Kevin Bronson on October 31st, 2022

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Catching up with recent singles from Low Hum, Pioneer 11 and Cuffed Up …

LOW HUM, “Losing Sleep”

Announcing itself with blasts of buzzy guitar (we imagine a kazoo being fed through high voltage transmission lines), “Losing Sleep” is Collin Desha’s first Low Hum single in over a year. Low Hum’s sophomore album, “Nonfiction,” was released in October 2021, but this new single actually predates that. “It was born in a session sort of before the actual album process began and Jon [Joseph]’s drum tones, which are very present in this record, really drew me into doing my whole album with him,” Desha says. “The song was written with Adrian Rodriguez over a few days at different houses all over Silver Lake. We dug into the struggles of insomnia and the ever-persistent pressures of the ‘hustle.’ When we got to the end of the album process this one felt a little outside the rest thematically, so I’m excited to put it out now for you all and get down with the tones that got me so energized for the rest of ‘Nonfiction.’”

PIONEER 11 x DAVE HARRINGTON, “Hero of Modernity”

The follow-up to “Destiny” and “Man of Reason,” “Hero of Modernity” is the latest evidence that L.A. trio Pioneer 11 has found the generator party that aliens crashed to sample the psychedelics. Dave Harrington of Darkside joins in on this one, the fourth single from Pioneer 11’s sophomore album, “Humanoid,” out Nov. 11 via POW Recordings. Pioneer 11 will play Gold-Diggers on Nov. 16 to celebrate the release.

CUFFED UP, “10 for 10”

The big news here is not that L.A. post-punkers Cuffed Up have released another solid rocker — see “Even the Worm Will Turn” or their “Asymmetry” EP for recent examples of that. It’s that Sapphire Jewell has left the band, according to an announcement earlier this month. Christina Apostolopulos was announced as her replacement. Meanwhile, “10 for 10″ finds Ralph Torrefranca taking a hard look at “imposter syndrome.” He elaborates: “It’s deeply rooted in confidence. The dialogue in the song follows a creative, trying to understand the negative thoughts that plagues their mind every time they feel the imposter syndrome. The chorus is the heavy-handed conclusion that they arrive to every time but the bridge is the ‘big aha! moment’ where the character finally realizes that they are amazing at what they do and are in fact, 10/10.” Cuffed Up open for the Joy Formidable on Nov. 11 at Pappy & Harriet’s (tickets) and on Nov. 15 at the Roxy (tickets).