Kevin Bronson on June 14th, 2024

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Songs for a full-up Friday in June: Here’s Greatest Hits … This Week (Vol. 295), featuring new songs from Jensen McRae, Gallant, Benjamin Carter, Mondo Cozmo, Orion Sun, Remi Wolf, Liily, Milly, PRETTY., Model Child, Jelani Aryeh, Temme Scott, Fana Hues, The Black Watch, Hot Moms Club, Funsleep, Isaac Watters, Broken Baby and lots more. Dig in.

Catch up on recently weekly playlists here.

■ Jelani Aryeh, “Breaking By” — Twenty-four-year-old San Diego native Jelani Aryeh today released his sophomore album, “The Sweater Club,” a genre-shifting collection that slides from post-punk to pop and some things in between. Besides the fetching “I’m in Love,” “Sweater Club” and “Shudder” are standout tracks. Live Dec. 12 at the Echoplex.

■ Jensen McRae, “Massachusetts” — Arriving two years after Jensen McRae released her debut album, “Are You Happy Now?,” “Massachusetts” is the L.A. singer-songwriter’s first release for the Dead Oceans label (Phoebe Bridgers, Mitski, Toro Y Moi, Japanese Breakfast, Khruangbin, et al).

■ Gallant, “Coldstar.” — Chris Gallant returns from a three-year solo hiatus with “Coldstar.,” his first release for Mom + Pop Music after independently releasing his 2021 album, “Neptune.” In the interim, Gallant collaborated with Terrace Martin and Robert Glasper on “Sneek.”

■ Mondo Cozmo, “Wild Horses” — The appropriately galloping new single “Wild Horses” (here’s the video) introduces songwriter Josh Ostrander’s fourth full-length as Mondo Cozmo, “It’s Principle!,” out Aug. 30 via Last Gang Records.

■ Dream Phases, “Living in a Cave” — Neo-psych indie-rockers Dream Phases have shared the second blast from their new album, “Phantom Idol” (out July 12). The follow-up to “Speed of Light,” “Living in a Cave,” says Brandon Graham, “is about being too comfortable in isolation and being alone and maybe a little hesitant to go out to interact with people and society. A bit influenced by the pandemic, where I lived alone and became very comfortable in my day to day routine of staying up all night to write and record, watch films and a [do] lot of reading. … Ultimately we need to leave our ‘caves’ to reintegrate into society after essentially a long isolated hibernation.” Live July 6 at Gold-Diggers and July 16 at the Wayfarer.

■ Storefront Church, “Tapping on the Glass” — “Tapping on the Glass” is the fourth single from Storefront Church’s first full-length, “Ink & Oil” (out June 28). Check out orchestrated magnificence of “The High Room,” “Coal” and “Melting Mirror,” and you’ll see why we’re calling this an opus, a word we don’t throw around much. Live June 28 at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever.

■ Fana Hues, “Sweet Like” — Friendly reminder that Fana Hues’ new album, “Moth” is out today, featuring nuggets such as “Paper Tigers” and “Rentals.” Catch Hues opening for Lucky Daye on Aug. 27 at the House of Blues Anaheim and Aug. 28 at the Greek Theatre.

■ Benjamin Carter, “All My Life” — In 2022, Benjamin Carter released his “Black Boys on the Radio” EP, which was as dynamic musically as it was with its commentary. “Black Boys on the Radio, Part 2” arrives later this year, and the poignant “All My Life” is the first single.

■ Orion Sun, “Already Gone” — In the two years since her last solo release, Philadelphia ex-pat Tiffany Majette — aka Orion Sun — has toured with Daniel Caesar, written with Bryson Tiller and was featured on a track from Fred Again, among other exploits. She’s back to memorialize a breakup on the emotional ballad “Already Gone.”

■ The Black Watch, “Gobbledegook” — Exploding from his seemingly interminable 56-day hiatus, John Andrew Fredrick has released another The Black Watch album. We are not kidding. We had not even memorized half the lyrics on “The Morning Papers Have Given Us the Vapours,” which came out in April. Now here’s “Weird Rooms,” which … hmm, we’ve run out of fingers and toes … is The Black Watch’s 23rd full-length. This one is different than “Vapours,” Fredrick points out, and it figures: He didn’t work with his regular cast of recent collaborators. The album was made with Austin-based producer/multi-instrumentalist Misha Bullock and Bullock’s wife, Sara — not to mention Fredrick’s son, Chandler.

■ Pluto Saffron, “Feared Wishes” — Songwriter Rob Banks busts out his rock crooner on “Feared Wishes,” the fifth single from his solo project Pluto Saffron and the most “balladesque,” in his description.

■ Temme Scott, “Healing” — “Healing” is the latest single from Temme Scott’s sophomore album, “A Long Year” (out Sept. 12). Striking a note of positivism, Scott calls the tune “my healing anthem,” adding, “It’s about feeling good for the first time in a while, and you can hear every part of that clarity when the chorus hits.”

■ Isaac Watters, “Tired” — “Tired,” co-written with Tyler Chester, is the latest single from Isaac Watters, whose music we like to think of as freak-folk if a cinematographer were in charge. His album, “New Space and Time,” is out later this summer.

■ NxWorries, “WalkOnBy” — NxWorries, the Anderson .Paak/KNXWLEDGE project, today released their new album, “Why Lawd?,” a collection packed with collaborators including Snoop Dogg, Thundercat, H.E.R. and, on “WalkOnBy,” Earl Sweatshirt and Rae Khali.

■ Remi Wolf, “Motorcycle” — By now, we expect the unexpected from Remi Wolf. So how about a ballad about motorcycles accented by jazz guitar? It’s the latest from Wolf’s sophomore album, “Big Ideas,” out July 12. Live Oct. 16 at the Greek Theatre.

■ Nik Freitas, “It’s Not Getting Any Easier” — Friendly reminder that “Cheer Up, Cadiz” (cheer up and check out the title track), the 11th full-length from Nik Freitas, came out this week. File under: affecting and smart pop-rock. Live June 21 at Scribble.

■ HEALTH, “Ashamed” (feat. Lauren Mayberry) — CHVRCHES’ Lauren Mayberry teams up with noisemeisters HEALTH to rework the song “Ashamed,” from the L.A. trio’s heavy-hitting 2023 album “Rat Wars.”

■ Model Child, “Hard Enough” — We’ll let Danny Parker himself tell the tale behind “Hard Enough,” the latest single from Model Child’s debut album, “Get There!” (out June 21): “Just a few days before the 10-day stretch of sessions for ‘Get There!,’ I took molly and a bit of mushrooms on Halloween night. I was out until sunrise and got into some late-night NYC debauchery. A couple days later, my immune system was like, ‘Umm, no. Absolutely not — I’m not letting you get away with this one.’ I got really sick and felt awful for at least the first five days of the sessions. ‘Hard Enough’ is about pushing your limits and riding a feeling as long and as far as it’ll take you. It’s about the rush of being on a big wave and never wanting to come down, even though, inevitably, you always do.” Live June 29 at Permanent Records Roadhouse.

■ PRETTY., “Heather” — The first single in a year from L.A. five-piece PRETTY., “Heather” sounds lifted from the poppy side of ’80s college radio. Clean, shiny, pretty.

■ Hot Moms Club, “Big Time” — Hot Moms Club is the project of L.A.-via-San Diego songwriter Eliza Vera, who released her debut EP in 2022 and has another, “Happy You’re Here” (made with producers Adam Carpenter and Nathan Cimino), arriving Sept. 13. “Big Time” is the first single.

■ Liily, “Swallow” — A new, self-titled EP from L.A. four-piece Liily arrived today, and closing track “Swallow” is a mouthful. From a band that likes to color outside rock and post-punk’s lines, it’s the most straight-ahead song on the release. “We saw it as our chance to be musical vs. over-intellectualizing something that is meat and potatoes,” vocalist Dylan Nash says. Open wide.

■ RIP Swirl, “Perfectly Blue” (feat. Winter) — Berlin’s Luka Seifert (aka RIP Swirl) teams up with vocalist/co-writer Samira Winter for some classic shoegaze.

■ Milly, “Bittersweet Mary” — The third single from Milly’s forthcoming album “You Own Becoming” (out June 28), “Bittersweet Mary” is ’90s through and through, not unlike “Drip From the Fountain” and “Spilling Ink.” Not that that’s a bad thing. Live Aug. 10 at the Troubadour and Oct 18, opening for Basement, at the Palladium.

■ Funsleep, “Serotonin” — Funsleep is the solo project of 19-year-old Orange Countian Nicholas Pigeon. “Serotonin,” with its outsized fuzz, makes for pop with pop.

■ Dale Crover, “Doug Yuletide” — Melvins muscleman Dale Crover will release his third solo album, “Glossolalia,” on Sept. 13, and it features guest turns from the likes of Tom Waits, Kim Thayil, Ty Segall, Rob Crow and, on “Doug Yuletide,” Dan Southwick (Altamont). The title mashes up the name of the Velvet Underground’s Doug Yule with a nod to time of year the song was written. Crover calls the tune a “vampire-story ‘Venus In Furs.’” Crover has upcoming acoustic performances opening for Redd Kross, as well as full-band shows with Rob Crow opening. Check out the many chances to catch him here.

■ Roger Weeks, “My Own Wake” — The latest from New Hampshire native Roger Weeks, “My Own Wake” confessional folk-pop confronts his personal missteps and misfortunes in a tongue-in-cheek way. The song, Weeks says, is about “radical acceptance,” adding “It’s about accepting exactly where you are in life even if it’s not pretty. It’s about letting life be a mess and still getting yourself together and celebrating life. After losing my mom, moving to L.A., breaking up with my boyfriend and ending up stronger than ever, I felt extremely powerful. … This song isn’t just about acknowledging my imperfections, fears, losses, overwhelm and insecurities… It’s about celebrating them.” Live Saturday night at the Hotel Café.

■ The Dollyrots, “Wrapped in Sunshine” — Unstoppable pop-punkers the Dollyrots are back with a new 7-inch ahead of a summer tour (L.A. date: June 20 at the Echo, with Go Betty Go). The Dollyrots’ eighth album, “Night Owls,” came out last fall.

■ Hyper Minds, “Nail Biter” — If you like it fast, hard and melodic, spend 2 minutes with the first single from East L.A. quartet Hyper Minds. Live tonight at the Goldfish and June 21 at the Redwood.

■ Broken Baby, “The Perfect Song” — Props to Broken Baby (Amber Bollinger and Alex Dezen) for having the stones to title their new release “The Perfect Song.” Live June 20 at the Paramount, with Child Seat and Night Talks.

■ Gracie Gray, “Envy” — Following up “Burden,” “Envy” is the latest single from Gracie Gray’s third full-length, “Magnet,” out July 26. Live Aug. 3 at Permanent Records Roadhouse.

■ La Bonte, “How Did These Hearts Get So Blue” (feat. Bridey) — We again bring a playlist in for a soft landing with the latest from Garrett La Bonte’s forthcoming EP, “Economy Play,” out July 19.