New Music
Billie Joe Armstrong Covers The Equals’ ‘Police on My Back’
After a brief hiatus, Billie Joe Armstrong seems to be back with consistent installments of his No Fun Monday cover series… only, on Fridays. After sharing a cover of Billy Bragg’s “A New England” last Friday “because no one knows what day it is anyway,” the Green Day frontman continued the trend this week with a rendition of The Equals’ 1967 track that is all too relatable today, “Police on My Back.” “This was originally written and performed by The Equals, Eddy Grant’s beat group from the 60 [sic],” Armstrong captioned the cover on Instagram. “And of course The Clash slay it.” Listen to Armstrong’s cover of “Police on My Back” below. This installment is the latest in a lengthy catalog Armstrong’s built since quarantine began. It follows his cover of The Wonders’ “That...
The Regrettes Fall Head Over Heels on New Single “I Love Us”: Stream
Two months after dropping the dreamy quarantine hit “What Am I Gonna Do Today?”, The Regrettes are back with a brand new track called “I Love Us”. It’s been paired with an adorable animated music video, as well, which you can watch below.. Whereas the band’s last song felt like a continuation of their 2019 album How Do You Love?, this new single is full of pep and optimism. Perhaps frontwoman Lydia Night spending quarantine with her boyfriend Dylan Minnette has helped her realize not even constant close contact can drive them apart. Still, as chipper as “I Love Us” is, it could be read two ways: A celebration of falling in love with someone and accepting them for who they are around you, or a cautious read on being head over heels for someone who comes with baggage. Either way, it’s c...
Jarv Is… (Jarvis Cocker) Release Debut Album Beyond the Pale: Stream
Following a number of coronavirus-related postponements, Jarv Is…, the new band led by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, have finally released their debut album. Stream Beyond the Pale in full below via Apple Music or Spotify. For a high-definition listening experience, you can sign up for a 60-day free trial of TIDAL HiFi. Issued through Rough Trade Records, this album marks the first-ever full-length for Jarv Is… and Cocker’s first release of any kind since 2009’s Further Complications. Although it’s tempting to call Beyond the Pale a long-awaited comeback for Cocker, it should be viewed more as a creative reinvention. Along with his bandmates Serafina Steer (harp, keyboards, vocals), Emma Smith (violin, guitar vocals), Andrew McKinney (bass, vocals), Jason Buckle (synthesizer and ...
Open Mike Eagle Drops New Song “Neighborhood Protection Spell (Lana Del Biden Nem)”: Stream
After wrapping up a prolific year in 2019, Open Mike Eagle still had a lot on his mind — and rightfully so. From a global pandemic to a jumbled party of political nominees, this year hasn’t exactly gotten off to the best start. So he did what any talented rapper would do: pick up a mic and recorded a new song. It just so happens that the single, “Neighborhood Protection Spell (Lana Del Biden Nem)”, is as prescient as it is astute. According to The New Negroes star, he decided to write the song because felt like public figures were regularly taking aim at the Black community, seemingly without even realizing it. Instead of venting about the ignorance of and low-flying racist remarks by celebrities — especially, but not excluded to, Joe Biden and Lana Del Rey — he chose to turn his obse...
Protomartyr Serve Up New Album Ultimate Success Today: Stream
After a brief pandemic-related delay, post-punk greats Protomartyr are back with their fifth studio album, Ultimate Success Today. Stream it in full below via Apple Music or Spotify. For a high-definition listening experience, you can sign up for a 60-day free trial of TIDAL HiFi. The Domino-released collection follows 2017’s Relatives in Descent and was co-produced by Protomartyr themselves alongside David Tolomei (Dirty Projectors, Beach House). Sessions took place at Dreamland Recording Studios, situated in a 19th century church in upstate New York, and featured guest contributors in legendary jazz alto saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc and vocalist Nandi Rose, aka Half Waif. Izaak Mills (bass clarinet, sax, flute) and cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm also joined the band in the studio. In a sta...
Yo La Tengo Release Instrumental EP We Have Amnesia Sometimes: Stream
At the start of the week, Yo La Tengo popped up on Bandcamp with an instrumental track called “James and Ira demonstrate mysticism and some confusion holds”. A new jam appeared each following day, and it’s all culminated today with the reveal of a full five-song EP called We Have Amnesia Sometimes. Stream it below. The collection stems from a series of sessions that saw the trio “playing formlessly” in late April and early May. Yo La Tengo had escaped to their Hoboken, New Jersey rehearsal space to “push away the outside world” while safely social distancing. As Ira Kaplan explains in a press release, “In late April, with the outside world weighing on everybody, we determined that the three of us could assemble in Hoboken without disobeying the rules laid out by Governor Murphy, and resume...
Ihsahn Announces Pharos EP, Shares New Song “Spectre at the Feast”: Stream
Black metal legend Ihsahn has set a September release for Pharos, the second of two companion EPs. In advance of the EP, he has shared the music video for lead single “Spectre at the Feast”. Pharos, due September 11th, concludes the two-part EP concept dedicated to Ihsahn’s home country of Norway. Following the February’s five-song Telemark EP, Pharos is billed as a “reverse image” of its counterpart. The EPs see Ihsahn drawing inspiration from the black metal he helped proliferate in his influential band Emperor, as well as other styles and genres. According to Ihsahn, this second EP is the “aesthetic and musical counterpart, wherein I can distill all those more progressive, experimental and mellow elements of my music.” The press release refers to it as “the light to Telemark‘s dark.” Th...
Sylvan Esso Return with Mysterious New Song “What If”: Stream
This past spring brought us WITH, a thrilling live album and concert film from Sylvan Esso. Now, the indie pop duo is back with proper new music in the form of “What If”. The group’s first all-new offering in over two years is soft-spoken and sparse, with singer Amelia Meath’s slightly synthesized vocals floating lightly over glitchy piano. Though only a little over 90 seconds long, its message is clear: What if the things we thought we knew weren’t true at all? “What if darkness was light?” Meath asks early on. Hear it for yourself below via a video that shows Meath bobbing around in a body of water Editors’ Picks “What If” doesn’t appear on any streaming services, only on YouTube and over on the group’s social media, some of which has been scrubbed clean. Sylvan Esso haven’t provid...
Illuminati Hotties Unveil New Mixtape Free I.H.: This Is Not The One You’ve Been Waiting For: Stream
Illuminati Hotties have unveiled the new mixtape Free I.H.: This Is Not The One You’ve Been Waiting For. Stream it below with Apple Music and Spotify. With humor, compassion, and thrashing guitars, Illuminati Hotties have become synonymous with Los Angeles’ “tenderpunk” movement. Free I.H. is the follow-up to 2018’s Kiss Yr Frenemies, and was written during a messy breakup with indie label Tiny Engines. The label engaged in some, uh, questionable accounting practices, and like so much kick-ass punk music, Free I.H. comes from a place of getting royally (or royalty) fucked. Bandleader Sarah Tudzin wrote the mixtape in February, before COVID-19 had become a global nightmare. In an interview with Stereogum, she spoke of composing songs about a messed-up world, and th...
Black Veil Brides Unveil New Track from Re-Stitch These Wounds & SPIN’s Untitled Twitch Stream Appearance
While most bands are just remastering or re-releasing their seminal albums for big anniversaries, Black Veil Brides are taking it a step further by fully rerecording 2010’s We Stitch These Wounds as the updated Re-Stitch These Wounds. The album (out July 31 on Sumerian) comes alongside their August 1 performance streamed live from the famous Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood — a show where they’ll play the full album for the first time ever. “We are so excited to share the 10th anniversary, reimagined and rerecorded version of our debut record, and to play it in its entirety for our first live stream concert experience,” said Andy Biersack, the band’s vocalist. “This is a celebration of a decade of BVB and the greatest fans in music. We are so appreciative of the opportu...
The National’s Matt Berninger Reveals New Solo Single “Distant Axis”: Stream
On October 2nd, The National frontman Matt Berninger will release his debut solo album, Serpentine Prison. After first previewing the LP by unveiling its title track, Berninger has now unveiled a second teaser track in “Distant Axis”. The song was co-written by The Walkmen’s Walter Martin. In a statement, Berninger discussed the collaboration, saying, “II met Walter Martin fifteen years ago when The National opened for The Walkmen on a tour of shitty clubs in the American Southeast. On that tour I learned a lot about how to be in a band without ruining your life. I also learned a lot about Florida, Tennessee and Georgia. Walt and I have stayed friends and about three years ago we started passing ideas back and forth. ‘Distant Axis’ started from a sketch Walt sent me named ‘Savann...
Matt Berninger Rolls Around in New Solo Video for ‘Distant Axis’
With the COVID-19 pandemic stopping concerts, festivals and any other public gathering, musicians have had to get creative with how they make new videos. The National’s Matt Berninger took this into account while filming his new video for “Distant Axis.” The video shows him walking to a makeshift set to film the visual with his brother and co-director Tom Berninger and Chris Sgroi. With a huge sheet of a green screen on the ground, Berninger sits in a swivel chair spinning around and rolling on the ground as random objects — including wigs, a Magic 8-Ball and a Hillary Clinton doll — are thrown at him. “Distant Axis” was a collaboration between Berninger and Walter Martin of The Walkmen. The two also worked on “Quarantine Boogie (Loco),” which dropped in April. “I met Walter Martin fifteen...
