Kevin Bronson on August 1st, 2023

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Catching up with recent releases from Sego, Alexa Villa and Magic Bronson …

SEGO, “Malibu Mary”

We’ve followed Sego ever since they loaded up their covered wagon and migrated from Utah to L.A. And, well, this is different. “Malibu Mary” detours from the dance-punk and agit-pop that have made the quartet an underground phenomenon and into the land of detuned bliss, immersed in celestial production, processed vocals and typically stream-of-consciousness lyrics. Maybe this is Sego’s take on a power ballad? Either that, or “Malibu Mary” — the fourth single they’ve released this year while dropping hints about a fourth album — is their idea of a Rorschach test. Sego, along with SWIMM and others, perform Saturday, Aug. 5, at Love You Down at the Cube in downtown L.A. (info).

ALEXA VILLA, “I Don’t Wanna Be Pretty” (feat. FLASCH)

San Diego-bred Alexa Villa takes many of her cues from female dynamos down through history — Joan Jett, Gwen Stefani, Alanis Morissette, Halsey and Miley Cyrus, to name a few. Not unlike her November single, “Bored (feat. Colie Hutzler of Beauty School Dropout),” her latest release, “I Don’t Wanna Be Pretty,” which features Flasch, is an empowerment-themed ripper produced (as the previous single was) by Ian Walsh. The song is about “rejecting societal expectations of beauty, the pressures of social media and the impact it has on our mental health and expectation to always be beautiful,” says Villa, a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer who’s released two full-lengths, including last year’s “Good Girl.” Alexa Villa plays Wednesday night at the Moroccan Lounge.

MAGIC BRONSON, “Patience” and “The Year Before”

Since releasing their album “Sweat” in the throes of the pandemic, L.A. party-starters Matthew Lieberman and Michael Nicastro have poked our inner lion with a handful of singles, notably last year’s “Dead Tooth” and “Help Me, Lou Reed.” Magic Bronson last week returned with two singles, “Patience” and “The Year Before,” each of which give us the feeling there’s a great house party happening somewhere and we weren’t invited. The duo had previously said a new album would be arriving this summer, but some complicated logistics are pushing that back a bit.