New York / Philadelphia band Field Mouse evoke internal conflict on their new single “Heart of Gold,” basking in lukewarm nostalgia against massive pop punk riffs and a breakneck percussive pace. With lyrics detailing dreams of car crashes and meeting one’s “evil self,” lead singer Rachel Browne’s vocal performance is rife with anxiety and a lingering sense of dread. Despite this apprehension, Browne still expresses a cautious confidence, stating she “still has a heart of gold,” which offset against melodic, explosive guitar work embeds the track with an enduring sense of optimism. Stream it below, and catch Field Mouse at Elsewhere’s Zone One on August 17th. -Connor Beckett McInerney

Joanna Sternberg stands tall as a person of many artistic talents; beyond songwriting and playing multiple instruments, including paints and drawings, often used for the album covers. As Joanna’s visual art contributes to genre-defying — almost spiritual — music, the opposite is the same, as these songs create paintings that appear before your eyes as you listen to them. Sternberg just released debut record Then I Try Some More on Team Love Records last month, and set off on tour with Conor Oberst. Sternberg’s bringing the show back home for a bit, with the next performance at Alphaville on August 18th with Miwi La Lupa and Allegra Krieger. Take a listen to the leading track from Then I Try Some More, "This Is Not Who I Want To Be", below. – Will Sisskind

Boy Scouts just released their latest video for "Hate Ya 2" and it’s a captivating animated creation. What an amazing blend of visual mediums that pairs so nicely with the sad and lovely tune. Shout out to that fly, the balloon, all of it. Boy Scouts’ new album Free Company is out September 30 on Anti Records. Fall tour dates (with Jay Som!) start September 11. 

Says Vicks, "”Hate Ya 2” is about trying to grapple with conflicting feelings. When you still have love for someone who can also make you feel undervalued and hurt, and how confusing that experience can be. The process of recording this song felt very cathartic. Stephen [Steinbrink] and I drove out to my parent’s house with my friend Rose Droll to have her record piano on a few songs from the record, and when she played along to this one we tracked a few takes of her improvising. It added such a beautiful melancholic element, in true Rose Droll fashion.” 

When we asked Boy Scouts’ front person Taylor Vicks why their music has a "golden retriever" classification on Bandcamp, they said, simply, "I really like golden retrievers." A fine, fine reason. Well, we really like you. Give this tune a listen and be damned if you don’t listen to the rest of the album, too. 

– Michelle Kicherer, Associate Editor

Explosive drop-D grunge-metal guitars and thundering drums introduce the new Citris single “Hell Is a Place on Earth” (streaming below). Written and performed by Angelina Torreano (guitar/vocals) and recorded/mixed and mastered by Chris Krasnow (who also contributes drums/bass and guitar) the track is a heavy rumination on personal failings against larger global issues. “Too selfish to die, too right to be happy, too weak to be leaned on. Leave it to me to destroy everything that is good,” the singer laments.  The title line, repeated in the chorus, benefits from harmonized vocal layering, adding a big-studio sheen to that hook, followed by the lyrics “give me your love, then take it away.” A pivotal statement arrives one minute in, when the instruments drop out for the solo vocals declaration “I don’t look back in anger.” While that progression cycles through again (with alternate lyrical content), a sophisticated, angular, prog-metal break emerges around the 3rd minute and takes the track to its conclusion. This initial release comes ahead of the upcoming full-length album “Delusions of Glamour.” Having just completed a west coast tour, the band has a number of local shows in the works including 9/18 at Rubulad. – Dave Cromwell

“Honeysuckle,” a beautifully tender, reflective indie rock song, is the latest single from Brooklyn’s Pom Pom Squad prior to the release of their second EP OW (out on September 6th), following 2017’s HATE IT HERE. Berrin explains that the track is about rebuilding to resolve an issue, which one can only do once the cause of the wound is identified. The band’s sound has evolved in more sophisticated and powerful directions compared to their previous material, with an aggressive electric sound and a more angsty delivery reminiscent of the riot grrls movement of the ’90s . The single progresses from an apathetic stream-of-consciousness series of thoughts to painting a picture of a serious inward and outward, back and forth internal dialogue, tackling a painful personal experience with existential undertones underlined in the chorus: “if I’m nothing without you, am I anything at all?”. Berrin’s sultry vocals never resolve the question, and a concoction of clunky guitars play a chunky tune that continues her honest anxiety. – Susan Moon 

Three NYC-based artists with folk inclinations, Eighty Ninety, Luke Rathborne, and Common Jack will be playing a show together at Elsewhere on Wednesday, August 14th at 7 PM. 

Headliners Eighty Ninety’s sweet, tender songwriting is compelling for its ability to be somewhat indie but still reminiscent of the kind of ear catching radio pop that wavers between the commercial and indie worlds. Luke Rathborne’s single, “Don’t Call Me Baby” is a great example of this singer songwriter and producer’s style blending modern folk and an indie rock attitude. Common Jack balances out the other two acts with a modern folk sound that incorporates synths and electronic effects. Altogether, this curated show offers a night of music that is mellow and warm – check out Elsewhere’s website for more details. – Susan Moon

You know that feeling of spending a few glorious weeks at summer camp, enjoying time out on the water with your bunkmates and roasting marshmallows by the fire and falling in love, only to have to go home with your memories at the end of the season and let them linger in your mind as you try to stay awake in school? That’s what Long Beard‘s new single "Means To Me" sounds like. Feelings of nostalgia come through in Leslie Bear’s ethereal voice; a move back home to New Jersey inspired the wistfulness in her lyrics. The title track on Long Beard’s upcoming album Means To Me — like its previous single "Sweetheart" — explores the meaning of home, not only for Bear to ponder, but for the listener to consider as well. Long Beard will perform at Baby’s All Right on September 26th to support the release of Means To Me; take a listen to the title track below. – Will Sisskind

New York noise enthusiasts ESSi know their way around a busted Line 6 amplifier, and their newest single “Pines Ands Cones” demonstrates an aptitude for all the bells and hisses of an electric guitar. While the track builds its energy with a grimy driving four on the floor beat, it quickly transitions to a meandering, noodling trance; guitarist and singer Jessica Ackerly delivers an aggressive vocal performance against Rick Daniel’s doomsday percussion, resulting in a final cut that feels like an industrial fugue state. It’s disorienting, dissonant, and rough around the edges (in the best way possible), a hype-worthy teaser of what we can expect on the duo’s forthcoming debut, Vital Creatures, out October 11th on Ramp Local. Stream it below, and catch ESSI at Alphaville on October 5th alongside Upper Wilds, Russian Baths, and Wsabi Fox. -Connor Beckett McInerney

Fervent readers and movie buffs know Holly Golightly, the country-turned-cafe-society girl from Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Golightly (played by the unforgettable Audrey Hepburn) has an independent air, an entrancing one; she’s a character who literary analysts have studied as, among other things, a feminist icon. Now Brooklyn avant-blues-indie artist Mima Good has released a single named after Golightly, using clips from Breakfast at Tiffany’s to create a slowed-down groove which accompanies her musings on her own femininity. In her press release for "Holly Golightly", Raechel Rosen — the brains behind Mima Good — says: "To me, [Golightly] is a charming metaphor for surviving under capitalist patriarchy and making it look good as hell." And while toxic masculinity and misogyny still exist in New York and beyond, artists like Mima will take influence from icons like Golightly and keep surviving, too. Take a listen to the single. below. – Will Sisskind

Animated band cartoons playing along with explosive two-minute power-pop song is a can’t-miss combination, and that’s just what you get with Kissed By An Animal‘s latest release “The Good Times Are Here Again” (streaming below). Guitarist/vocalist Dima Drjuchin applies the technique of Rotoscoping to live action footage while adding a steady flow of animated flames, hearts, flowers, skulls, birds, bunnies and more to the Peter Max style psychedelic imagery. Self-directed and drawn over in Adobe Animate, the track is a power-noise-pop treat with crunchy guitar, hard-edge drumming and a fluid bassline. The first hook is reached just 30 seconds in, via a descending progression that goes “sometimes hard to be a friend when the good times are here again.” An even bigger hook arrives with the chorus stating “when no one sees you, no one is holding you back,” that get’s turned into “there IS no holding back.” The riff breaks lean towards the heavy and tight Dinosaur Jr variety, adding dramatic accent breaks and a touch of pitch-bended warped guitar tones. Big dreamy background “ahhh’s” lift it higher into near dream-gaze territory.

One thing is for sure, these guys deserve more than 82 friends on their Facebook page! Don’t miss their live show at the Gutter on August 22.- Dave Cromwell

If you feel the need to be soothed today, take a little listen to the latest by Suzanne Vallie. Any song off the album is equally as pleasing as the last. Tracks feel like folk lullabies: gentle guitar plucking, Vallie’s sweet voice, soft harmonies. Based out of Big Sur–and maybe that’s where the nature-inspired songs come from–Vallie pops in and out of the Bay Area for shows with different bands, including Range of Light Wilderness, and her solo works. In fact, she’ll be playing Hotel Utah this August 14. Come in for some soothing purity. –Michelle Kicherer, Associate Editor 

Humeysha — the project of musician and songwriter Zain Alam — will release new EP Nusrat on the Beach on August 2nd; the record’s name takes inspiration from a dream of Alam’s, in which he saw legendary Pakistani vocalist and musician Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan on the beach. You can hear some of the passion and devotion from Nusrat’s music in the EP’s title track, mixed with the chilled out indie sounds from Alam which convey the surf and sand. The whole song acts as an aural gateway to Alam’s dream; you’ll dream it yourself. Take a listen to "Nusrat on the Beach" below. – Will Sisskind