Kevin Bronson on December 11th, 2020

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Catching up with three new singles, out today, from SLUGS, Justus Proffit and WILD …

SLUGS, “Super Sane”

The band’s first new music since their boisterous 2018 EP “Cool World,” “Super Sane” sees L.A. quartet SLUGS playing it super cool (and sentimental, with good reason). The quartet — singer-guitarist Marissa Longstreet, bassist Sarsten Noice, guitarist Josh Beavers and drummer Dash Hutton — wax poignantly on what life gives and takes on the song, long a staple of their live set and inspired partly by the tragic death of beloved local photographer of Emery Becker in 2018. “A friend of ours died in a motorcycle accident on St Patrick’s Day. Another friend of mine just had a baby,” Longstreet say of the song’s origins. “At the time, I was celebrating the birth of a new life and mourning the loss of someone who didn’t feel gone yet. I wrote this while processing that conflict—trying to convince myself and others ‘I feel fine’ while unraveling.” The song was produced and mixed by Kenny Becker (Goon).

JUSTUS PROFFIT, “Peace From Medication”

Justus Proffit, who released his debut full-length “L.A.’s Got Me Down” plus an EP in 2019, returns with his second single of 2020. A product of quarantine, the self-recorded tune finds Proffit ditching his guitar in favor of electronic beats and a synthesizer. “I recorded this song on a Tascam 488 in my room,” he says. “I have lately been interested in Stephen King. A lot of his books he says does not remember writing, and I believe that it’s because he was channeling into somewhere or someone else. I also don’t really remember writing this song, but after I was done, I realize it’s about a daughter losing a father, saying goodbye for the last time.”

WILD, “Keeps Me Coming Back”

On the heels of September’s “Friend Like You,” L.A. trio WILD are back with the latest tease from their forthcoming debut album, “Goin’ Back” (out Jan. 15). Written along with Matthew Di Panni (The Mowgli’s) and Mason Musso (Metro Station), it’s like much WILD’s catalog, relentlessly upbeat. “It was one of those songs that came so naturally. It was just us having fun and laughing, and the song was done,” says the band, Lauren Luiz, Zach DeGaetano and Tyler Thompson. “It’s about following your heart and knowing when it’s right. Our feelings for someone aren’t always certain, but it’s something worth coming back to as long as you have hope.”