis depressedly‘s holo pleasures that comes packaged with a new slate of b-sides. As great as all of those releases were (and they were great), today’s feature spot was confidently claimed by emergent act Hater and their spry “Radius”.

“Radius” is yet another in a long list of successes for the astonishingly prolific — and remarkably consistent — PNKSLM label, who have specialized in curating an aesthetic firmly built around carefree basement pop. Hater fit into that mold with a graceful ease but inject the proceedings with a magisterial sweep that quickly establishes them as one of their roster’s most intriguing acts. Evoking Ty Segall as much as Alvvays, Hater finds a curious middle-ground between two genres that overlap far less frequently than they should (with “Radius” operating as startling proof).

As “Radius” sprints along, arms outstretched, Hater never loses its footing or determination, allowing the song to stay grounded and build momentum all at once. In under two and a half minutes, the band conjures up a beautiful piece of lovingly damaged powerpop, maintaining an irrepressible, hopeful smile throughout all the bruises. Guitars swell, the rhythm section rolls, and the vocals soar in a beautifully woven piece of art that never outstays its welcome. Everything on “Radius” is either perfect or nearing perfection, projecting as much identity as it does confidence. In one song, Hater manages to carve out a name for themselves and it’s a name worth saying; Hater’s a band that deserves all of the mentions that will inevitably come their way.

Stream “Radius” below and pick up the band’s forthcoming EP from PNKSLM here.

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July 31, 2015

The Foetals – Malted (Stream)

It’s been a strong week leading into the weekend and today’s end-cap kept that streak alive, offering up a variety of gems. Skeleton Frames’ “Leech“, Zenith Myth’s “Shadow Fortune“, Coke Weed’s “Dead Man Walking“, and The Nudes’ “Hex” were all unveiled and deserve a handful of listens. Kendrick Lamar’s manic, jaw-dropping “For Free? (Interlude)” more than made up for an otherwise lacking day for music videos (honestly, though, “For Free” would have overshadowed anything else). Sharkmuffin, Half Japanese, Deaf Wish, and Ultimate Painting all offered streams of great forthcoming records while Comfy and Skirts offered up a stream of their commanding split EP.

Today’s feature cycles back to the single streams and lands squarely on The Foetals’ delightfully scrappy “Malted”. The second glimpse at the amusingly titled Meet The Foetals, it’s another perfectly crafted piece of the kind of wiry pop that’s securing Swedish label PNKSLM Recordings a foothold in national stateside coverage. Punchy, full of hooks, and unabashedly poppy, “Malted” is the kind of track that seems perfectly suited for summer but has just enough dusty nostalgic touches to tie that appropriate-listening aspect over to fall.

The solo project of Pink Teens member Jolan Lewis, The Foetals may wind up surpassing what, up to this point, has been Lewis’ main vehicle. If the rest of the extremely promising Meet The Foetals lives up to its early flashes of potential, Lewis just may find his other moniker scattered throughout some genre specialists’ lists come December. Until winter rolls around and definitively beds that theory, the only thing that feels appropriate is sliding the volume on “Malted” up and continuously hitting repeat.

Listen to “Malted” below and order a copy of Meet the Foetals ahead of its release here.

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May 11, 2015

White Reaper – I Don’t Think She Cares (Stream)

It’s been a while since regular coverage of new releases cropped up on this site (part of which was due to other obligations), which is why the majority of tonight will feature an influx of posts touching on some of the pieces of art that made the past week so great. For this post and the majority of the posts that will be following this entry, the focus will remain on songs. All of them are songs worth adding to your collection and the first of which, Jason Isbell’s breathtaking “24 Frames“, boasts a lyric set so tremendous that it’s difficult not to expect his forthcoming record will be a critical darling. Dignan Porch’s “Out of the Picture” continued Art Is Hard’s white-hot winning streak, Sam Evian’s “Cherry Tree” further illustrated the respective individual talents that Celestial Shore‘s been producing, Angelic Milk put the listening world on notice with the razor-sharp shard of basement pop in “IDK How“, and A$AP Rocky furthered his case to be considered one of rap’s most compelling acts with an unlikely collaboration that features Rod Stewart, Miguel, and Mark Ronson (the endlessly smooth “Everyday“). Public Access T.V.’s tantalizingly light “All We Want“, Envy’s sprawling “Footsteps in the Distance“, Dikembe’s slow-burning “Surfed in the Loft“, and Magic Potion’s endearing basement pop tune “Booored” round off the first featured set. As always, I wish I could devote more than just a few words to each title but there simply isn’t enough time to cover everything in more exhaustive detail. At this point in time, the system in which the headline is determined is nearing a lottery system- and White Reaper beat the odds this time out.

“Make Me Wanna Die” had already made a sizable impression and stoked the fires of anticipation for White Reaper’s upcoming full-length; “I Don’t Think She Cares” ensures that trajectory continues its ascension. “I Don’t Think She Cares” is another furious burst of basement punk with strong pop sensibilities coated in layers of fuzz, providing the song an even stronger punch. Incendiary riffing, absurdly melodic synth lines, and a vocal take so impassioned you can practically feel Tony Esposito violently shaking, it’s another perfect representation of the band’s supercharged aesthetic. Clocking in at a precise two minutes, it makes the most out of every single second, expanding the song into something surprisingly dynamic for such an abbreviated running time. Decades worth of punk cornerstones, past and present, collide in an exhilarating, celebratory whirlwind. Now two songs into their rollout campaign, White Reaper Does It Again is shaping up to be a potential career-maker for the emerging upstarts. All that’s left is to see if the main course can live up to the appetizers.

Listen to “I Don’t Think She Cares” below and pre-order White Reaper Does It Again from Polyvinyl.

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December 20, 2014

Male Bonding – A Kick to the Face (Stream)

In the last batch of posts, there were recaps built around some of last week’s finest musical moments. There was a brief delay in regularly-scheduled content that necessitated an outpouring of material to keep this site’s regular coverage humming along. Similarly, this post will concentrate on the music moments worth celebrating to have emerged from the Monday-Thursday range. Following this post will be two more entries dedicated to some of the stronger musical content that emerged on Friday. With all of that out of the way, it’s time to dive on into the three major categories: single streams, full streams, and music videos.

As is wont to happen over a period of time, there were some fairly extraordinary songs that surfaced in this week’s first stretch. Some of the more favorable ones included the following: Gal Pals’ zippy throwback basement pop stomper “Ex-Marionette“, Evans The Death’s absolutely monumental “Don’t Laugh At My Angry Face” (a legitimate song of the year candidate), Los Angeles Police Dept.’s severely bummed out holiday tune “Oh Lonely Night“, Menace Beach‘s latest stunning Ratworld teaser “Tastes Like Medicine“, No Monster Club’s defiantly vibrant (and tantalizingly weird) bedroom pop earworm “Arms Across America“, The Julie Ruin’s mesmerizing “Blueberry Island“, Kind of Like Spitting’s revitalizing “Bullied By A Bee“, the best remix from Perfect Pussy’s Shaun Sutkus to date (this time of Rubblebucket’s “Carousel Ride”), and an absolute monster cover of Wipers’ “Mystery” from site favorites Meat Wave.

Music videos fared just as well, with a few very resonant clips. There was Small Houses’ engaging visual journey for “Staggers and Rise“, Cave People’s wearily homespun “Brace“, and Literature’s woozily kaleidoscopic “New Jacket“. Additionally, there was Anti Pony’s seductively colorful “I Go Places“, WRAY’s effortlessly propulsive “Bad Heart“, Laura Marling’s autumnal and slow-galloping “Short Movie“. Rounding things out were Breakfast In Fur’s jaunty graphics experiment “Shape“, Erase Errata’s near-static stunner “My Life In Shadows“, and a resoundingly powerful reminder that TV On the Radio got where they were by virtue of making excellent decisions; “Lazerray” is yet another towering culmination of several wise moves.

Full streams were, comparatively, a little shorter in supply- but there were still a few gems that were unearthed and brought to life. Lazy threw caution and fear out of the window with their Soft Sheets 7″, Trauma Harness unveiled a severely damaged basement punk triumph with their discography-spanning Advent Calendar, and TIT (a collaborative effort between Digital Leather and The Hussy) offered up a stream of their psych-drenched self-titled 12″. Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle provided a quietly intense and arresting live recording of one of his extremely intimate house shows (and appropriately titled the recording House Show). There was also a very personal release from Jarad Charles Lee Francis Olson that tethers a wide-reaching array of genre influences into something unwaveringly hypnotic and, ultimately, tragic (while still managing to subtly incorporate a devious streak of dark humor) in the My Cats Are My Dogs EP.

Even with all of that to consider, today’s feature fell to an anomaly of a track- Male Bonding’s standalone single, “A Kick to the Face”. The title’s an immediate eyebrow-raiser and the accompanying title track lives up to its promise. All scorched-earth and fury, it’s an exploration of an abusive relationship that simultaneously rails against the fact that they’re a common occurrence and empathizes with the abused. Structurally, it’s constantly shifting and punctuated by brief bursts of searing intensity before sharply settling back into its normal pace, providing a near-perfect reflection of the song’s central topic. It’s a brave track that suggests Male Bonding’s ambitions may be higher than they initially let on- and it’s one hell of an appetizer for whatever the band’s cooking up next.

Listen to “A Kick to the Face” below and keep an eye on this site for any notable future items from the band.

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December 19, 2014

Lady Lamb the Beekeeper – Billions of Eyes (Music Video)

Due to some lingering technical issues (most notably the loss of a laptop), there’s been a brief delay in regularly-scheduled content. Last week alone was devoid of anything other than Watch This installments, a lone song premiere, and a few 2014 pictorial reviews. To amend that, the next three posts will be focused exclusively on the best of the best to have surfaced last week in the three major categories: music video, single stream, and full stream. Following that will be a recap of this week-thus-far and the second-to-last pictorial review. With all of that exposition out of the way, it’s time to move on to the first major topic: last week’s music videos.

Last week’s haul of new clips did make for some interesting debate over which to feature, as they were all deserving. Ultimately, there was no wrong answer and it seemed most appropriate to go with an artist who’d previously never been covered on the site, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, who crafted something deeply alluring with the “Billions of Eyes” video. Joining the ranks of “Billions of Eyes” were an unbelievable cast of gems that included: Trust Fund‘s impossibly endearing “Cut Me Out“, The Midwestern Charm‘s screwball revenge thriller “General Drag“, Alex G‘s charmingly off-kilter “Harvey“, HOLY’s staunchly lo-fi “Silver of Your Heart“, The Dead Ships’ blurred adventure trip “Canyon“, Belle & Sebastian’s characteristically soft-edged “Nobody’s Empire“, and I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness’ usual disquiet manifesting in “You Are Dead to Me“. All great clips that will reward anyone able to cut out a half an hour of viewing time in their day-to-day.

Now, back to the featured highlight: Lady Lamb the Beekeeper’s infectiously punchy indie pop and the effortlessly brilliant “Billions of Eyes”. In the clip, Winston Smith-esque collages meet the pop-art sensibility of Wes Anderson in an immediately engaging video that blurs the lines between traditionalism and modernism. It’s difficult to call “Billions of Eyes” a music video or a lyric video definitively because, more than any other clip in recent memory, there’s an emphasis on the strongest elements of both categories. It’s a sly trick that almost diverts attention away from how well-crafted and intuitively paced “Billions of Eyes” winds up being. Ferocious editing sneaks in and consumes the whole affair in the final act, well after the tastefully-presented home video footage has been established. Never anything less than thrilling, it’s as fine of an introduction-at-large that Lady Lamb the Beekeeper (or anyone else) could have possibly hoped for- and it’s one of 2014’s most refreshing videos. If the rest of After (due out via Mom + Pop on March 3) can live up to this extraordinarily high precedent, anyone fortunate enough to hear it will be in for quite the ride.

Watch “Billions of Eyes” below and pre-order After here.

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September 14, 2014

Pretty Pretty – Feels Like Rain (Stream)

Once again, the past few days have provided a decent amount of material making it difficult to figure out which to feature. Most notably, two vicious post-punk numbers from the likes of Cycle Schmeichel and BODY. The former is full of a restlessness that aids Cycle Schmeichel’s wiry post-punk tendencies well, while the latter is a foreboding piece of hard-charging, rapidly-building tension characterized by nervousness before allowing an exhilarating release. Both are among the best songs to have come out of this month thus far- and September’s already seen two of the strongest weeks for new music this year. On top of both of those, Pretty Pretty finally released their Sweater Leather 7″ tracks via their bandcamp, which they’d previously teased with the sugar-coated title track. Sweater Leather not only manages to live up to the promise of that initial look but occasionally surpasses it, including “Feels Like Rain”- the closing track.

While “Feels Like Rain” isn’t quite as hard-charging as the trio of tracks that come before it (including easy standout “You Say“), it does manage to act as a perfect finale piece’ it summarizes nearly everything that precede that moment while serving as a reminder of Pretty Pretty’s specific strengths. From the call-and-response vocals to the vintage 90’s crunch in the guitar tones, it’s difficult not to see “Feels Like Rain”- and Pretty Pretty, by extension- for what it is: a perfect slice of sun-splashed punk-leaning popwerpop. There’s an underlying intelligence in the song’s composition that reveals itself in the details; the light riffing before the main guitar part kicks in, the subtly clever lyrics, and the general dynamics all point towards Pretty Pretty being a band that takes their songwriting very seriously. Fortunately, their efforts pay off in full and make Sweater Weather one of the more memorable 7″ releases of the year.

Listen to “Feels Like Rain” below and keep an eye on both Let’s Pretend and Mandible for the impending release of the physical copy.

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