Kevin Bronson on May 2nd, 2025

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We’re here to send out a mayday about the breadth and length of our new playlist, Greatest Hits … This Week (Vol. 336).

Dive in for songs from new albums/EPs by Blondshell, Lael Neale, Sextile, Lucius, Darker Lighter, Tropa Magica, KiNG MALA, Emily Zuzik and VAVÁ — plus new singles from Scott Goldbaum, Swimming Bell, Mocky, Tei Shi, Cosmo Gold, Foreign Air, Ben Harper, Maddie Zahm and a bunch more. A couple of cover songs, one from Miya Folick and one from the Silverlake Conservatory of Music All-Stars, wrap things up.

Find all of our playlists, and the notes we scribble with them, here.

Anita Mills contributed to today’s roundup.

■ Blondshell, “Event of a Fire” — Blondshell’s sophomore album, “If You Asked for a Picture,” is full of emotionally charged “wow” moments, and count the video for the release-week single, “Event of a Fire,” as another of them. It’s directed by Emile Moutaud and stars Ghjuvanna Benedetti. August of 2024 seems forever ago, but that’s when Sabrina Teitelbaum released this album’s first single, “What’s Fair,” following with “T&A,” “Two Times” and “23’s a Baby.” The flow of the album imbues them with even more power than they wield as stand-alones. Live tonight at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever (sold out), May 6 at Amoeba (free, see conditions) and May 30 at the Fonda Theatre (sold out).

■ Scott Goldbaum, “Taste and Tame” — Singer-songwriter Scott Goldbaum (once of the lamentably overlooked band Forebear) spent 2023 battling a pair of cardiac ablations, which halted his work as a touring guitarist. “I was having these heart attack-like episodes every day and found myself dispossessed of any identity other than that of a helpless, unreliable pincushion,” he says. So he wrote a lot. Those songs songs will appear on his debut solo album, “Electrophysiology,” out Oct. 3. The beautifully chilling “Taste and Tame” is a song about mortality disguised as a love song. It’s one of the songs on the record that features vocal and string contributions from his wife, the violinist Molly Rogers.

■ Lael Neale, “Tell Me How to Be Here” — “Where I live is a house perched up in the hills of Echo Park — you can constantly hear helicopters and sirens, trash trucks and cars,” Lael Neale recently told The Line of Best Fit. “And when I write, I look out the window, so I’m sure the landscape impressed itself on my subconscious.” You can feel her equipoise throughout Neale’s stunning new collection of minimalist pop, “Altogether Stranger,” out today via Sub Pop. “Wild Waters” is the opening track; it’s like dipping a toe in the pond before total immersion. Speaking of: Made in partnership with Guy Blakeslee, there’s the 34-minute movie, “The Altogether Stranger,” in which Neale, in a mirrored jumpsuit, plays an inter-dimensional being on a mission to restore harmony to humanity with her cosmic Omnichord.

■ Lucius, “Final Days” — Friendly reminder that Lucius’ self-titled album, the quartet’s fourth full-length, is out today. “Final Days” is the opening track on a collection that’s intimate and sprawling and tough and tender and most of all deeply personal. “Welcome to our living room,” the band says in summary. Live Nov. 21 at the Wiltern.

■ AKA BK, “Hannah” — Detroit-bred, L.A.based AKA BK is the latest outfit plumbing the sounds of ’90s indie torchbearers for inspiration. Bandleader Brooklynn Curtis-White exudes a smart nonchalance their latest single, “Hannah,” which whispers and sighs while casting its spell (and spelling H-A-N-N-A-H). There’s more to come from this band come summer.

■ Mating Ritual, “Lower East Side” — Throughout their five-year, five-album run, brother duo Mating Ritual (Ryan and Taylor Lawhon) were genre flirts. You never knew what flavor of indie-pop or indie-rock was coming, except the songs were imbued with memorable hooks and choruses. So here’s the folk-pop Mating Ritual, “Lower East Side,” the follow-up to singles such as “Buffalo Blades” and Shangri-blah, the latter of which is the title track of the album they’ll release in June.

■ Swimming Bell, “95 at Night” — As a follow-up to “Meet My Shadow,” “95 at Night” another slice of ethereal folk-pop from Swimming Bell (Katie Schottland), off her five-track EP “Somnia,” out May 16. The EP release show is set for May 23 at Oblivion. Schottland says: “‘95 at Night’ is a memory of life before I moved to California — a song that carries the people and places from that time with me, even as my world has changed.”

■ KiNG MALA, “Ode to a Black Hole” — “Ode to a Black Hole” begins like a diva’s show tune before plunging into a furious stomper. It’s emblematic of the extremes on KiNG MALA’s debut album “And You Who Drowned in the Grief of a Golden Thing,” out today. See also: singles “GØD,” “Fun!” and “Devotion.” Live May 20 at the Roxy, opening for Lights.  

■ Sextile, “Women Respond to Bass” — L.A. duo Sextile (Melissa Scaduto and Brady Keehn) today released their fourth album, “Yes, Please.” It’s full of incendiary, synth-strafed post-punk that puts the under in underground. Rave on with the video for “Women Respond to Bass.”

■ Hooveriii, “Tarantula Eye” — Hooveriii (Bert Hoover III, Kaz Mirblouk and Eric Bauer) will release their new album, “Manhunter,” on May 16. “Tarantula Eye” is the band’s latest beyond-psych-rock wild ride. As if we weren’t already out of breath from “Melody.” Live May 28 at Zebulon.

■ Darker Lighter, “Be” — Boasting singles such as “Hanging On,” “Open Up, Sunshine,” “Nice to Meet You” and “Somebody Soon,” songwriter-producer Salar Rajabnik topday released his debut album as Darker Lighter. The self-titled collection, produced with Grammy-nominated Robert Adam Stevenson, bristles with the energy of alt-rock heroes from your FM radio addict days.

■ Starling, “I Can Be Convinced” — Starling (Kasha Souter Willett, Erik Sathrum Johnson, Grace Rolek and Gitai Vinshtok) debuted last fall with an EP titled “2324.’) They mine the tender/tough sound — vocally airy, with strident, distortion-heavy guitars — of ’90s grunge and shoegaze. They dig up catharsis on “I Can Be Convinced,” the second single from their second EP, “Forgive Me” (out June 27).

■ Ty Segall, “Possession” — “Possession,” the follow-up to “Fantastic Tomb,” is the title track of Ty Segall’s 16th album, releasing May 30. Live Aug. 6 at the Greek Theatre, opening for Primus.

■ A/S/L, “Walk It” — Electronic artist A/S/L debuted in early 2024 and has since made substantial noise in the dance music universe. Can’t stand still to “Walk It,” the project’s third single of this year.

■ Save Ferris, “Get Dancing” — Fro a different galaxy of the aforementioned dance music universe comes the new single from SoCal ska-pop vets Save Ferris. Live Nov. 29 at the Peacock Theater (fka Nokia/Microsoft Theater).

■ Mocky, “Music Will Explain” — For his first album for Stones Throw Records, “Music Will Explain (Choir Music Vol. 1)” (out June 27), songwriter-producer-musical alchemist Mocky invited pals from his NELA neighborhood to crowd around a microphone in his garage and sing together. His mission: to capture the “sound of humans.” Live instrumentation and analog recording later, the de facto title track of the record bursts with vocal harmonies and joy.

■ Tei Shi, “Drop Dead” — A year since releasing her third album, “Valerie,” Canadian-Colombian pop Tei Shi has announced the summer arrival of her fourth, “Make Believe I Make Believe.” “Drop Dead” (get mouthy with the visualizer) is the second single. Live May 15 at the Constellation Room and May 16 at Pappy & Harriet’s.

■ Mareux, “Laugh Now Cry Later” — Aryan Ashtiani is Mareux, a goth-pop artist known for his boundary-pushing music videos. “Laugh Now Cry Later” is the first single off his new sophomore album, “Nonstop Romance.” Ashtiani says: “This song is a standout on the album, not because it’s better than the other songs, but because it’s the saddest.”

■ Provoker, “Tears In The Club” is a driving darkwave track by Provoker, off their upcoming album “Mausoleum,” out May 9. Catch Provoker at Cruel World Fest May 17. If “Tears In The Club” gets you groovin’, check out the music video for “Germaphobe,” which was released as a dual single.

■ Tropa Magica, Y3K” — Friendly reminder that “Para Bailar Y Tripiar,” the fourth album from psychedelic cumbia punks Tropa Magica, is out now.

■ Sparks, “My Devotion” — “MAD!,” the 28th album from Sparks, will be out May 23. On “My Devotion,” brothers Ron and Russell Mael use the love song trope to wryly convey something less superficial. Live Sept. 30 at the Greek Theatre.

■ Cosmo Gold, “Commit to the Bit” — A pop confessional-turned-dance number, all in under 4 minutes, “Commit to the Bit” appears in director Kate Emerick’s film “She’s the King.” It’s one of Emerick’s series “Women at Work,” this episode offering a portrait of Holly Vaughn, the only female Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas.

■ Foreign Air, “Smile” — “Such That I May Glow,” the third album from Foreign Air (Jesse Clasen and Jacob Michael), is set to drop Aug. 22. Clasen’s vocals are reminiscent of David Byrne with a hint of pop in “Smile.” Watch the sci-fi music video here. Foreign Air plays August 26 at The Moroccan Lounge.

■ Child Seat, “Heart to Heart” — Child Seat, the disco party led by Madeleine Mathews and Josiah Mazzaschi, keep the dance floor hopping with “Heart to Heart,” the third single the duo has released since last summer’s sophomore album.

■ All Things Blue, “San Pedran Crustacean” (feat. Nick Dorian) — The first single from India Coombs’ All Things Blue since last fall, “San Pedran Crustacean” features Nick Dorian and is simply a fun, lo-fi romp.

■ Ben Harper, “Before the Rain Dried” — “Before the Rain Dried” is Ben Harper’s solemn tribute to guitarist Michael Ward (School of Fish, The Wallflowers and, eventually, Harper’s own Innocent Criminals), who died last year at age 57. Watch the video here.

■ VAVÁ, “A.N.X.I.E.T.Y.,” — Vanessa Wheeler, aka VAVÁ (and a member of L.A. Exes), displays her deft touch on guitar and sweet vocals on her (too-short) new EP, “Post Traumatic Best,” her first VAVÁ release in almost four years.

■ Bardz, “Hold Me Close” — Tyler Bardzilowski is Bardz — singer-songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, live looper and blender of sounds both electronic and acoustic. His new EP is titled “the Only Way Out Is Through,” and it’s out May 30. The closing track, “Hold Me Close,” is a tender missive to his father.

■ Maddie Zahm, “Mothers & Daughters” — “Mothers & Daughters” is a vocally driven stand alone single from Maddie Zahm, following her recently released the EP “(The Angry Part).” Zahm says: “We are all a cycle of women learning how to raise other women in a society that tells us that we’re never doing enough.” PSA: Mother’s Day is May 11.

■ Irene Diaz, “Anything For You” — “Anything For You” is a stand-alone single from Chicano soul singer Irene Diaz, whose voice shows strength in the low range as she effortlessly croons her way through the standard soul ballad. Diaz will perform during the Los Fotos Project’s event ‘Quince’ at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes.

■ Erin Durant, “Greening” — Erin Durant, a New Orleans born singer-songwriter, new album “Firetrail” drops May 16. “Greening” is a whimsical track featuring a brass section with lyrics of optimism,”And below a valley | And beyond | Beyond must be the sea.” Durant plays May 18 for her record release show at the Philosophical Research Society.

■ American Mile, “Waiting on a Sunday” — Dust off your denim for “American Dream,” the sophomore album from roots-rock quartet American Mile, arriving June 6. Like their aptly titled February single “Straight From the Heartland,” “Waiting on a Sunday” is a feast for classic rock appetites.

■ Emily Zuzik, “Love’s About Taking the Fall” — Friendly reminder that today is a good day to visit BAndcamp for songer-songwriter Emily Zuzik’s new EP, “Age + Alchemy.” Her collaborators on this collection of bluesy roots music included Ted Russell Kamp and Brian Whelan. “Love’s About Taking the Fall” is the closing track, wrapping the EP’s six-pack of songs in a nice bow.

■ Andrew Stogel, “Waiting to Come Up Again” — Andrew Stogel (War Strings, LOVEYOU) considers the seemingly hopeless feeling of addiction on his new single, the minimalist “Waiting to Come Up Again.” The song, he says, sprang from “a ‘funny-giving up’ moment” when “I was feeling pretty low and taking drugs.”

■ Sam Short, “Earthgirl” — With its outer-space vocal effects, “Earthgirl” is the title track from alt-pop artist Sam Short’s debut album. Short plays May 21 at the Echoplex. The artist travels from the sea to outer space in the surreal music video written by Short and album collaborator Eva Honey.

■ Silverlake Conservatory of Music All-Stars, “The Wait” — We’ll wrap this week’s playlist with not one, but two covers — starting with the youngsters at the Silverlake Conservatory of Music (now almost a quarter-century old) paying tribute to the Pretenders. The three-song EP, “Our Loving Tribute to the Pretenders” (out today), is the first of three covers projects the students will release (Neil Young and Red Hot Chili Peppers are on deck for later this year). Proceeds benefit SCM.

■ Miya Folick, “Laid” — And finally, here’s Miya Folick’s faithful rendition of James’ 1993 song, “Laid.” Produced by Michael Andrews (aka Elgin Park), it serves as the main title of the Peacock series, “Laid,” starring Stephanie Hsu. Folick, fresh off the February release of her new album “Erotica Veronica,” plays the Lodge Room on May 21.