Get ready for the warm, summer, beach weather rolling in this weekend! And with joyous, Beach Boys-esque harmonies, Grubby Little Hands puts us in the right mindset with their new music video for "No Such Thing," as we count down the minutes until the end of this exhausting workweek. Well, screw it – we give you permission to take off early! Just make sure to take a moment and check out this surreal video that was filmed by Bob Sweeney at Rigby Mansion in Germantown. (Photo by Robert Bennett)

Joy Riding recently shared their full-length debut You’re So Smart, which is now available via Black Rd Records. With an inside view on storylines, the band delivers thoughtful, steadily-paced power-pop with a calming, melodic precision. The quintet unifies those even-keeled, personal tones with an energetic uplifting appeal. Joy Riding will be celebrating its arrival with a record release show on Friday, June 16 at Johnny Brenda’s, where they’ll be supported by Sad Actor and Aspiga. (Photo by John Helmuth)

Guest House, the new EP from Alexandra Gordon, is available now via L-Cat Records. Soothing harmonies wash over you as delicate, bedroom-folk instrumentation gently guides. These momentary, snapshot-style recordings sweep through one’s mind as unobstructed recollections of authenticity. The album is endearing in its beautiful, lo-fi simplicity.

Garage-psych power trio Residuels was not planning to release its latest single "You’ll Cry". However, with the recent passing of music great Gregg Allman, the band felt that the "sort of self-indulgent" 70’s "Southern Rock"-inspired number would be a fitting tribute. Residuels will also be heading out on tour next month with The Coathangers, but before that takes place, they’ll be rockin’ the AM on Sunday morning, June 25 at The Barbary for the first annual Psychedelic Breakfast with An Albatross, Die Choking, and much, much more. 

The quartet of Maitland recently dropped its debut full-length album Glimpse. Josh and Alex Hines, Evan Moffitt, and Adam Shumski (of Vita and the Woolf) find a delicate wandering/adventurous path. Consistently in pensive flux, the songs capture a cathartic, adaptive power – one that is crisply earnest. Voyaging into a forest of thought, accentuated by enclosing strings of instrumentation, the music takes on dramatic urgency, hitting on a spectrum of emotion. The LP ventures into the bleak, but still allows beauty to shine through. You can catch them this Friday, June 9 at Johnny Brenda’s, where they’ll be joined by Former Belle and Dirty Dollhouse.

Emerging from a full bathtub, a man reads a bedside suicide note. He then attempts to search for and confront his demons in the video for “Life” by Ivy Sole. Featuring Dave B, the song, found on Sole’s latest album East, contemplates finding the balance between dwelling on the downturns and placing an emphasis on the positive, as it applies to mental health. She is currently slated to headline MilkBoy on Wednesday, August 30, as part of The Key Philly music showcase that also inclueds Aphra and Cheeky. (Photo by Araba Ankuma)

On their sophomore album Grow, psych-blues rockers Them Jones continue their musical matriculation. Primed with guitar-led experimental voyages and reverberating vocals, the band sits in a hazy but cool-headed space. The mind gradually stretches, ditching its preoccupations as melody converges with mystic ambiance.

It sounds like Philly punks Sheer Mag might have found their first commercial radio single with "Need to Feel Your Love". The rifftastic crew lays down an infectious groove for the title track from their forthcoming album. Frontwoman Christina Halladay shares a bit of insight into their latest offering: "When you get to the point of a romantic relationship and you feel as if you have done everything to give that person a chance to make the most out of it and you are at the breaking point and you NEED them to do something more, even if you don’t exactly know that is." Need to Feel Your Love is due out July 14 via Wilsuns RC, and the band has plans for a massive U.S. tour in support of the album. You can join them at their record release celebration in Philly on Saturday, August 26 at Union Transfer, where they’ll be sharing the billing with Purling Hiss, Haram, and S-21. 

"Living down the shore, on and off, for the past few years has been a trip. You see the crowds come and go, you learn the oceans various personalities, you find love in the summer and feel the loneliness of winter… all beautiful, the loving and letting go."

Philly troubadour Chris Kasper has us ready to drop everything and head out to the beach for some much-needed summer relaxation. Unfortunately, the weather hasn’t received the memo today so we’ll just have to keep on watching this beautifully shot and directed music video by Sherry McCracken (Little Rock Films and Studio) with assistance from Patrick Taylor (ColourSky Films) until it does. "City by the Sea" can be found on Kasper’s new full-length album, O the Fool.

Krust Toons: "Gone Phishin (Part 2)" by Tedd Hazard – please feel free to drop him a line at teddandthehazards@gmail.com if you dig or have any funny ideas. You can also check out more of his illustrations and animation shorts HERE.

Pulverizing backend and chainsaw guitars encircle the raw, gravelly power of vocals in "Oregon Chem-Trail"/"Plaque Marks," the first offerings from the power trio of Plaque Marks. Merging Mike McGinnis (Fight Amp), Doug Sabolik (Ecstatic Vision), and Patrick Troxell (Creepoid), the group announces its arrival with a primal punch to the gut. Having difficulty jumpstarting your Monday? These songs will abruptly wake you out of that lingering slumber. (Photo by Adam Wallacavage)

DC transplants Tall Friend reissued their EP Tawl Friend earlier this year via Exploding in Sound, who will also release the band’s first full-length album. Safely Nobody’s is due out August 11, but you can take a listen to the steady, instrumental build and revealing, intimate lyrics, found on the record’s lead single, "Oats," below. The trio is currently on tour, and will be wrapping it up with a homecoming show in Philly this Sunday, June 11 at West Philly DIY space All Night Diner with Flashlight O, Bay Mollusk, and Yours Are The Only Ears.