Kevin Bronson on March 8th, 2024

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Looky what we have here — Greatest Hits … This Week (Vol. 281) features the latest from the Marías, Lo Moon, Matt Champion, Escape Artist Lovers, Meatbodies, Mirrorball, Slow Hollows, Lee Lewis, Jelani Aryeh, La Luz, Kamasi Washington, Wand, the Red Pears, Opus Orange, Vicky Farewell, Silverplanes, Windser, Mind’s Eye and more. As is our recent habit, we’ve provided factoids on all the songs/artists beneath the player. All one of us here at Buzz Bands LA feel like 2024 is on a good roll, judging from our recent playlists. Feel free to chime in.

■ Escape Artist Lovers, “Out Where I Can Wander” — The latest from the duo of Rain Phoenix and Kirk Hellie leaps over Jesus & Mary Chain influences in a single bound. Escape Artist Lovers, who are doing the Monday night residency this month at Zebulon, are coming back strong after releasing “Follow the Leader” last October.

■ Meatbodies, “Silly Cybin” — Must be the ’shrooms? Why this wasn’t the first single from Meatbodies’ new album “Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom” (out today) we’ll never know, even as we think that Chad Ubovich (FUZZ, Ty Segall) has hit one out of the park for psych-rock fans with this fourth full-length. Load up on goodies in time to catch Meatbodies’ album-release show March 23 at the Lodge Room.

■ La Luz, “Strange World” — La Luz’s fifth album, “News of the Universe,” is out May 24 via Sub Pop, and Shana Cleveland grapples with the chaos of our times on the first single. “The best advice a friend gave me during a time when I was feeling particularly overwhelmed and battling consecutive panic attacks was to go outside, take my shoes off, and sit with my feet on the earth,” she says. “This seemed to slow the universe down in a way that made it feel easier to handle. So this chorus is something of a mantra to myself ‘we’ll be fine, just take your time.’”

■ Slow Hollows, “Tired” — “I’m tired of everybody but you,” Austin Feinstein sings on the fourth and final single from the first Slow Hollows album in in three years, “Bullhead” (out today). The album overall (including “Old Yeller,” “Idle Hands” and “Soap”) is more caffeinated, breathing depth (and no small amount of cinematics) into his melancholy. Live March 14 at the Constellation Room and May 10 at the Lodge Room.

■ The Marías, “Run Your Mouth” — María Zardoya, Josh Conway, Jesse Perlman and Edward James are back with a woozy slice of bedroom disco. “Run Your Mouth” is the first single from the quartet’s new album, “Submarine,” out May 31.

■ Lee Lewis, “FUL” — “FUL” is an acronym in Ladera Heights-reared Lee Lewis’ new single, and hearing it you’ll understand why. The follow-up to “Delusion,” it’s just the third single from Lewis, who co-wrote the song with Hope Shorter and Joseph Luca and shaped it with producer Jon Joseph. Lewis’ debut EP, “Something Burning,” is out April 24.

■ Vicky Farewell, “Tern Me On” — “Give a Damn” is the title of Vicky Farewell’s just-announced sophomore album, out May 10 on Mac’s Record Label. The Orange County native, born Vicky Nguyen, released her debut album in 2022, metes out some warm, intimate electric piano on the lead single. Tickets for her album-release show May 15 at Zebulon go on sale today.

■ Kamasi Washington, “Prologue” — Soak in the latest from Kamasi Washington, whose new album, “Fearless Movement,” is out May 3 and features appearances by the likes of André 3000, George Clinton, BJ The Chicago Kid, D-Smoke, Thundercat, Terrace Martin, Patrice Quinn, Brandon Coleman and more. Live June 16 at the Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival.

■ Jahari Massamba Unit, “Otis’ Tambourine” — One of the highlights from “YHWH” (released last week), the second album from Jahari Massamba Unit, the duo of Karriem Riggins and Madlib.

■ Laetitia Sadier & Storefront Church, “La Langue Blue” — Stereolab singer Laetitia Sadier teams up with Storefront Church (Lukas Frank) and Henry Kwapis on a song for the AMC drama series “Monsieur Spade” (in which Clive Owen portrays Sam Slade). Sadier just released a new solo album, “Rooting for Love,” and she’ll play Zebulon on April 4. Storefront Church opens for Lael Neale on March 24 at Zebulon.

■ Jelani Aryeh, “Sweater Club” — The 23-year-old San Diego native is rolling out tunes from his sophomore album, “The Sweater Club,” out this summer. “‘Sweater Club’ is about imposter syndrome,” he says. “It’s about feeling disconnected from my body, taking a backseat and watching life happen to me. The instrumental sounds like the city moving 1,000 miles an hour, pulling me along without a clue where it’s taking me. It’s how I felt most days while living alone in L.A. In trying to be open and vulnerable, I failed to set boundaries and ended up feeling like a passenger on others’ journeys.”

■ Evangeline, “You and Me” (feat. Max Shrager) — The follow-up to “Letting Things Go,” her collaboration with Vulmon (Vulpeck’s Jack Stratton), “You and Me” introduces Evangeline’s new EP, “When Demigods Go …” (out May 3).

■ Andy Clockwise, “Gonna Get It (Just What We Deserve)” — The irrepressible Aussie, who splits his time between L.A. and his native country, this month released bite-sized versions of two (long) dancefloor jams that originally came out on 2022.

■ Mirrorball, “Take a Shot” — The first single since last June from the dream-pop duo of Alexandra Johnstone and Scott Watson, Mirrorball’s misty-eyed “Take a Shot” finds its inspiration in Johnstone’s father’s photographs, particularly those taken at the Santa Anita Racetrack in the 1970s. “I would think about the people in the photos and what their lives were like. I would wonder if they ever scored that big win and how things panned out for them,” she says. “It’s about taking your shot at life and betting on the next horse be it good or bad. It’s a little bit of a challenge, too. Have you ever felt that someone wants to say something to you, but for some reason they can’t say it, and you want them to just take their shot? Let’s just leave the cards on the table, no matter how they lay.” A Chris Coady-produced EP in on the way.

■ Lo Moon, “Borrowed Hills” — Ahead of a six-show schedule at SXSW, the quartet of Matt Lowell, Sam Stewart, Cristana Baker and Sterling Laws releases the latest single from Lo Moon’s third album, “I Wish You Way More Than Luck” (out April 5).

■ Opus Orange, “Waves” (feat. Kotomi) — The pop collective led by composer Paul Bessenbacher is back with a new five-track EP, “Waves,” each song featuring a guest vocalist. On the title track, it’s Kotomi (Lauren Culjak), herself a composer-pianist-producer with a host of TV/film credits. Opus Orange’s first release since 2021’s “Object Lessons,” it’s beautifully melancholic.

■ Charles Moret, “Blended Nights” — Six-foot-7 Charlie Riordan had a brief college basketball career at Oberlin College before returning to his native L.A. to concentrate on music, which he releases under the name Charles Moret. A creator of layered, ’70s-styled piano ballads, the singer-songwriter released his debut album, “Dreammaker,” on March 1.

■ Kiss Bang, “Horrors of Your Hometown” — Kiss Bang are the duo of Bay Area native songwriter/producer Max Mercier and singer-songwriter Kaya Stewart, daughter of producer and Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart. Kaya Stewart, last spotted released her sophomore LP “If Things Go South” in 2022, turns up the grit in the new duo project, which is definitely more bang than kiss. “Horrors of Your Hometown” is the title of their debut EP, arriving March 15.

■ Mind’s Eye, “Wishing for Me” — “Wishing for Me” is the second single from indie quintet Mind’s Eye since they released their album “Long Nights and Wasted Affairs” last May. Live June 2 at the El Rey Theatre.

■ Sedona, “Deadweight” — The follow-up to “No Man’s Land,” “Deadweight” is a bright new pop-rocker from songwriter Rachel Stewart.

■ Chemical Therapy, “Daddy’s Girl” — Featuring former members of the South Carolina pop-grunge band Heyrocco who moved to L.A. during the pandemic, Chemical Therapy makes trippy, time-traveling music — “’60s hip-hop,” they call it. “Daddy’s Girl” is a fun ride for its samples and sly sonic references.

■ The Red Pears, “Didn’t Realize” — The El Monte-bred trio of Henry Vargas, Jose Corona and Patrick Juarez are still strokin’. “Didn’t Realize” introduces the Red Pears’ fourth album, “Better Late Than Never,” out April 12. The trio plays Coachella the month of the release; then they’re opening for Chicano Batman at the Kia Forum on June 29.

■ Optometry, “Wrong Thing” — The duo of veteran electronic composter John Tejada and singer-songwriter/CalArts grad March Adstrum released a full-length, “After-Image,” last spring. “Wrong Thing” is the first single from a new EP, “Parallel Distortion,” out March 22.

■ Windser, “Desert Song” — Feel-good folk-pop from songwriter Jordan Topf — his first original since last fall’s “TV.” Shows? He’s got ’em: May 16 at Saint Rocke and May 17 at the Constellation Room, both opening for Mondo Cozmo.

■ Silverplanes, “Down the Drain” — The follow-up to December’s single “Where You Gonna Run?,” the arena ballad “Down the Drain” is the second single from Silverplanes’ debut full-length, “Airbus,” out April 5.

■ Matt Champion, “Slow Motion” (feat. Jennie) — Former Brockhampton mainstay Matt Champion will release his solo debut, “Mika’s Laundry,” on March 22. The follow-up to the single “Slug,”, “Slow Motion” features Jennie Kim (Blackpink), along with a whole lotta drum-and-bass type production.

■ Kayla DiVenere, “Small Talk” — Twenty-year-old Montreal native Kayla DiVenere deals in easy-schmeezy confessionals, the kind that overflow the “fresh finds” pop playlists.

■ Wand, “Help Desk” — What’s that chill? Oh, just a new single from Wand. And an AI video. And a live date: May 30 at the Constellation Room.