Posted: by The Editor
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.
El mejor verano de mi vida – El mejor verano de mi vida
El mejor verano de mi vida, the debut EP by Peruvian four-piece El mejor verano de mi vida, is rough, messy, and chaotic. None of these things are drawbacks–they only reinforce the band’s conviction. Many screamo bands rely heavily on gimmicks to sell their music, but El mejor verano de mi vida plays it straight. They’ve got heart, and they’ve got something to say (scream), and they need you to hear it.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Distants – Two Songs
Distants reminds me of a time when Punknews was the king for helping to document punk in the late ‘00s and 2010s. Similar to their main influence of Small Brown Bike, Distants pair their rough-hewn post-hardcore with a bit of knottiness to keep everything fresh. They displayed it best on their EP ii, which came out on the influential punk label Salinas Records. But it’s been nearly three years since they released it and they’ve experienced lineup changes since then. You wouldn’t know that listening to Two Songs, the newest EP from the band that picks up right where they left off.
Hugo Reyes | @hvreyes5
Time – “Wallow”
Time, a band with perhaps the least Google-able name in history, falls in around the space occupied by bands like Broken Head or Only Sibling–melodic, grunge-tinged alt-rock. Their newest single “Wallow” is as fuzzy as it is catchy, and it suggests that Hydrangea, out at the end of July, will be a real ripper.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Chrome Eyes – “Levitate”
Chrome Eyes (formerly known as Dive) has been honing in on gazey guitar and bass, surfy rolling lyrics to get lost in, and steadily loud drumwork in their latest single “Levitate”. The content as well as the music video is more atmospheric than past emotionally incisive singles. “The dream that comes and goes” should be one you stick around for.
Anne Hurban | @fyrbrdtransanne
Career Day – “No Problem”
Career Day’s bright, biting pop-punk has never been better than on their newest single “No Problem.” It’s their first for rising emo label Old Press, and it’s a great taste of their awesome debut LP Where We’ve Always Been.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Idler Wheel – Run Straight Down
Idler Wheel’s new Run Straight Down is murky and trancelike, pulling liberally (and overwhelmingly) from shoegaze without falling into any of the genre’s tropes. After the driving centerpiece “Divide,” for example, the album dips into post-punk; the buzzing “Armor,” immediately following “Divide,” owes more to The Cure or The Smiths than Chapterhouse or My Bloody Valentine. “Flood,” with its more vocal-forward approach, exists in similar territory, and then the closing “Open Door” pulls it all together, washing propulsive post-punk out with a fog of dreamy guitars.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
The Alternative’s ‘New Music Friday’ playlist
Each week our editor Lindsy Carrasquillo compiles a playlist of songs our staff has been jamming. We’ll post it on Fridays on Twitter and then include it in each edition of the ‘Weekly Roundup’ to make sure you don’t miss all of the great music we’re recommending.
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