Kevin Bronson on June 17th, 2021

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A little variety in today’s singles roundup: Catch up with new songs by Tashaki Miyaki, Runnner, Bad Suns and King Shelter.

TASHAKI MIYAKI, “Wasting Time”

Singer-songwriter-drummer Paige Stark says “Wasting Time” is something of an outlier on Tashaki Miyaki’s forthcoming album “Castaway,” out July 2. “This song is kind of its own thing,” she says of the follow-up to “Gone,” “I Feel Fine” and the title track. “It was one of the last songs I wrote for the record, and I wasn’t sure it fit the vibe, but in the end we decided it was nice to have variety and different colors/feels on the record. It’s a song about anxiety and I wanted it to feel really wild. I wanted to combine what we do with a kind of power-pop vibe. I imagined Keith Moon style drums, and I don’t really play like that so I invited my friend Richard Gowen to play drums on this song. I like that it has a different energy. I wanted to create a kind of ’70s feel on this song but have it still feel right now, and I think we got that energy. The sonic inspirations were The Kinks ‘Lola vs Powerman’ and Big Star’s ‘Number 1 Record.’” As noted before, the trio — Stark, Luke Paquin and Sandi Denton — turn down the fuzz on this second full-length, but not the dreamy allure. Watch the video for “Wasting Time” here.

RUNNNER, “Urgent Care”

Songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Noah Weinman’s debut as Runnner, “Always Repeating,” comes out July 16 via Run for Cover Records, and “Urgent Care” — all 2 minutes 18 seconds of it — is the album’s latest captivating moment. Banjo, horn, tender vocals … all in service of a rather humorous vignette. “This is a song poking fun at my own struggles with hypochondria,” Weinman says. “I never fell in love at urgent care (or even talked to another human there), but there was a time when I had good student insurance and the $20 co-pay was worth it to quell my anxiety.” The single is the follow-up to the equally compelling “Awash.”

BAD SUNS, “Heaven Is a Place in My Head”

Their days as makers of anthemic rock songs apparently behind them, L.A. quartet Bad Suns are back with the frisky pop single, “Heaven Is a Place in My Head,” to herald the announcement of their big tour (as openers for Angels & Airwaves). “I suddenly felt the urge to write this sugary pop punk song, dressed up in leather, glitter, ’80s synthesizers and chiming guitars,” frontman Christo Bowman says. “The band had recently started experimenting with writing songs together over the internet. I emailed everybody the track and we immediately began writing the lyrics and melodies on a video call. I remember falling asleep and waking up with the chorus playing over and over again in my head. I think something about the song scared us, and we tried to forget about it. We didn’t mention it for six months until our producer played us the demo and said ‘remember this?’ We all looked at each other and collectively thought ‘This is amazing, we need to record this right now.’” The tune is the follow-up to “Baby Blue Shades,” released last September. Here’s the video for it.

KING SHELTER, “Concrete!”

Guitars strafing the landscape and drums shaking it, “Concrete!” is the first single from SoCal hard rockers King Shelter since the 2019 release of their third EP, “Sellout” (see “Paradigm”). It’s heavy music for a heavy topic — gun violence and the glorification of those who perpetrate it. “‘Concrete!’ is about the frustration with the glorification of the shooter,” Taylor Hecocks says. “We’ve seen the things people will do for their face to be in the minds of every citizen. Unless we change things, we will continue to see it time and time again. Is there anything we can do on our end as everyday humans? Maybe I’ll just try to treat people better first.” The single is from King Shelter’s forthcoming EP, “Patience.”