Stream: Greatest Hits … This Week (Vol. 288)
Kevin Bronson on
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From experimental music to sublime folk to psych-rock to power-pop to indie-pop to dance-pop, Greatest Hits … This Week (Vol. 288) is a handful. Actually, maybe an armload.
Press play to hear new songs from Louis Cole, Storefront Church, Nik Freitas, Monogem, Shannon Lay, Lee Lewis, Gavin Turek, Kai Tak, Robert DeLong, Daniel Davies, Swerve, Geneva Jacuzzi, Marina Allen, Lily Kershaw and more — plus tunes from newly released albums/EPs by Loren Kramar, Lawrence Rothman, Joh Chase, Lee Lewis, Billy Tibbals, Cold War Kids and the Blank Tapes. This clocks in at 2 hours and 34 tracks, so get to it.
■ Kai Tak, “Flood the Harbour” — Chris King (of Cold Showers) releases the shoegaze-tastic “Flood the Harbour,” which features Olivia Lee of There’s Talk and Tamaryn. It’s the first single from Kai Tak’s new album, “Designed in Heaven Made in Hong Kong,” out June 21. See also: “Blush.”
■ Storefront Church, “Coal” — Dark and ferocious, with a full orchestra churning like the sound of heavy machinery, “Coal” officially introduces Storefront Church’s debut album, “Ink & Oil,” out June 28. The song is the follow-up to the album’s lead track, “The High Room.” Considering the scope of these two tracks, Lukas Frank might just have created an opus. Live June 28 at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever.
■ Geneva Jacuzzi, “Dry” — Longtime art-pop provocateur Geneva Jacuzzi is back with a new record deal (she just signed to Dais Records) and her first single in over a year, “Dry.” The video takes the lyric “I know you’re gonna hang me out to dry” quite literally.
■ Louis Cole, “Things Will Fall Apart” — Composer Louis Cole found allies in the Netherlands-based Metropole Orkest and conductor Jules Buckley for “Nothing” (out Aug. 9), his fifth full-length and third for the Brainfeeder label. Bedazzling.
■ Monogem, “Lemon Tree” — After dazzling with her bilingual album “Gardenia” in 2021, songwriter Jen Hirsh is planning to release a new Monogem EP later this year. The sublime single “Lemon Tree,” she says, “captures the exact feeling and place I’ve been in since last spring. With all of the heaviness in the world, this song reminds me of the most important thing in my world — to squeeze my son a little tighter while I still can, and cherish every moment of our time together.”
■ Lee Lewis, “Sugar Baby” — After teasing the release with singles such as “FUL” and “Delusion,” Ladera Heights’ own Lee Lewis today released his debut EP, “Something Burning.” Live April 29 at It’s a School Night at Bardot.
■ Shannon Lay, “Mirrors” — Shannon Lay’s first new original since the album “Geist” (released in the fall of 2021) is another in a long line of stunners, a ray of hope adorned with piano, flute and, of course, the singer-songwriter’s crystalline vocals. Live May 2 at Gold-Diggers.
■ Aye Aye Aye, “’80s Movies” — Brothers Sean and Jake Brennan make experimental psych-pop and debuted their project Aye Aye Aye this year. “’80s Movies” is their third single, with their self-titled album arriving May 14.
■ Low Hum, “Dead Weight” — The follow-up to “Hints” and “Only If You Say So,” “Dead Weight” is the latest single from Low Hum’s third album, “Terra Incognita” (out May 24).
■ Loren Kramar, “Gay Angels” — Friendly reminder that Loren Kramar’s debut album, “Glovemaker,” is out today, and if he caught your ear with “Hollywood Blvd.” (he caught ours), there’s plenty more depth in these songs, and the way they are orchestrated, and the way he sings them. Live May 17 at the Troubadour. (Also: a performance/album signing May 1 at Amoeba.)
■ Lawrence Rothman, “R. Blood” (feat. S.G. Goodman) — Friendly reminder that Lawrence Rothman’s new album, “The Plow That Broke the Plains,” is out today. Live May 8 at the Wayfarer and May 12 at Pappy & Harriet’s.
■ Joh Chase, “When I Got This Place” — Friendly reminder that Joh Chase’s new album, “Solo,” is out today via Kill Rock Stars, and like the video for “When I Got This Place,” it’s a a voyage of discovery. Live tonight at Permanent Records Roadhouse.
■ Billy Tibbals, “Out of Touch” — Friendly reminder that Billy Tibbals’ new, Chris Robinson-produced EP, “Nightlife Stories,” is out today. Real rock record by a really young rocker. Live May 28 at Zebulon, supporting Love Fiend, and June 7 at the Viper Room.
■ Cold War Kids, “Scandalized” — Today brought a surprise release from local mainstays Cold War Kids — a self-titled EP featuring five songs, including the February single “Heaven in Your Hands.”
■ Marina Allen, “Swinging Doors” — “Swinging Doors” is the second single from singer-songwriter Marina Allen’s third album, “Eight Pointed Star” (out June 7), made with producer Chris Cohen. She’ll take her painterly Americana on the road this summer with dates opening for Ben Howard and Real Estate, but she has notable L.A. dates: a record-release show June 13 at Scribble, and a show Oct. 2 at the Ford, opening for Devendra Banhart.
■ Nik Freitas, “Cheer Up, Cadiz” — The title track to Nik Freitas’ 10th full-length, “Cheer Up, Cadiz” (out June 12) will put a smile on your face. Highly recommend that you double-down by watching the video, in which Freitas … doubles down. Live June 21 at Scribble.
■ Zsela, “Lily of the Nile” — New York-reared, L.A.-based Zsela Sterlin — just Zsela here — has released a mesmerizing single, “Lily of the Nile,” to introduce her album “Big for You,” out June 14 via Mexican Summer. Live Aug. 28 at the Lodge Room.
■ Robert DeLong, “Deserve It All” (feat. Pahua) — Electro-pop maestro Robert DeLong teams up with Mexican singer-producer Pahua on a cumbia-flavored pop song about, he says, “the double-meaning behind the phrase ‘Deserve it All,’ and the paradox of feeling like we haven’t gotten what we deserve, both positive and negative.”
■ Gavin Turek, “Disco Boots” — Dance-music maven Gavin Turek is back with her first new original since her 2021 sophomore album (check out the video). It’s the first song from her new album, “Diva of the People,” coming this fall. She’ll be performing on the second day of the Eeeeeats Con food festival June 9 at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. Turek’s album-release show will be Sept., 21 at the Echo.
■ Daniel Davies, “I Know Why” — Daniel Davies spent most of the Aughts playing in hard rock bands (he fronted Year Long Disaster) before segueing into composing and playing film scores, notably working with John Carpenter. Now he’s returning to rock, and on June 21 Sacred Bones will release his new album “Ghost of the Heart.” Album opener “I Know Why,” Davies says, was written on Halloween night,” he explains. “We were trick-or-treating, and I could see this girl walking into the darkness and disappear. I liked the image and the feeling that it gave me. It evolved from there and became a song about isolation and loneliness.”
■ Swerve, “Just Pretend” — L.A. guitar-slingers Swerve return June 21 with a new EP, “The Darkroom,” and “Just Pretend” gets it off to a pulse-quickening start.
■ Niina Soleil, “Irish Goodbye” — The follow-up to “Whiskey Valentine,” released in February, “Irish Goodbye” is the latest single from Niina Soleil’s new album “Heliophilia,” out May 15.
■ CLAY, “Waiting for God in the Garden” — Here’s the title track to the new EP (out May 24) from San Francisco native Gabrielle Walter-Clay, who releases music as CLAY. File under precisely phrased but dreamy pop-soul. Live May 3 at the Peppermint Club.
■ The Rare Occasions, “Darling, the Planets” — First single from the power-pop darlings since last fall’s “Black Balloons.”
■ WINKS, “Altered State” — The new indie-rock quintet fronted by Victoria Acuña, WINKS will release their debut album, “Finally Awake,” on May 13.
■ Ken Sharp, “Great Big Beautiful World” — Talk about Christmas coming early: Power-pop ace Ken Sharp this month released his eighth album, the two-volume “Welcome to Toytown,” (here and here on Spotify; here on Bandcamp). It’s baroque pop at its … er, sharpest; the mood is upbeat, the songs clock in at mostly under 2 minutes. And, like on Sharp’s 2023 album “I’ll Remember the Laughter,” there are 50 of them.
■ Child Seat, “Fool for Love” — More echos of the ’80s from the duo of Madeleine Mathews and Josiah Mazzaschi, who will release their sophomore Child Seat album, “Dancing at the Disco,” on June 21. Live June 20 at the Paramount, along with Broken Baby and Night Talks.
■ The Gloomies, “Cave” (feat. Big Red Roses) — Six years since releasing their debut album and almost three since “Let Me Know When It’s Over,” songwriter Andrew Craig and his aptly named The Gloomies are back with a handful of new singles. “Cave,” featuring vocals from Big Red Roses, is their third release of 2024, previewing the forthcoming album “Slime and the Stems.”
■ Clara-Nova, “Living in the Desert” — The new single from Sydney Wayser’s solo project Clara-Nova, “Living in the Desert” feels like the theme song to superblooms.
■ Wallows, “Bad Dream” — Here’s the third single from Wallows’ forthcoming album, “Model” (out May 24). See also: “Your Apartment.” Live Sept. 12 at the Forum.
■ Kaitlyn Olson, “Everytime” — L.A. native Kaitlyn Olson worked with rapper/singer/producer RMR on “Everytime,” her fifth single and first since the more memorable “Worship” in early 2023.
■ Blair Gun, “The Thief” — Blair Gun is a San Diego quartet making wiry punk-rock. Their sophomore album, “There Are No Rival Clones Here,” is out June 7.
■ The Blank Tapes, “Blue & White” — Prolific songwriter Matt Adams is back with a new Blank Tapes album, “Good Ol’ Days,” a collection of songs 10 years in the works. Live Saturday at On Joy in Highland Park, supporting How???.
■ Lily Kershaw, “Poem Song” — We’ll bring this week’s playlist in for a soft landing with another gem from Lily Kershaw. “Poem Song” was released today along with the news that her new album, “Pain & More,” will be out Sept. 13.
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