Kevin Bronson on December 5th, 2025

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It’s Bandcamp Friday, so support your favorite local artist (or five) there.

Here’s our penultimate weekly playlist of 2025, Greatest Hits … This Week (Vol. 367), featuring songs from Abygale Scott, Gold Star, Truman Sinclair, Together Pangea, Death Lens, Jesse Jo Stark, Silversun Pickups, Westerner, Shane Sato, Lucky Me, KiKi Holli, Spanish Love Songs, Spill Tab, Walter the Producer and more. With a cover song from Luna Shadows as the cherry on top.

Past playlists, with liner notes, here..

Note: Anita Mills contributed to this roundup.

■ Abygale Scott & Kyle Krone, “My Call” — Abygale Scott (Athearn) is Bay Area native who’s migrated to Long Beach, where she has been working with producer Matt Wignall (Wargirl and myriad other projects over the years). The dreamy, languorous “My Call” is the seventh single she’s released since 2023, and it’s a collaboration with O.C. native Kyle Krone (Casual Vice, The Shys, solo artist). For a little retro righteousness, see Scott’s August single, “Black and White.”

■ Silversun Pickups, “New Wave” — “I used to be in love with huge guitar swells, and I’ve fallen back in love with them — just in my older brain,” Silversun Pickups frontman Brian Aubert says of the L.A. quartet’s heavy new single. “‘New Wave’ is a reference to feeling like, ‘This thing is going to hit me.’ You’re either going to get in the ocean or lay in the sand. It’s not even up to you. You’re not sure when it’s going to happen, but it’s going to happen. How do you prepare for it?” The follow-up to “Wreckage,” it’s the second single off SSPU’s Butch Vig-produced new album, “Tenterhooks,” out Feb. 6.

■ Spanish Love Songs, “Heavenhead” (feat. Illuminati Hotties) — Long-running rockers Spanish Love Songs (Dylan Slocum, Kyle McAulay, Ruben Duarte, Trevor Dietrich and Meredith Van Woert) have released four albums of visceral indie- and punk-rock, the most recent in 2023. Their new EP, “A Brief Intermission in the Flattening of Time,” is quite a flex: four killer songs with four notable guests — the Wonder Years, Kevin Devine, Illuminati Hotties and Tigers Jaw, respectively.

■ Jesse Jo Stark, “Who Knew” (with Lil Yachty) — Remember, more than a decade ago, when Jesse Jo Stark collaborated with the Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones on her first EP? Who knew? An album (2022’s “Doomed”) and a slew of singles later, she’s teaming up with Lil Yachty on the new track “Who Knew” (she directed the video as well). “‘Who Knew’ moves like a lucid dream, styled by instinct,” Stark says. “The video unpacks how women are cast as symbols—danger, purity, fantasy, creature—and how men navigate those projections with their own mix of awe and surrender.”

■ Truman Sinclair, “Dustland” — As a teenager, Chicago native Truman Sinclair moved to L.A., where he has gravitated away from the emo music of his youth to no-less-emotional indie-rolk. After releasing EPs in 2023 and 2024, followed with his debut album, “American Recordings,” released in February. Two singles released this fall, “Dustland” and “Sugar” continue to display his formidable prowess.

■ KiKi Holli & the Remedy, “Wish” — KiKi Holli (Kirsten Holly Smith) is now KiKi Holli & the Remedy, and the seductively sweeping “Wish” is the new single. Like last year’s disco bop “Win U Over,” it’s a collaboration with producer-songwriter Ethan Allen.

■ Gold Star, “Phantom Sam” — The follow-up to “Happy,” “Phantom Sam” is Gold Star’s second single since releasing his fifth full-length, “How to Shoot the Moon,” in November 2024. Adam Granduciel (The War On Drugs) produced. “‘Phantom Sam’ is a plea to a good friend, a message that says ‘you are not alone’ and ‘I love you,’ things of that nature; it’s all the words that are sometimes hard to say,” says the songwriter behind Gold Star, Marlon Rabenreither. “I had some demos and shared them with [Granduciel], and he had me come down to his studio. This track seemed to resonate with him in particular, and we cut it there with his help and musical contributions. I have always admired the way his records sounded and the way his music has such classic influences, yet still feels really contemporary and I hoped to accomplish something similar.”

■ Bunny Lowe, “HVN SNT” — “HVN SNT” is the third single this year from Cara Salimando’s alt-rock project Bunny Lowe. It’s a collaboration with Tyler Thompson that actually when the two were tasked with writing a song for a commercial.

■ Lucky Me, “Such A Shame” — Connor Rivaldo and Kyle Briskin are Lucky Me, an indie-rock duo. The band says of the track reminiscent of early 2000s rock: “The track is a bright, indie-rock song on the surface, built on drum-machine urgency and interlocking guitar lines, but its core is something less comfortable: running from relationships and avoiding the unknown.”

■ Together Pangea, “Home” — Together Pangea will release their sixth album, “Eat Myself,” on Jan. 16. The ’90s-styled slasher “Home” is the latest single. Live Jan. 16 at the Teragram Ballroom and Jan. 17 at Pappy & Harriet’s.

■ Death Lens, “Power” — Punk-rock quartet Death Lens close out the year with the high-energy stand-alone single “Power.” Frontman Bryan Torres says: “I know the world feels out of balance, nothing seems certain, and waiting isn’t an option anymore. We can’t let time dictate our choices or our purpose. The world has never waited for anyone, so we stopped waiting too. That’s POWER. Strength. Resilience. When life feels bleak, we push harder for what we want and the vision we hold for ourselves. A song for anyone who loves it fast, with a message that lifts you up.” Check out the music video/professional skate video directed by Marco Hernandez here.

■ Tombstones in Their Eyes, “I See You Looking Out My Door” — Today brought the release of “Under Dark Skies,” the sixth album (and third in the last three years) from heavy psych-rock sextet Tombstones in Their Eyes. Theirs is a formidable, fuzzy yet melodic wall of sound, reminiscent of bands such as the Brian Jonestown Massacre. Extra-large rock for an extra-large sound system.

■ Westerner, “Villain” — Westerner’s first single since their 2022 album “Kali Yuga Kama Sutra” is “Villain,” another of their synth-spiked danceable indie-rock tunes.

■ Spill Tab, “Paranoia” (feat. Boylife) — Spill Tab teams up with Boylife for “Paranoia,” a track that will appear on the deluxe version of Spill Tab’s debut album, “AngieAngieAngie,” out Feb. 26.

■ Walter the Producer, “I Know I’m Wrong” — In June, Walter the Producer released the EP “Modern Love,” and the artist (Reid Hosp) has stayed on a roll. “I Know I’m Wrong” is his third single (covering three different genres) since.

■ Madison Margot, “But I Do” — Pop singer-songwriter Madison Margot drops “But I Do,” her second single of 2025, following “Fun.” Margot says: “I wrote “But I Do” about emotional relapse. When you’re feeling great and think you’re fully healed, but then something happens that pulls you right back into the place you thought you outgrew. This song embraces that vulnerability and finds the beauty in letting yourself feel everything fully.” Watch the music video filled with goats and backed by the Hollywood sign here.

■ Becca Hannah, “Thick & Thin” — Becca Hannah returns with “Thick & Thin” featuring Ari Lachenauer, following following “Empathy,” from her new album “Tonight In My Dreams,” out Jan. 23. Hannah says: “Singing and listening to this track transports us back to simpler, groovier times that 2025 is in dire need of. I hope this song gives you a glimmer of hope and joy, or enhances your gratitude for your loved ones, romantic or platonic.” Becca Hannah sings her heart out with Lachenauer in the music video here.

■ Sparkbyrd, “A Light to Follow” — Sparkbyrd, the duo of Chelsea Davis and Lauren Willow White, return with a folky ray of hope, “A Light to Follow.” The song features Adrien Reju on vocals (Sparkbyrd appears on Reju’s new single as well), and Rich Hinman adds the pedal steel flavor.

■ Shane Sato, “Never Let You Go” (feat. Oli-J) — SoCal native Shane Sato has announced that his new album “Wavelength” will be out in May, and today he set the table with the torchy, buttery R&B song “Never Let You Go,” featuring Oli-J. Live Dec. 12 at the Moroccan Lounge, with MT Jones.

■ Avalon, “Phone Sex” — Singer-songwriter Avalon Annaliese Rose Baker, aka Avalon, follows “How To Lie” with “Phone Sex,” a catchy dark-pop stand-alone single. Avalon says: “We wanted to make a feel-good, sexy song — and ironically it came out of such a negative, sad experience. My favorite part was when my producer asked what I wanted the hook to say. I got flustered and said, ‘Even though you’re gone, I can feel you through the phone.’ Word for word. And that’s how ‘Phone Sex’ was born.”

■ Human Potential, “Practice Songs for the Unloved” — Andrew Becker released the sixth LP in the life of his solo project Human Potential in November 2024. His next excursion into avant-pop, “Eel Sparkles,” arrives March 6, and “Practice Songs for the Unloved” is the first single.

■ Pegzilla, “Bootlicker” — Pegzilla is Olivia Saperstein, Juan Barsse, and Ryan Swain, a heavy-rock trio and recent victims of the Eaton Canyon Fires. “Bootlicker” a guitar-heavy banger, is the first single to drop from their forthcoming debut album “Disobedience.” Saperstein says: “It’s a call to wake up, speak up for what’s right and resist.” The gory music video was shot at Pasadena Waldorf School in Altadena, featuring local Altadena musicians.

■ Los Frankies, “I’m On Drugs” — Los Frankies is Frankie Clarke, Frankie Salazar, Miles Deiaco and Davide Cinci, a Hollywood-reared rock band. Their debut album “D.E.D. City” drops March 6. Their lead single “I’m On Drugs,” is a glam rock thrasher sure to get you moving. The band rocks out in the music video here.

■ The What Four, “Long Way to Go” — Retro garage-pop quartet the What Four combine the talents of Katie Stratton, Ryan Ratfield, Marc Orrell (Dropkick Murphys) and Jeff Roffredo (The Aggrolites, Tiger Army). This fall brought the release of their debut EP, “Four (The Record),” a spirited blast of nostalgia.

■ Luna Shadows, “Flavor of the Weak” — As we often do, this week’s playlist wraps with a cover song. This fall, Natalie Angiuli, (aka Luna Shadows) released a four-song covers EP, “The Nostalgia Project Vol. 1.” She brings a mellow indie-pop vibe to songs by Jimmy Eat World, Green Day, Blink-182 and, here, American Hi-Fi.