Igniting our month and weekend simultaneously, furiously shredding and adorably bopping, all the same, is Vaughan Supple’s brand new EP Backbone Elegy. The new record is more of Vaughan’s grungy brand of music, except this time the Boston artist varnishes his sound in a sweet mixture of gooey doo-wop that creates a product irresistible and all his own. Right out of the gate, the furious punk rhythm and sugary harmonizing of “For Old Time’s Sake” gets a hold of you, ripping distorted guitars and floating Vaughan’s infectious melody in its raunchy medley of fun. Where “Perfume and Mirrors” is a gorgeous piano-led ballad, drowsy and passionate, “Bubblegum” is true to its namesake: short and sweetly-flavored pop-jazz. The title track of the new EP, is where Vaughan Supple’s theme is revealed, why with its thick ambiance of velvety harmonies and distinct acoustic guitar flourishes the artist takes vocal flight towards the past, reflecting as he longs for a simpler time in music and all elsewhere. One could say the final song in the album, a reprise of the first, is a moody send-off, but we argue it could just as well be the beginning as time is not always a river flowing in one direction, sometimes it is a beautiful storm to behold. Stream Backbone Elegy premiering exclusively below and here is to a great month. – Rene Cobar
The Record Low Re-Issue Here To Stay
The Record Low have re-issued their 2007 debut album, Here To Stay, with a "lost" track called "Run of the Mill". This track was frequently performed live by the band, but just missed making their debut album.
This is the project that ran from 2005 to 2015 and was fronted by Henry Joseph (Perma Cough) and Robby Haynes (Fine Prints). This is the first "new" music from the group since 2014’s "Idle Chatter".
Hennessey ponder if greed is good on “(Let’s Pretend) It’s the 80s”
If you’ve ever met a person who’s watched American Psycho or The Wolf of Wall Street so many times that he begins to admire the main character, Manhattan dance punk group Hennessey has a song for you. New track “(Let’s Pretend) It’s the 80s” is a new wave-infused bop, brimming with Talking Heads-like guitar work and scaled back synth that are deftly interwoven, yet feel minimalistic in comparison to principal songwriter (and band namesake) Leah Hennessey’s larger-than-life vocal performance. While the single is propelled by singable hooks and a concise format, its glitzy production is a shiny veneer for the track’s disapproval of wonton greed — amid its various grooving parts, bitingly sardonic lyricism abounds (“let’s love like we love money”). That being said, parts of the track resonate as a simultaneous satirization, and celebration, of the Reagan Years, wholeheartedly leaning into a vintage aesthetic while presenting contemporary nostalgia as white washing the decade’s unsavory elements. In all it makes for a brutally clever ear worm, one that Patrick Bateman would likely describe as “a song so catchy, most people probably don’t listen to the lyrics — but they should.” Stream it below. —Connor Beckett McInerney, Photo by Mike Martinez
Rabid Beast
Thrash Metal duo Rabid Beast is preparing to release their self-titled debut EP on June 12th. You can currently stream the album’s opening track "Decline Into Disorder" and a track called "Green Room Is Red" below.
This is the work of Eric Bauer and Paul Gillis of Morgue Supplier.