After honing their skills through a variety of production work and live show appearances, Brooklyn indie pop-rockers Gamblers have released the debut EP Corinthian Order (streaming below). The opening title track makes use of retro Farfisa-style keys, plucked electronic sounds and unadorned guitar arpeggios as a softly sung tale of breakup builds towards its do-do-do denouement. “We’re Bound To Be Together” masquerades outwardly as a buoyant uptempo rocker with Strokes-style churning guitars and Beatles-eque harmonies. A dichotomy is revealed as those words of love are meant to reflect an addict’s blissful state while on drugs. “Heavenly Mouse Routine” leans on its forward march beat, buzzy synth texture and staccato plucked guitar to approximate the repetitiveness that afflicts humanity. “There Was A Window” builds off the bands’ hip-hop production roots with percussive underpinnings serving an otherwise lo-fi/slacker rock approach. Closing track “The Selfish Bell” initially rocks harder through its chunky drum beat, distorted electric guitars and snaking bass line; falsetto vocals depict scenarios of self-imposed limitations against an expanding, near prog-rock-like composition. The EP is available for ordering via itunes as well as streaming on spotify. – Dave Cromwell

With her boundless voice and blistering lyricism, Samia has a special knack for revealing big situations through intimate details. Whether discussing her hamster’s name in ’21,’ or getting a rock star to listen to her music on ‘The Night Josh Tillman Listened To My Song,’ Samia finds lyrical perch by baring her soul through an itinerary of the everyday.

I thought of this while watching the video for her latest single, ‘Milk.’ Despite Samia’s repeated assurances throughout, I get the impression that the mess she is referring to here is more than ‘just spilled milk.’ No matter how often she tells you not to worry, or how many interesting details she confesses throughout (bathing in the grease on the McDonald’s floor, jumping off the pier at the seaport) you know there’s also something left unsaid, lingering like a suggestive gloss under the track’s shadowy contours and pulsating tension. It also marks an exciting turn from her previous work. Samia’s voice was never a stranger to the anxieties of growing up in a world that tends to shame the thoughts, voices, and bodies of outspoken feminists. But on ‘Milk,’ the emotional dial is turned up even louder, revealing what in other singers would be vulnerabilities. For Samia, these serve as forceful reminders of just how potent an artist she is becoming. Watch the video below, and see Samia perform at Rough Trade on Thursday, September 27th. – Mike Levine (@goldnuggets)

Chase Eiseman (of the Deli-approved Oakland post-punk trio Normies) takes on a new role in a project called Thriftys in the video for single “Leave Here Unknown” (streaming below), where he plays an extraterrestrial musician with an inability to blend in. In the clip, Eiseman’s green-painted skin and third eye aren’t his only traits that stand out; his easygoing falsetto in the chorus is a highlight of the track, and pulls listeners in more and more with each refrain. Like Normies, Thriftys is an Oakland group to watch — especially as Eiseman plays with band members that come from Bay Area staple bands Toyota, Babewatch, and Half Stack — and it allows Eiseman to harness the full power of his ear for pop. He played his first show as Thriftys alongside LA-via-Boston powerhouse Slothrust on Saturday, September 15. – Lilly Milman