Posted: by The Alt Editing Staff
The Alternative Weekly Roundup is a column where our staff plugs a variety of new releases in a concise, streamlined format. Albums, singles, videos, and live sets. Check back each Monday to see what we were jamming the week prior.
at first, at first – The Courage of Shutting Up
After releasing one of the most promising screamo debuts in the last decade or so, Texas’ herlovebeheadsdaisies called it quits late last year. Only a couple months later the band’s guitarist and drummer regrouped, along with a few friends, to form at first, at first. With their debut EP The Courage of Shutting Up, the five-piece has released yet another one of the best skramz projects in memory. It’s got a sense of melody and a dynamic range that’s lacking from a lot of the emoviolence that’s been popular lately, but it’s never less than emotionally crushing.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Avery Friedman – “New Thing”
The title track from Avery Friedman’s upcoming debut album is crisp and serene, self-assured and steady as Friedman’s voice never rises above a conversational volume. “I don’t know how to describe it,” she sings, detailing a violent mugging she’d experienced. The song was inspired by the relief she felt the first time she took the subway alone at night after the experience, and that sense of reclaimed power is palpable in “New Thing”‘s subtle, gentle sway.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Yawners – SUPERBUCLE
Deliberately set up by songwriter Elena Nieto as a “narrative circle” a la Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood, Yawners’ SUPERBUCLE packs the eternal recurrence of great days followed by horrible days followed by great days followed by horrible days with loads of hooks that themselves seem eternal in their recurrence. Placed in the middle of that circle, “Las horas pasan” feels like a centerpiece single in the best way, making sure you get the record’s point while also being catchy as hell. It’s paired with the crunchier (but no less catchy) “1 de enero,” which appropriately cycles the record into its stellar second half. Standing out in particular on that back half are the most sugar-coated moment in “La estrella eres tú” and the so-nineties “La inverosimilitud,” which feels like a wonderful long-lost b-side from the So I Married an Axe Murderer soundtrack.
Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
Creek – “See Through”
Creek’s new single is as ominous, foreboding, and hazy as the cover suggests. Like the best moments of last year’s Shortsighted, “See Through” recalls Balance and Composure or Daisyhead at their darkest, a mess of tense, fuzzy guitars and deathly shrieks.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
At the Bottom of the Great Lakes – Demo
Madison, WI, metalcore sextet At the Bottom of the Great Lakes know exactly what they want to be. Three vocalists all shouting themselves hoarse over sludgy riff, their new Demo is chaotic and punishing, but it’s got moments of respite and melody that only serve to make the eventual breakdown hit even harder. It’s reminiscent a bit of Daturas Embrace’s own demo tape or the heaviest moments from the Keep Reaching EP from last year, but At the Bottom of the Great Lakes already feel like they’ll be a fresh, essential metalcore band in a few years.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
The Alternative’s ‘New Music Friday’ playlist
Each week we compile a playlist of songs our staff has been jamming. We post it on Fridays and then include it in each edition of the Weekly Roundup to make sure you don’t miss any of the great music we’re recommending.
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