Kevin Bronson on March 16th, 2021

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Three tasty morsels in today’s singles roundup — sample new music from the Small Calamities, ASHRR and Douglas …

THE SMALL CALAMITIES, “Waste My Time”

If their opus “Violin Concerto in the Key of Crippling Regret” didn’t get your attention, the (almost) equally voluble “Waste My Time” should. Quick-tongued Charlie Wolf writes lyrics that can stop you in your tracks (here, “I’m not getting any older / I’m just getting old”), making the Small Calamities’ forthcoming collection of emo-pop-punk, “Moments of Impact” (out April 9), highly anticipated. We were going to describe the album as “hyper-literate,” but when we googled that we found that somebody coined that very hyphenate to describe the awesome Canadian band the Weakerthans. Which, come to think of it, isn’t a bad comparison.

ASHRR, “Otherside”

After releasing “Dark Eyes” and “Waves” late last year, the trio of Steven Davis, Ethan Allen and Josh Charles remains on a roll. The new single “Otherside” could have hidden in a dark corner of the ’90s until now … or it could have sprouted last week in pandemic-fueled desperation. “‘Otherside’ is a plea for human contact,” Charles says. “Often times, we face the inner struggle to connect with people whether it be physically or on an emotional level.” As they did on their 2019 album “Oscillator,” they make it sound dire.

DOUGLAS, “Seventeen”

The follow-up to “Clouds” and “Cigarettes,” “Seventeen” is the last sampling of “Ashes,” the solo debut from Amy Douglas White. This one features none other than Justin Meldal-Johnsen on bass, with Douglas molding her vocals to ’90s-styled shoegazing and waxing upbeat on those days she feels like she’s 17. “Ashes” is out April 2.