<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-21T15:52:27+00:00“>April 21, 2021 | 11:52am ET Canadian duo cleopatrick have announced their debut album, BUMMER, out June 4th via Nowhere Special Recordings/Thirty Tigers. They also shared a new song, “FAMILY VAN”, and 2021 tour dates. Guitarist/vocalist Luke Gruntz and drummer Ian Fraser formed their band while growing up as childhood friends in Cobourg, Ontario. They wrote, recorded, and produced BUMMER with their close friend Jig Dubé. In a statement, Gruntz described the process as “just three kids with some fuzz pedals and a point to prove.” “FAMILY VAN” features a grooving bassline and thrashing guitars, with vocals that vacillate between a rapped delivery and a frenzied y...
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-20T17:30:38+00:00“>April 20, 2021 | 1:30pm ET Our new music feature Origins allows artists to break down the inspiration behind their latest track. Today, 81355 give us insight into “Thumbs Up”. In late March, Indianapolis rap trio 81355 (pronounced “Bless”) released the haunting “Capstone”, a track that earned our Song of the Week honors for intricately reflecting the Black experience in America while conveying the struggles of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 37d03d signees are back today with “Thumbs Up”, a hypnotic new single which finds the group struggling to find sanity in the chaotic world in which we live. “Thumbs Up” features a beat mixing together psychedelic elect...
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-20T17:40:02+00:00“>April 20, 2021 | 1:40pm ET Is your island in the sun also an island full of dirt? Did you forget to tidy up after spending too much time with your hash pipe? Well, Weezer have the solution: a new robot vacuum cleaner called the Wroomba — although, as they say, “the w is silent.” This branded merchandise was manufactured by iRobot and is really nothing more than a Roomba i7 with a Weezer CD skin — specifically, the Van Weezer font from their album dropping on May 7th. Unconvinced? It comes with all sorts of testimonials, including from drummer Pat Wilson, who called the Wroomba, “So much better at cleaning than human Rivers [Cuomo].” Besides ...
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-20T18:12:33+00:00“>April 20, 2021 | 2:12pm ET Smoothboi Ezra has announced their new EP, Stuck, out June 11th. They also shared the title track, which arrived with an accompanying music video. The four-track project was written during lockdown, with the 19-year-old Irish musician taking inspiration from artists like Angel Olsen, Soccer Mommy, and Haley Heynderickx. As a person who is gender non-binary and on the autism spectrum, Smoothboi Ezra hopes their music will help people who aren’t often represented in media with songs that speak to their unique experiences with emotional relationships. “Stuck” is the first preview of their effort, a Smoothboi Ezra describes as about “bein...
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-20T18:19:47+00:00“>April 20, 2021 | 2:19pm ET Wolf Alice are back with a new single from their upcoming album Blue Weekend. It’s called “Smile” and it comes with a saturated music video directed by Jordan Hemmingway. Stream it below. Musically, “Smile” is a bold number that sees Wolf Alice drumming up a tidal wave of energy, confidence, and passion akin to that on “The Last Man on Earth”, the album’s debut single. Singer Ellie Rowsell and the rest of the band penned “Smile” during lockdown as a way to clap back against the naysayers in life who try to put them in their place. As a result, it captures them in a wild, contagious mood. “This is one of the songs we wrote thinkin...
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-20T18:45:52+00:00“>April 20, 2021 | 2:45pm ET As cliché as it sounds to say, The Mars Volta were truly a one-of-a-kind band. Formed by vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López after the break-up of their previous outfit — Texas post-hardcore/art-punk troupe At the Drive-In (of “One Armed Scissor” fame) — the ensemble quickly and consistently built upon those foundations to incorporate wildly bizarre and wholly idiosyncratic fusions of progressive rock, free jazz, Spanish rock, psychedelia, avant-rock, ambient, and more. While influences like King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Can, Fela Kuti, Miles Davis, Mr. Bungle, and Frank Zappa were apparent, The Mars Volta suc...
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-21T03:10:32+00:00“>April 20, 2021 | 11:10pm ET Queens, New York indie rockers UV-TV are back with another sunny burst of ’90s-style guitar pop. They just released a new single called “Back to Nowhere” and it’s ripe with jangly riffs, a giddy drum beat, and one hell of a feel-good chorus. Stream it below through Bandcamp. “Back to Nowhere” is the second track UV-TV have shared from Always Something, the band’s upcoming studio album. It follows lead single “Distant Lullaby”, which earned a coveted spot as one of the best songs of the week thanks to its power-pop hook and discreet shoegaze guitar tones. Always Something is the first album UV-TV has written since moving to New York f...
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-20T20:22:15+00:00“>April 20, 2021 | 4:22pm ET Jim Steinman, who wrote and produced hits for Meat Loaf, Celine Dion, and Bonnie Tyler, died on Monday in Connecticut. He was 73. The legendary songwriter and producer is best known for his work on Meat Loaf’s 1977 smash debut Bat Out of Hell and its 1993 sequel Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell. However, the New York native also helmed titanic hits such as Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart”, Air Supply’s “Making Love Out of Nothing at All”, Barry Manilow’s “Read ‘Em and Weep”, the Sisters of Mercy’s “This Corrosion”, Celine Dion’s “It’s Coming Back to Me Now”, and many others. Steinman was born in New York City in 1947...
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-20T16:07:23+00:00“>April 20, 2021 | 12:07pm ET Today is April 20th, the high holy day, and Flying Lotus is celebrating with a pair of new singles. “Black Gold” featuring Thundercat and “Between Memories” featuring Niki Randa both appear in the Netflix anime series Yasuke, for which FlyLo composed the score. Yasuke is based on the true story of the first Black samurai to serve a warlord in Japan, and stars the voice of Lakieth Stanfield (Atlanta, Knives Out, Judas and the Black Messiah). Flying Lotus did more than write the music; the artist born Steven Ellison consulted on the story with creator LeSean Thomas. “[LeSean] and I talked about being outsi...
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-20T16:33:57+00:00“>April 20, 2021 | 12:33pm ET Pom Pom Squad, the Brooklyn quartet led by Mia Berrin, have announced their debut album Death of a Cheerleader. To herald the June 25th release, the band has shared the new single “Head Cheerleader”, which features backup vocals from Tegan Quin of Tegan and Sara. Berrin formed Pom Pom Squad in 2015 with Shelby Keller (drums), Mari Alé Figeman (bass), and Alex Mercuri (guitar). After dropping the buzzy EPs Hate It Here (2018) and Ow (2019), the Squad took their grunge-inflected indie rock to City Slang Records. Death of a Cheerleader spans 14 tracks and was co-produced by Berrin alongside Sarah Tudzin of Illum...