Kevin Bronson on August 19th, 2022

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Rounding up some Friday arrivals, in the way of new singles from Cayucas, the Paranoyds and Paper Idol …

CAYUCAS, “Sayulita”

Beach-pop duo Cayucas are currently on a 23-date North American tour opening for Echo & the Bunnymen (Aside: Does anybody else find that pairing strange?), so brothers Zach and Ben Yudin have shared another dreamy jam to whet appetites for a follow-up to their 2020 album, “Blue Summer.” Almost annually, they’ve released contenders for that mythical title of “song of the summer.” (Their May single “Topo Ride the Wave” is runner-up to only Hazel English’s “Summer Nights” on our list.) The latest release, “Sayulita,” is a little more wistful, though. “‘Sayulita ’was a demo that we wrote in around 2016-17. Something about this place, Sayulita, we were hearing about, it had a nice ring to it,” Zach Yudin says. “We’ve never been, and have no plans to go, but lyrically I like to create a sort of mythical place in my mind that encompasses the mood. The song has a sort of Eagle-esque, ‘Hotel California’ quality to it, but it’s really about the idea of going somewhere in your mind. Even if you’re not actually there, it takes you away for a while.” The Bunnymen/Cayucas tour hits the Theatre at Ace Hotel on Aug. 26 (sold out) and Aug. 27 (tickets).

THE PARANOYDS, “BWP”

The follow-up to “Lizzie” and “Single Origin Experience,” “BWP” is the latest single from the Paranoyds’ sophomore album, “Talk Talk Talk,” out Sept. 9 via Third Man Records. As for “BWP” … Bureau of Water & Power? Beer Wine Pizza? Blair Witch Project? No. “I wrote the demo for the song at a time where it felt like all of a sudden Spotify was overcompensating for years of only boosting male rock bands, in this super disingenuous way (2019),” Lexi Funston explains. “There was this playlist called ‘Badass Women’s Playlist,’ which I thought was such a cringe title for a playlist (looking at the playlist now, they dropped the ‘Women’s’). But, on the other hand, I wanted our music to be on this playlist. … I figured if I wrote a song with that intention in mind and named it after the playlist, we might finally get some subliminal love from Spotify. I guess that makes it a self-referential song about selling out.” Catch the Paranoyds on Oct. 13 at the Constellation Room and/or Nov. 12 at the Lodge Room.

 

PAPER IDOL, “Bright Side Baby”

The only electro-pop artist we know who has a degree in neuroscience, Matan Koplin-Green (aka Matan KG) is well on his way to the follow-up of his 2021 EP, “Mania Days.” His new Paper Idol EP “The Playground,” out Nov. 18, chronicles the eight stages of childhood — which, judging from earlier singles “CNTRL” and “Sidewalk,” all involve massive consumption of caffeine and sugar. “Bright Side Baby” is about “looking for another person to … cheer you up.” He adds: “It’s actually funny because most people I ask, hear the lyrics as ‘looking for my bright side, baby’ with a comma, which is a great twist because I didn’t write or intend it that way as you notice from the title of the song. It’s like the Disney-movie tagline, ‘what he was looking for was inside him’ kind of thing. Each song on this album represents a different phase of childhood, and ‘Bright Side Baby’ is about my late teens/early twenties, when it felt like there were hundreds of paths I could take, so many versions of myself to choose from and ascribe to. There was endless opportunity and endless confusion, and it was hard; it got dark at times, and back then I was still looking for my bright side. I think I’ve found it now.” OK … comes in song or tablet form?