Kevin Bronson on May 23rd, 2025

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This edition of Greatest Hits … This Week (the 339th, but who’s counting?) is especially bursting at the seams. Songs from would-be Next Big Things, artists we’ve loved a long time, artists we’re learning to like more, artists we know you like and even some fresh new faces. We’ve dutifully scribbled notes on every track. Hope you enjoy them below.

So, in time for a two-hour drive on your long holiday weekend, here’s the playlist, featuring tracks from The Sophs, Sun Room, Runnner, Gothic Tropic, Sebu, Avery Tucker, Jazzie Young, Holy Wars, Hunx and His Punx, Oddnesse, GOON, Mini Trees, Winter, Sedona, Sunday (1994), The Technicolors, Rebecca Schiffman, Vinyl Williams and a bunch more. Plus, a track from the new album by Cola Boyy, posthumously released today. Plus, Joe Bourdet covering a song from a certain blogger’s boyhood (brought a tear to the old guy’s eye, he confesses).

Note: Anita Wills contributed to today’s roundup.

■ The Sophs, “Sweat” — This week in You Never Know: The Sophs are an L.A. sextet who signed to Rough Trade Records before releasing their debut single, “Sweat” (video), which arrived this week. The band is fronted by Ethan Ramon, a Phoenix native who until recently led the trio Belaganas. Their music was produced by Austin Parker Jones, now the Sophs’ guitarist and producer. The lineup is rounded out by Sam Yuh, Seth Smades, Devin Russ and Cole Bobbitt. Live May 30 at Permanent Records Roadhouse (RSVP); June 27 at Gold-Diggers; and July 25 at Scribble.

■ Gothic Tropic, “Don’t Wanna Go Back” — Anybody who’s seen Cecilia Della Peruti play, either fronting her project Gothic Tropic or as a supporting musician for Beck, Allie X or BØRNS, would be inclined to think she could leap tall buildings in a single bound. Gothic Tropic, which launched more than a decade ago, has never taken off, though, despite the kinetic energy found on the 2017 album “Fast or Feast” and the 2021 EP “Tang Brain.” Della Peruti has apparently emptied her vaults this year, releasing two albums. Preceded in December by the three-song EP “Eternally Grateful,” the Alex Goose-produced album “Bloodthirsty” came out in March. And this week brought the Jon Joseph-produced “The Things I Buried Alive,” which features Gothic Tropic’s killer 2019 single “Drunk on a Rhythm” and a lot of other goodies.

■ Sun Room, “Jackknife” — When we last spotted Sun Room, it was last August and the trio of Luke Asgian, Ashton Minnich and Max Pinamonti were celebrating their third EP, “Can’t Explain.” Now they’re back with a new garage-rock rager, “Jackknife,” which cuts neatly through some time changes and reminds us of no fewer than six bands that worked us into a lather between 2000 and ’08. Which is to say: co-sign. Live Aug. 16 at the Fox Theater Pomona, opening for Flipturn.

■ Winter, “Just Like a Flower” — Samira Winter grew up in Brazil and lived in Boston before spending more than a decade as a regular on the L.A. scene, dispensing album after album (four in total) of hazy, angelic shoegaze/dream-pop. Though she has decamped to New York, Winter’s fifth full-length, “Adult Romantix” (out Aug. 22), is a very made-in-L.A. affair, arriving advertised as a goodbye love letter to her time here. “Just Like a Flower” kicks off the album. “It ties back to memories of writing songs in my old bedroom in Echo Park,” she says. “There were these summer nights when I’d walk back from a local show with a sense of wonder and enchantment, only to lie down on my bed and replay everything that happened in my head like a movie.” She adds that “it felt incredibly nostalgic” to return to L.A. to film the video. Live Oct. 16 at the Echo.

■ Runnner, “Achilles And” — After stringing us along (not that we’ve minded one damn bit) with singles such as “Coinstar,” “Chamomile” and “Spackle,” Runnner (aka Noah Weinman) has announced that his sophomore album, “A Welcome Kind of Weakness,” will be out Aug. 29. “Achilles And” is yet another example of Runnner’s new, expansive sonic direction — and a song borne of Weinman’s time recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. Live Sept. 25 at the Lodge Room.

■ Jazzie Young, “Mr Casual” — The 2 1/2-minute relationship barb “Mr Casual” is Jazzie Young’s third single of 2025 and, with its puckish bite, a departure for the songwriter who gave us “Waiting on You!” and “Miss You Already.” The song was produced and co-written with John Velasquez.

■ Avery Tucker, “Big Drops” — With Harmony Tividad well into a solo career 2 1/2 years after Girlpool broke up, the other member of the L.A. duo, Avery Tucker, is stepping out. With devastatingly good results, judging from the debut single “Big Drops.” Tucker, who will celebrate the release May 29 at Pour Vous (RSVP), says the song, co-written and produced with Alaska Reid, “is a story about loving and losing someone who is finding themselves time and time again overtaken by the big drop.” Lilliya Scarlett Reid directed the video.

■ Sedona, “Knock on Wood” — Boasting the Claud collaboration “She’s So Pretty” and singles such as “Every Once in a While,” Sedona today released her new album, “Getting Into Heaven.” “Knock on Wood” (here’s the video) is one of the album’s revealing moments, as the singer-songwriter (born Rachel Stewart) turns her diary entries into sublime ballads.

■ Pink Skies, “Forever” — We generally recoil whenever the phrase “song of the summer” is invoked, but here is “Forever,” the very summery new single from singer-songwriter-producer Arieh Berl, dba Pink Skies.

■ Natalie Bergman, “Dance” — The follow-up to “Gunslinger,” “Dance” is the latest single from Natalie Bergman (ex-Wild Belle), whose new album “My Home Is Not in the World” is out July 18 via Third Man Records. Here are the dancers; here is the L.A. date: July 25 at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever. 

■ Hunx and His Punx, “Alone in Hollywood on Acid” — “Walk Out on This World” (out Aug. 22) is the first album from Hunx and His Punx (Seth Bogart, Shannon Shaw and Erin Emslie) in 12 years — a hiatus that was prolonged by tragedy. In 2022, the trio released “White Lipstick” via Sub Pop, and it was thought a larger release was imminent. Then, Shaw’s fiancé Joe Haener was tragically killed in a car accident, and Hunx and His Punx was put on the back burner while Shaw grieved and then made a Shannon and the Clams album. “Walk Out” was delayed further when Bogart’s home was damaged in the Altadena fires. So get started with “Alone in Hollywood on Acid.” Live Sept. 27 at the Belasco.

■ Sebu, “Dear Friends” — As one-half of Capital Cities, Sebu Simonian knows what it is to be party-starter. His debut solo album, out today, is aptly titled “Many Faces,” as he stretches beyond dance music for a collection of still-big-room pop. “Safe and Sound’s” no-so-secret weapon Spencer Ludwig is one of the many guests, so queue up “Dear Friends” to kick off your own personal festival.

■ Cola Boyy, “Busy” — Today brought “Quit to Play Chess,” the posthumously released sophomore full-length from Cola Boyy, aka Matthew Urango, the self-professed “disabled disco innovator” from Oxnard who became an underground sensation. Urango, who battled spina bifada and scoliosis and wore a prosthetic leg, died at age 34 on March 17, 2024, the day he delivered his new record.

■ Sunday (1994), “Still Blue” — Sunday (1994) is the (accurately timestamped) atmospheric rock outfit headed up by Angeleno Paige Turner and Englishman Lee Newell. Their sophomore EP, “Devotion,” arrived earlier this month, six songs of beautiful, dramatic melancholy, writ large. Live June 5 at the Troubadour.  

■ The Dumes, “Just Don’t Need It” — The Dumes’ new EP arrives June 20, and “Just Don’t Need It” follows “Boring” and “You’re a Letdown” as singles that demand some sort of literal or figurative moshing. Don’t break anything. Or by all means do. Live June 20 at Gold-Diggers, with Ramonda Hammer and Fime.

■ Holy Wars, “I Feel Everything” — “I Feel Everything” is a chaotic yet cathartic single from Holy Wars that channels immense personal loss into an empowering anthem that, years later, completes the circle started by the band’s debut single, “I Can’t Feel a Thing.” That song was written in the wake of the passing of Leon’s parents. Last year, the frontwoman’s sister passed away. “‘I Feel Everything,’ lyrically, is about how dissociation and remaining numb for so many years since my parents’ passing could only heal so much,” Leon says. “With the loss of my sister this past year, every pain and every emotion eventually rose to the surface.” Her captivating performance, packed with raw emotion, steals the spotlight in the music video here.

■ Frankie and the Witch Fingers, “Gutter Priestess” — Frankie and the Witch Fingers release “Gutter Priestess,” an intense and danceable track off their upcoming album, “Trash Castle” (out June 6). The single follows “Dead Silence,” and comes with a video game you can play here. Frankie and the Witch Fingers will play an intimate set at Permanent Records Roadhouse on June 7.

■ Chatrooms, “Rest Assured” — Valley emo-punks Chatrooms return with their first rager since they released their debut album, “Something Went Wrong …,” last summer. Let it rip. Live Saturday at the Midnight Hour in San Fernando.

■ Julia Wolf, “In My Room” — Friendly reminder that Julia Wolf’s new album “Pressure” drops today via AWAL. “In My Room” is a dark rock track accompanied by a terrifying music video where Julia transforms into a monster here. Wolf plays a sold-out show at The Parish at House Of Blues Anaheim on June 3.

■ Sam Babayan & The Dirty Diamond, “Sea of Stars” — The Dirty Diamond is an L.A. quartet fronted by Sam Babayan, joined by ace players Fernando Perdomo, Derek Frank and Shay Godwin. They make widescreen classic rock tinted by blues and psychedelia, and their craft and versatility shone on “From the Stars” and “To the Stars,” the twin albums they released in 2019. Credited to Sam Babayan & The Dirty Diamond, “Sea of Stars” finds the songwriter looking to the heavens again, in amazement and for a little perspective. Live June 6 at the Troubadour.

■ Mini Trees, “Spinning” — It simply feels like springtime hearing Mini Trees’ new single “Spinning,” the first new music Lexi Vega has released since last year’s EP, “Burn Out.” Jon Joseph produced the new tune.  

■ Vinyl Williams, “Eden” — Vinyl Williams is L.A.’s most fearless explorer of all things psychedelic, musical and visual. On June 13 he will be release a double-LP — one a high fidelity affair and the other a lo-fi collection recorded using a Tascam Portastudio. The albums “Polyhaven” and “Portasymphony,” will be packaged together as a gatefold LP with a lenticular cover. Watch the video for “Eden.” Live July 12 at the Lodge Room.

■ The Technicolors, “Softcore” — The Technicolors are an alt-rock band originally from Phoenix. “Softcore” is a dreamy shoegaze track with a catchy chorus, “I spin your records round / Over and over.” Their upcoming album “Heavy Pulp” drops August 29 via SoundOn. Watch the gorgeously shot music video here. The Technicolors play Aug. 29 at Zebulon.

■ Rebecca Schiffman, “Little Mr. Civility” — For her fourth album, Rebecca Schiffman worked with a rotating cast of producers, including Chris Cohen, Tim Carr, SASAMI and Luke Temple. That album, “Before the Future,” is out July 25.

■ Goon, “Patsy’s Twin” — The follow-up to “Closer To,” “Patsy’s Twin” is the second single from the Goon’s third-full-length, “Dream 3” (out July 11). It’s delightfully, screamingly messy … and we’re smiling when Kenny Becker says, “It’s a song about getting your heart broke, Tony Soprano and Tony Gwynn. It is NOT screamo. Despite what they say.”

■ Mal Blum, “Killer” — Alt-rocker Mal Blum releases “Killer,” the second single from his album “The Villain,” out July 11 via Get Better Records. “The song is specifically about internalized transphobia and unconsciously absorbing the belief that you are bad. ‘Killer’ is a conscious attempt to reclaim and play with that narrative.” Mal Blum plays Aug. 28 at the Echo. Watch the clever music video where he buries himself here.

■ Oddnesse, “Saturdays” — Rebeca Arango is rolling out singles from the first of two Oddnesse albums she has in the works, and “Saturdays” offers some dreamy goodness as a counterpoint to “God With the Windows Open.”

■ Ana Luna, “Dance in a Trance” — “Dance in a Trance” is the third single from Ukraine-born, Paris-reared, L.A.-based singer-songwriter Ana Luna. Between the cinematic production and her dramatic vocals, Luna coaxes maximum gravitas out of the moment, she says, “I’d run into my ex and he wouldn’t even look at me. When we did lock eyes, the energy just felt … different.”

■ NoSo, “Sugar” — Baek Hwong, the Korean-American singer-songwriter who releases music under the name NoSo, this week announced the Oct. 10 arrival of their sophomore album, “When Are You Leaving?” A maker of expansive disco-pop and ballads, NoSo introduced the LP with a granule of sleek dance-pop, “Sugar,” which was co-produced with Wild Nothing’s Jack Tatum. Live Nov. 12 at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever.

■ Bob Junior, “The Last Sad Song” (feat. Dent May) — In 2023, Norwegian/Chilean songwriter-producer Esteban Munoz moved from Norway (where he had long worked with Boy Pablo) to L.A., and his collaboration-heavy solo project Bob Junior took flight. Last spring’s album “Friends Vol. 1” saw him working with Inner Wave, Bethany Cosentino, Alfie Templeton and more, and this week’s he’s back with “Friends Vol. 2.” It’s wildly fun, from tracks with Crêpe Girl (Eliza Grégoire), Hot Flash Heat Wave, the Walters, Jordana and Alex Lahey to the album opener, “The Last Sad Song,” with Dent May.

■ MARIS, “Mary + I” — Following “Give Me A Sign,” “Mary + I,” an upbeat track influenced by gospel music about celibacy and ganja, is the newest stand-alone single from indie-pop artist Maris. Maris says: “I learned about the god within myself, and within every atom on earth, and I’ll never forget the celibacy and cannabis filled liberation of that stoner summer.”

■ David Franklin Courtright, “Boy” — “Boy” is a short but sweet track from from David Franklin Courtright, off his newly announced LP “Brutal Tenderness,” out Aug. 8. The minimal song featuring only acoustic guitar and vocals is the follow-up to “Feels.” Watch the music video that takes place under water here. Courtright plays Aug. 2 at St. Athanasius Chapel.

■ Hillary Reynolds, “Can’t Turn Off My Mind” — Wisconsin native Hillary Reynolds (one-half of the duo Peridot) introduces her new album, “Changing Seasons” (out Aug. 8), with “Can’t Turn Off My Mind.”

■ Joe Bourdet, “Illinois” — We’ll end this week’s playlist with a tear in the eye of this blogger, who, like the late songwriter Dan Fogelberg, graduated from Peoria Woodruff High School. Angeleno Joe Bourdet, who released his debut album “Meadow Rock” in 2021, has covered “Illinois” (and let the song bake a little), from Fogelberg’s 1974 sophomore album “Souvenirs.” With it comes this anecdote: “I have a mischievous friend, who for years when he went digging through the LP stacks at Amoeba Music in Hollywood would collect all of the Dan Fogelberg records he came across, and, at the end of his search, would stealthily place the dozens of Fogelberg LPs all across the displays on the isles. His identity remained unknown to the Amoeba staff, but they started affectionately (or maybe otherwise) calling him the Fogelberg Bandit.” (I swear it wasn’t me.) Catch Bourdet on May 31 at Healing Force of the Universe.