As a forerunner to their forthcoming album, Young Pilgrims has released a new single, “God of the Moon”. Channeling the grief of being left behind, the band crafts a melodic, pop-punk goodbye. Hitting on both existential isolation with a communal sense of harmony, the trio delivers a heartfelt tribute. A reflective, joyful nostalgia meshes with the admission that so much is out of our control.

Land, the new EP from the quartet of Another Michael, is now available via Topshelf Records. “About” kicks things off with its clear-headed, stream-of-consciousness lyrics. ”Go There” expands on a fluid, piano-backend groove, in an ultra smooth R&B manner. “Connect” contemplates in a laidback jog of concise layers, while “Score” closes the album out, stacking sound in a tight expansion of rhythm and ascending, uniting vocals.

A remixed spin of Instupendo’s Faces I Know recently emerged. Slow Magic shifts the celestial dynamic of “Fleur,” playing an emphasis on the pulsating waves of danceable motion. Owsey took the cloud-surfing, delicate breaths of “Boy,” and introduced additional punches of sonics, pulling it out of a dream state by increasing the stakes and immediate impact. The vibrant, at ease tones of “Clementine” are propelled futuristically forward by Laxcity, strolling with a pronounced purpose, before blossoming orchestrally.

Krust Toons: "What the Hell Is Mathcore Anyways?" 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.

Sometimes music sounds like taking psychedelics in a black-light, laser-tag arena. Or that Kia Soul commercial with the cruising chipmunks, except way more off the rails. Eel Tank is the moniker of Philly’s own Nicki Duval, who works as one of the creative engines behind the beloved music booking collective All Mutable. An abrupt and powerful synthesis of power electronics with elements of thrash, industrial, and jungle are prevalent throughout Eel Tank’s debut album, Cure. Crunchy vocals slip out between the cracks of the kaleidoscopic rhythm; all contained within shifting planes of neon textures. Cure is now available on cassette via experimental electronic label Embalming Lately. – Josh Kelly

The pairing of Chris Walker & Tim Gibbon, otherwise known as La Palma, recently shared a series of singles that make up their self-titled debut album. “Brown Boots” crosses classical guitar, a whistle in the distance, and a walking bass, creating a cinematic western setting. The air of mystery gradually transitions to a warmer island vibe, as the dusty ruffling morphs into a breeze off the ocean water. While one’s suspicions may be relieved, there’s still something beguiling at play.

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Transforming anxious energy into an uplifting release of emotion, Slow Buzz, the latest album from Remember Sports (Father/Daughter Records), makes you evaluate and take stock of your current situation. Ruminating over the ups and downs and then racing ahead as the freedom of openness provides a sense of relief and a reinvigorating, fresh-start approach. A charm in the directness of the storytelling and that catapulting force of the instrumentation makes these songs’ fiery fragility hit home. On Saturday evening, the playfully bizarre, psych-pop exploits of Michael Stasis and Sam Buck’s confidently, vulnerable, country style will lead the way. – Michael Colavita

Other places to catch a buzz this weekend…

Johnny Brenda’s  (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) FRI Tiedye Ky, SAT Remember Sports 

Boot & Saddle (1131 S. Broad St.) FRI Stereo League (Record Release Show)

Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) FRI Rexedog/DJ Deejay, SAT DJ Magglezzz, Baby Berlin, SUN AyBe, Cruzko, B. Aquarius, NickyBeFree, MaJa Earth

PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12th St.) SUN Jeff Zeigler

Underground Arts (1200 Callowhill St.) FRI Johnny Popcorn, Ill Fated Natives, Mars Parker, SAT Born To Lose: Motörhead Tribute, System of a TOOL, Vicarious – A Tribute To Tool, Orion, SUN School Of Rock

Union Transfer (1026 Spring Garden St,) SUN School Of Rock All Stars

The Trocadero (1003 Arch St.)SAT Scott C (Album Release)

TLA (334 South St.) SAT Box of Rain

World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.) FRI (Upstairs) John Vettese/Conjunto/(Downstairs) Karen Vaughn, Paris Nicole, SAT (Upstairs) The Peace Creeps, The SB Deluxe

The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) FRI 81 Rich, Lucid By Midnight, Breaklite, SUN Dick Vomit 

MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut St.) FRI Hannah Taylor and the Rekardo Lee Trio

Ortlieb’s Lounge (847 N. 3rd St.) FRI Sold, SAT Something Like A Monument, SUN Pete Hill, AfroBear

The Barbary (951 Frankford Ave.) SAT The Rectors, Gringo Motel / Darla

Silk City (435 Spring Garden St.) FRI DJ Dav, Reed Streets, SAT DJ Deejay

Fergie’s (1214 Sansom St.) SUN Rusty Cadillac 

Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9th St.) FRI Nick Cianci, Sonja Sofya, SAT Decontrol (Record Release), Disoriental, The Prisoners, Gibbous Moon

Voltage Lounge (421 N. 7th St.) FRI Crash Course in Science, Nightwitch, Dj Strykk9, Shari Vari (DJ Set), SUN

Bourbon & Branch (705 N. 2nd St.) FRI Miss Fareira, SAT 30 And Over League

Morgan’s Pier (221 N. Columbus Blvd.) FRI DJ Beatstreet, SUN Brian McConnell

Frankie Bradley’s (1320 Chancellor St.) FRI DJ Chris Urban, SAT DJ Ed Christof, SUN Honeygasm

The Grape Room (105 Grape St.) FRI The Aesthetic, The 1940’s, Steady State

Ardmore Music Hall (23 E. Lancaster Ave.) FRI Splintered Sunlight, SAT Breakwater, Urban Guerilla Orchestra

Everybody Hits (529 W. Girard Ave.) SAT  Dear Althea, Creem Circus, St. James & the Apostles

The Pharmacy (1300 S. 18th St.) SAT The Boardwalk Kings, SUN Alex Noelle

The Tusk (430 South St.) FRI Hollow Harbor, Famous & Fallen

Tralfamadore (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Baby Boomer Dreamer, Uncle Valentine, Too Dogs

Planet Phitness (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI Harmony Woods

Tundra Dome (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SUN Telyscopes, Fairy Godmother

Goo Lagoon (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more information.)

The Catamaran (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SUN Cave People, Who Loves You

2nd St. Festival (2nd St. between Spring Garden St. & Germantown Ave.) SUN Music Schedule

Free Cake For Every Creature‘s new LP The Bluest Star is out now via Double Double Whammy. Singer-songwriter Katie Bennett returned to the comfort of her home, after her first proper studio release, Talking Quietly Of Anything With You, allowing the latest batch of songs and recordings to organically evolve. With touring bandmates Heeyoon Won and Francis Lyons, along with a array of local music pals, Bennett beautifully captures her thoughts and experiences, as she learns to work through the mundane, day-to-day hustle of adulthood, while still remaining self-motivated and inspired. You can take in all these feels at Free Cake For Every Creature’s record release show tonight at Everybody Hits, with Brooklyn’s Told Slant, Friendship, and Slow Ref.

Alexandra Gordon, a.k.a. Borzoi Boy, shared a new batch of songs, packaged as the EP, Good Happy. Synth/keys delicately guide these daydreaming, honest tales. Hope and fascination are ever-present in these reflective and inquisitively-voiced compositions. An ability to articulate the personal, emotive elements of the narrative and simultaneously evaluate from the outside looking in grabs and holds ones attention.

Cracking open the door, an eerie, enlightening, subconscious perspective is apparent in “Dead,” the new single from Scotty, a.k.a. Scott Campbell. The halo glow of keys mingles with the steady, strumming progression of acoustic guitar, as the first person POV of death is depicted. A haunting lightness of the initial moments in life’s aftermath is foreshadowed. It’s a captivating, subdued balance of potential weightlessness and the heaviness of the ultimate destination.

Nail Biter is the debut album from the duo of Leadrs, and it is scheduled for release on September 14. The foot-tapping video for “Waste” launches with the anticipatory swell of rhythm converging with the comforting fade of vocals. The sound is a noise-laden bombardment of intensity, with a glimpse of refreshing pop sentiment. It’s like entering a crowded, high-speed tunnel, locking in and finding the light on the other side.

Thin Lips’ sophomore LP Chosen Family is an earnest homage to making peace with the past, the necessary balm of friendship, and the power of feeling your feels.

The album appropriately begins with its titular track that recounts a dream and a memory with vulnerability framed by the atmospheric swell of buzzing riffs that seamlessly ease into "Gaslight Anthem (The Song Not the Band)”. Liken to a prologue, "Chosen Family" prepares listeners for the emotive context of the LP’s progression. An evocative origin story of sorts, it becomes part artifact and part testimony. Even as "Gaslight Anthem" begins, the vulnerability of the album’s opener lingers, pushing the lyrical immediacy of all that comes after deeper into the heart of the audience. As Chrissy Tashjian sings, “but I was there, I won’t just let it go,” “Gaslight Anthem” erects a monument to the past, reminding us how what haunts or heals us pushes us into the future – for better or worse.

“A Song for Those Who Miss You All the Time” recalls the melodic dissonance of earworms like Built to Spill’s “Center of the Universe” or The Promise Ring’s “B is Bethlehem,” conveying a similar sense of yearning and nostalgia as each second passes. When Tashjian croons, “You were free of everything that holds us in our place, that holds us back from grace,” the track feels like salve. Jubilant in a realistic way, Chosen Family’s third track is infused with a pragmatic hope from beginning to end, while “Smoking’s for Quitters” is a moody and meaningful exploration of mortality, the necessity of intimacy, and the existential urge to search for wholeness. Lines like “we’re all gonna die” and “it’s hard to care” shake its listener out of disillusionment without the artifice of optimism.

“South America” and “I Know I’m the Asshole” feel synonymous with Best Coast’s “Goodbye” and the broodiest cuts on Bleached’s Ride Your Heart, while “Saying Yes” and “What’s So Bad About Being Lonely” bring to mind Dude York and 90s icons like Veruca Salt. “Sex Is Complicated” is a refreshing anthem about intimacy and the cons of human closeness. When Tashjian asks, “can bodies tell a lie,” fans are forced to grapple with the answer. And with “So Stoned,” there is a melodic and emotionally raw yet subtle in a way that makes it easily memorable.  The honesty of “It’s Hard To Tell The Difference When You’re Afraid of Literally Everything” is a relatable, introspective confession that grapples with the complexities of autonomy and self-awareness. As Tashjian sings, “I’m not sure if I know what I’ve done, what I’ll become,” alongside guitar licks and snare, it feels; it’s difficult not to empathize.

“What If I Saw You on the Street” is a dance worthy cut with a pop-laced backbeat that hums with an energized urgency that perfectly prefaces Chosen Family’s final offering, “The Kate Escape.” A song about an ending on the brink of a new beginning, the last narrative on the Thin Lips’ latest full-length will make listeners feel less alone in a world that often feels impossible. – Dianca London