Five Songs You Need to Hear Today
Detail from the cover of Psychopomp! by Japanese Breakfast.
1. Japanese Breakfast, “In Heaven”
Michelle Zauner — formerly of Philly bands Post Post and Little Big League — dazzles with this lush, swirling first track off her latest project’s new album Psychopomp. Dedicated to her late mother, the record will move and groove you when it drops in April.
2. Shawn Kilroy, “St. John Neumann”
Shawn Kilroy of local band Weird Hot just posted a new weird, hot record on Bandcamp called All Pinocchio’s Men. “St. John Neumann” features a moody saxophone solo, squelchy funk guitars and a piano-riff borrowed from “Gonna Fly Now.” Lovely.
3. Hurry, “Oozing Positivity”
I’m not sure when it happened, but Hurry has kinda become one of my favorite bands in Philly. They do lo-fi, dreamy indie pop like it oughtta be done. “Oozing Positivity” — off the brand new Philly Rocks Comp Vol. 3 — is a fine introduction. The guitars are loud, the vocals are muffled. Listen twice. There are several shows celebrating the release of this compilation, including:
- 1/30 @ The Pharmacy w/Welter, Teenage Bigfoot, Down With Homework, Seeing Snakes, Lamplighters and Science Club.
- 2/5 @ Bourbon And Branch w/The Mad Splatter, Disaster Committee, Samantha and Proof And Proving.
- 2/6 @ Kung Fu Necktie w/The Danger O’s, Welter, Readership, The One2s and The Escape.
4. Erick Slick, “Believing is a Sin”
Better known as a drummer — for Dr. Dog, Norwegian Arms and a bunch of other Philly bands — Slick just dropped a Four Track Demos for which he sings and plays most of the instruments. It’s raw, but you immediately sense the potential for something bigger (maybe in a Neutral Milk Hotel vein? Or something Nirvana-ish?).
5. Crimes!, “Bodi Dem”
Philly’s Seclusias elelctronic/dance label continues its tempo-themed compilation series with a compilation dedicated to 100 BPM. Quoth the Soundcloud profile: “After much deliberation (and many, many pints) of which BPM to focus on for this volume, Dev79, Starkey and cohort .rar Kelly flipped a coin and had the bartender call it. And thus, 100 was born. Don’t get it twisted — just because we decided on 100bpm does NOT mean this is a twerk related compilation.”
Sorry, I could not find new Making A Murderer-themed rap song to post here. Has that storied subgenre run its course?
P.S. Have you signed this petition?
