Song Recommendations: 2/26/26

"All That You Are," Ray Bull
This song's stately '90s Britpop stride is nicely offset by the "Baba O'Riley"-esque drone that starts things off before the drums kick in, and bubbles under the groove throughout the rest of the track. The overall effect feels like a sort of UK rock spumoni, mashing together top-shelf ingredients across the decades. I dig it.

"I Got an Itch," Big Harp
Heavy John Prine vibes permeate this song — not just in the good-natured lope of its acoustic guitar and easy harmonies, but in the winking humor that flashes throughout the lyrics. Odes to domestic bliss are fairly common, as are songs that reject everything it has to offer; far rarer are ones like "I Got an Itch," whose protagonists appreciate the love and luxury that life has brought, while still occasionally getting a hankering for their poorer, wilder, younger days.

"More Good Angels," Gay Meat
I can't quite put my finger on which early '90s alt-rock act "More Good Angels" most reminds me of, and it's bugging the hell out of me. I want to say Lightning Seeds, but I don't think that's quite it. Still, that's probably enough of a reference point to give you a pretty good idea of what's going on here — soft, slightly dorky vocals floating gently over waves of cascading synths and guitars, while the drums pound madly into the shore. Good stuff, and A+ band name too.

"Bug," Remember Sports
This lo-fi, uptempo buzzbomb is a perfect little pop nugget — the type of song you could imagine Letters to Cleo recording 30 years ago, just with a little less polish and a little more suburban snark.

"Miracle," The Academy Is...
Like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, "Miracle" is two great tastes that taste great together: The chugging power pop of the verses, and the pillow-soft harmonies that come raining down like feathers during the chorus. Between this and the other pre-release track that's currently out, "2005," it sounds like The Academy Is... is leaning far more heavily on the "pop" end of the "pop/punk" seesaw for their upcoming Almost Here LP; so far, I hear nothing to complain about.

"Bingo," La Sécurité
What little I've heard out of this band leads me to believe they operate at a single speed. Fortunately, that speed involves spiky guitars, blooping synths, and a lead singer whose vocal vibe can perhaps be best described as "cheerful dominatrix." A little of this type of thing probably goes a long way, but "Bingo" is a lot of colorful fun.

"Stupid Bitches," Grace Ives
With "Stupid Bitches," Grace Ives comes on like "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover"-era Sophie B. Hawkins' less chill kid sister, rubbing yearning vocals up against wildly overprocessed synths and samples until both sides throw sparks. "Stupid bitches can't hurt me," she insists, and you really want to believe her.

"Gwendolyn, Approximately," the Sylvia Platters
Anyone who misses the Paisley Underground will want to avail themselves of "Gwendolyn, Approximately," which manages to cop a strong Three O'Clock feel without making you feel like the band is just copping a pose. I'm continually amazed by the number of young acts who are cheerfully and obviously indebted to scenes that scribbled slightly outside the commercial margins in the '80s and '90s, and by how fresh their music often sounds anyway. Here's another one to add to the list.

"Mirror Mirror," Angelo De Augustine
"Collaborated with Sufjan Stevens" is such an obvious bullet point on Angelo De Augustine's resume that his publicist almost doesn't need to include it in his bio; there might be a stone's throw of difference between their respective sounds, but it'd be a fairly small stone and a half-hearted throw. Still, my long-standing antipathy toward Stevens' work cannot keep me from hearing something I like in "Mirror Mirror." Is it the added sweetness of the '70s strings? Or is it just that I'm too old to be churlish about perfectly pleasant songs that happen to emanate from a hipsterish section of the galaxy? Either way, here you go.

"Cold Waves," Crooked Fingers
Surprise! Fifteen years after embarking on an unannounced extended hiatus, Eric Bachmann's first post-Archers of Loaf band is once again a going concern. Their upcoming Swet Deth LP is kind of an all-star affair, boasting guest turns from Sharon Van Etten, the National's Matt Berninger, and Mac McCaughan of Superchunk — the latter of whom can be heard on opening track "Cold Waves," which puts a reverse spin on the '90s by adding some old-fashioned AOR sheen to a song that enters the room with an alt-rock 'tude before breaking out the Brad Delp harmonies. Looking forward to listening to the rest.

"Fighting Back," Voxtrot
You can take the kid out of the '80s, but you can never really take the '80s out of the kid. This is the moral of my story while listening to — and being thoroughly taken by — "Fighting Back," which stands astride a widescreen Technicolor vista and tries to wrap its arms around the world with a slew of Big Music production touches, a driving beat, and lovably overheated lyrics like "I know love is real, I know there’s a drum and it beats / Through the primitive chants of mercy that bloom in the dark / On Rosemont Street." Don't ask me what that really means, you asshole; it doesn't matter. Just roll the windows down, hit the gas, and feel everything.

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