Kevin Bronson on June 6th, 2025

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This week’s many-splendored playlist — the 341st Greatest Hits … This Week, but who’s counting? — features songs from Hand Habits, Sudan Archives, Kaleen Tali, The Favors (Finneas & Ashe), Wavves, Mating Ritual, Career Woman, Starling, Elle Belle, Syd Taylor and a bunch more. Plus, there’s a jolt of caffeine from Kelcey Ayer and a cover song from Chris Pierce.

You know what to do.

Note: Anita Mills contributed to this roundup.

■ The Favors, “The Little Mess You Made” — The Favors are the new project from Ashe and Finneas, whose collaboration goes back to Ashe’s 2019 EPs (including hit single “Moral of the Story,” produced by Finneas) and then the song “Till Forever Falls Apart” (the linchpin on Ash’s 2021 album “Ashlyn”). The duo announced this week that Sept. 19 will bring the release of the Favors’ debut album, “The Dream,” which figures to be soaked in ’60s/’70s songwriter vibes (right down to the album cover). It’s a true ‘long-play album’ in its real intended meaning,” Finneas says. “Hopefully, you can have friends over, cook a meal and play this on vinyl front-to-back.” Adds Ashe: “I want you to feel simultaneously warm, fuzzy and heartbroken at the same time.”

■ Hand Habits, “Wheel of Change” — Speaking of vibes, Meg Duffy has announced the Aug. 22 arrival of a new Hand Habits album, “Blue Reminder.” On lead single “Wheel of Change” (recommended: the Otium-directed video), Duffy is backed by a cast of L.A. all-stars, including Tim Carr, Gregory Uhlmann, Patrick Kelly, Jenn Wasner, Griffin Goldsmith and Alan Wyffels. “Both lyrically and in its production, this song is about the impossibility of return,” Duffy says. “You can’t go back to the way things were, no matter how much you might want to hold on to a time, or a feeling, or a person.” Live July 9 at the Orpheum (supporting Yeah Yeah Yeahs); Aug 21 at Pappy & Harriet’s (supporting Japanese Breakfast) and Aug. 23 at 2220 Arts + Archive.

■ Simian Life, “Wake Up Summer” — Simian Life finds brothers Andy and Rob Campanella collaborating on trippy music with the guitar and vocal textures of ’60s prog- and art-rock. The project’s debut album, “Hermetic Tonal Briefing,” came out today via ATOM Records, home to L.A. indie stalwarts The Black Watch. It’s yet another long-player best heard via a turntable.

■ Cate Le Bon, “Heaven Is No Feeling” — “Heaven Is No Feeling” is the introduction to her seventh full-length, “Michelangelo Dying,” out Sept. 26 via Mexican Summer. Live July 31 at the Belasco.

■ Kelcey Ayer, “No Sleep” — As a member of Local Natives, and in solo projects Jaws of Love and the current one bearing his own name, Kelcey Ayer has shown he can create heart-rending indie ballads. Ayer’s new single “No Sleep,” the title track of an EP he will release July 18, is not that. We will let him explain: “When my wife and I had our first child, we were absolutely floored at how little sleep you get. The song is basically me spiraling into madness. I took that cliché phrase you see on shirts at tourist gift shops ‘don’t talk to me until I’ve had my coffee,’ and just added crazier and crazier conditions to it. I had so much fun just trying to make myself laugh, which is not the way making music typically goes, so that was refreshing. I self-engineered/produced the track in my home studio in L.A.” Of course there’s a video. Live July 19 at Permanent Records Roadhouse.

■ Starling, “No Frown” — SoCal quartet Starling dials it back on “No Frown,” the latest single from the EP “Forgive Me,” out June 27. They’ve shown they can do alt-rock rippers (see “I Can Be Convinced”), but here acoustic guitars and strings take over. “It is about growing up in a city and falling in love with someone from a small town, and falling in love with the small town itself,” the band says. Live July 13 at the Constellation Room, supporting Glixen.

■ Taleen Kali, “Aepex” — The goth-gaze scorcher “Aepex” is the first new original from Taleen Kali since her 2023 album “Flower of Life.” In between, there were an album’s worth of remixes and an EP of covers encompassing some choice cuts, but now she’s back fanning the flames. “There’s a point after which you can’t keep driving up against the current anymore,” Kali says. “You just want to pierce through it. I grew up in L.A. It’s my home. I love being in DIY community here. And yet sometimes being in the music scene during these dark political times can feel so daunting. Capitalism makes artists compete, turning us into content machines churning ourselves to a pulp. That’s where I got the idea for ‘Aepex.’ I don’t just want to keep pushing upward into oblivion. ‘Aepex’ is the pinnacle of pleasure.” Live Sunday at the Echoplex, supporting Ringo Deathstarr.

■ Sudan Archives, “Dead” — Almost three years since her album “Natural Brown Prom Queen,” Sudan Archives dips her talented toes (and fingers) into dance music on the new single “Dead” (video here).

■ So What! Who Cares?, “You Can’t Buy Taste” — From the sextet that gave us “Strike While the Irony’s Hot” and (especially) “Jobs” comes another insouciant disco jam.

■ Mating Ritual, “Waiting for a Friend” — The follow-up to “Buffalo Blades,” “Lower East Side” and the title track, “Waiting for a Friend” is the final single before next week’s release of brother duo Mating Ritual’s sixth album, “Shangri-blah.” Live Nov. 15 at the Lodge Room.

■ Syd Taylor, “After the Fact” — Detroit native Syd Taylor (ex-Stereo Jane) released her debut single last September and followed with an EP in April. Now comes word that her debut LP, “After the Fact,” will be out June 25, and here’s the title track. Live June 25 at Permanent Records Roadhouse.

■ Wavves, “Lucky Stars” — Co-written by Stephen Pope and Nathan Williams, “Lucky Stars” is the newest track from Wavves eighth studio album, “Spun,” out June 27. Following the title track, “Lucky Stars” blends genres with its hard-rock verses and pop-rock choruses. Live July 25 at the Fonda.

■ Frankie and the Witch Fingers, “T.V. Baby” — Friendly reminder that “Trash Classic,” the new album from Frankie and the Witch Fingers, is out today and ready for consumption wherever mosh pits are formed. See also “Gutter Priestess,” “Dead Silence” and “Economy,” or, better, see them Saturday at Permanent Records Roadhouse.

■ Self Improvement, “Change My Mind” — Long Beach’s Self Improvement combines the talents of Jett Witchalls, Pat Moonie, Jonny Reza and Reuben Kaiban. Their wiry (Wire-y?) post-punk inhabits a world of stabbing guitars, deadpan vocals and skittish percussion — first-wave in sound but very now in cultural currency of Witchall’s proclamations. Their sophomore album, “Syndrome,” is out next week. Live July 8 at Zebulon.

■ Career Woman, “Can You Tell Me?” — Friendly reminder that 21-year-old Melody Caudill today released her debut album as Career Woman, “Lighthouse.”

■ Despïa, “Blue” — Despïa make a big, beautiful racket, and when their note to you name-checks Hum and you hear their fourth single “Blue,” you just nod. For the record, Despïa (Christina Marenco, Damon Melara, Jon Ramirez and Ryan Ohanessian) have an Alex Estrada-produced EP, “Memory Blur,” on the way.

■ Harmony, “Anything” — Singer-songwriter Harmony, aka Harmony Tividad (ex-Girlpool), continues her minimalist approach (see her previous single “Where Strangers Go”) with “Anything,” an acoustic guitar-driven track. Harmony says: “‘Anything’ is a love song about dedication. The desire to be all the ugly and beautiful things and the transcendence of that feeling.” Watch the music video here.

■ Mike Vitale, “Silver Lining” — “Silver Lining” is the lead track on “Desert Dogs,” the new album from Mike Vitale.

■ Kirsten Izer, “The Perfect Hire/The Liar” — Friendly reminder that New Jersey native and onetime music publicist Kirsten Izer this week released her debut EP, “The Perfect Hire,” co-produced and co-written with Randall Belculfine. Izer packs a lot thematically and musically into four songs; see also “Electric Blue.” Live Saturday night at Bar Lubitsch.

■ Elle Belle, “Figure 8” — Starting late last year, Christopher Pappas has been releasing a new song every month. The brooding “Figure 8” is the latest. “I don’t know if there is a place where we could love each other forever, but if there is, let’s go there,” Pappas says. “This love feels different and I keep telling everyone.”

■ Avery Lynch, “Lasting Effects” — “Lasting Effects” is a lulling guitar track from solo artist Avery Lynch that follows her previous single “Dead To Me.” Lynch says: “I think it’s a really positive and hopeful song. I hope it inspires people and leaves a positive lasting effect.”

■ Walter the Producer, “Lonely Cowboy” — Friendly reminder that “Modern Rock,” the genre-juggling new EP from Walter the Producer, is out today. “Lonely Cowboy” is the closing track on the EP highlighted by the single “Little Lies.”  

■ Molly Moore, “Miserably Sublime” — “Miserably Sublime” is the title track of the new (rock-forward) album, out today, from pop changeling Molly Moore.

■ Luke Tyler Shelton, “A Bus Ain’t A Home” — “A Bus Ain’t A Home” is the second single off of Luke Tyler Shelton’s debut EP “Blue Sky,” produced by Shooter Jennings and Jonathan Wilson and releasing via Concord Records. The track gives a ’70s rock feel. Shelton says: “It’s the first song I’ve written about being on the road and the experience of having to leave a loved one for extended periods of time.”

■ Mia-Loren, “Anteros” — Sung in Spanglish, “Anteros” is the new Souldie-styled single from avant-garde artist Mia-Loren, who released her debut single “Bluffin'” earlier this year. Mia-Loren adds her signature reverberating vocal style to “Anteros,” adding a unique freshness to the currently popular genre.

■ The New Division, “Hurricane” — For going on a decade and a half, Riverside’s John Kunkel, piloting the New Division, has hunted the sweet spot between Depeche Mode/Tears for Fears/New Order and contemporary synth-pop, production flourishes and all.

■ Movie Club, “Black Mamba” — Instrumental psych-rock duo Movie Club shake all the leaves off the trees with “Black Mamba,” their third single of 2025 and a launch point for their Psychedelic Circus Tour. Live June 10 at the Townhouse in Venice Beach.

■ The Zoe Kilgren Band, “Girls in Skirts” — The Zoe Kilgren Band debuted in 2023 with an EP, “The Phoenix.” The L.A. quartet (Zoe Kilgren, Richard Follin, James Wenz and Nick Ferrucci) rose again in 2024 with a string of pop-punk/power-pop singles that has continued into this year. The peppy “Girl in Skirts” is the kind of song that aspires to great heights … or at least a rooftop, where the rooftop finds them.

■ Chris Pierce, “Southern Man” —  A fundraiser for The Bridge School, “Heart of Gold: The Songs of Neil Young, Vol. 1” is a compilation of Neil Young covers helmed by Cinema Music Group (Dave Resnik and Niko Bolas) and featuring Fiona Apple, Eddie Vedder, Courtney Barnett, Mumford & Sons, Brandi Carlile and more. The album closes with Chris Pierce taking on “Southern Man.”