Stream: New singles from Velvet Starlings, the Dollyrots and Broken Baby

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Velvet Starlings (Photo by Sophie Prettyman-Beauchamp)

From our Dept. of Guitars Forever, here are new singles from Velvet Starlings, the Dollyrots and Broken Baby …

VELVET STARLINGS, “Bullfight”

Twenty-year-old Christian Gisborne has already led Velvet Starlings through two full-lengths, shaking the trees to harvest more fruit from vintage garage-rock, Britpop and assorted psychedelia. Now he’s back with yet another new backing lineup (flautist/vocalist Amaya Montgomery and drummer DeRon Monroe, both members of the Intelligence, and keyboardist Aaron Hoang) and the news that Velvet Starlings’ third album, “Pacific Standard Time,” will be out Aug. 9. First single “Bullfight” is a noisy monster. Gisborne calls it “our off-kilter psychedelic punk epic about bloodsports set to a cacophony of noise by means of flute, theremin and a guitar running through a pedal collection to rival Kevin Shields’ board. The song explores the concept of adrenaline addiction, whether it’s caffeine, moshing, playing FPS video games, spectator sports or going to a bullfight. The song is filled to the top with samples and I’m very excited to see how many of them are recognized.” Meanwhile, Jared Martin’s video for the song was filmed at the Smell.

THE DOLLYROTS, “Missing You (I Can’t Wait)”

Long-running husband-wife duo the Dollyrots (Kelly Ogden and Luis Cabezas) have been churning out pop-punk since the world worried about whether Y2K would crash computers. Why stop now, especially when Stevie Van Zandt is on board to co-produce a single or two? “Missing You (I Can’t Wait)” is the duo’s third single of the year, following “Hey Girl” and the Van Zandt-produced “Still Holding On.” The will appear on the Dollyrots’ ninth full-length, largely produced by their usual collaborator John Fields, due this fall. “Missing You (I Can’t Wait)” was unfinished when we brought it into the studio in NYC to record with Stevie Van Zandt,” Ogden says. “We share a love of ’60s pop harmonies, and that sensibility turned the song’s outro into the trippiest vocal layering we’ve ever done. It’s always a treat to collaborate with geniuses.” The Dollyrots play July 28 at Knitting Factory NoHo and July 29 at the Parish at House of Blues Anaheim.

BROKEN BABY, “Beautiful Voices”

Speaking of pop-punk duos, Broken Baby (Amber Bollinger and Alex Dezen) are back with a new single that breaks the mold. “Beautiful Voices” comes with a certifiably lush chorus and a few sharp left turns. There’s a pre-chorus in French, verses about “pretty” that are dripped with acid and a defiant exclamation point at the end. “It’s a song about hating the beauty because you have to face it,” Dezen says. Adds Bollinger: “We live under the constant and crippling weight of beauty standards. It makes me want to scream! But there’s no one to scream to. It’s like screaming to Heaven.” The single follows the similarly jolting “It’s Only Rock and Roll (But I Hate It)” as the duo works on the follow-up to their 2021 album “Late Stage Optimism.” Broken Baby opens the aforementioned show with the Dollyrots on July 28 at Knitting Factory NoHo.