welcome to The Bark List! this is our first week putting this together, but the idea is simple: rounding up a bunch of notable, great Connecticut music releases from the past week. if you’ve been following us on instagram, you’ll know that we’ve essentially been doing this for many months. this weekly roundup blog post will just serve to give us some time to talk a little bit about each song/video/release. our hope is that you’ll find something new to love each week and that you might share that love/excitement with a friend! if these posts get a positive reception, we’ll keep doing them — if not, we’ll still continue to round up the weekly releases on our social media platforms.
waveform* – “snowing”.
Baklava Sounds, a NJ-based label, just released an awesome compilation to raise money for Bernie Sanders’ primary campaign. the compilation features several friends-of-CT (like Absinthe Father, Knifeplay, Sidney Gish, and Horse Jumper of Love), but you should immediately jump to the new Waveform* track.
royal oaks – “impressions”.
Logan Hinton is back with a new Royal Oaks EP, Golf. it’s short and sweet: a little bit of pop, a little bit of punk, and what’s this? one or two The Cars records. “Impressions” is my favorite track on the EP, but honestly they’re all good. like other Royal Oaks releases, this Golf was engineered by Zeb Mrowka, who also worked on the (similarly stellar) Blue Park Suites EP.
chousand – “keanu”.
i’m planning on writing about this in a longer form soon, but for now, i’ll just say that Chousand’s new Gary is fantastic. fun and funny, Gary has all of the memes you’d want from a Chousand release. but this time around, there are some elements that are much more personal than the band (and in particular, vocalist + lyricist Matt Scully) have been since their start. “Keanu” is my favorite from the EP, riffing on Smash Mouth’s “All Star” and daydreaming of The Matrix.
trey moore – “red light” music video
New Haven-based artist Trey Moore’s new song “Red Light” comes with a glittering, lovingly schmaltzy video. also co-directed by Moore, the song underlines the retro throwback vibes of this dream pop single.
stadia – “tiny you in a prism”.
Dylan Healy — the head of Hartford’s Funnybone Records — released this beautiful EP over the weekend to honor his grandmother’s birthday. while it felt like a surprise-released, Healy has been working on some of these songs for years, and they are lovingly crafted with many familiar names (Daniel and Tommy Carr, Justin Holden, Dave Bugnacki, among others). for now the EP is a bandcamp-exclusive, with it set to hit other streaming sites later in March.
spit-take – “transformer man” neil young cover.
another cut from a compilation — Spit-Take’s rendition of “Transformer Man” is completely different than the krautrock original. in fact, it feels just like a Spit-Take song! (and also engineered by Chris Chew!) the compilation from which the song comes, Look Out for my Love, is a collection of Neil Young covers put together to raise money for RAICES, helping with refugees.
karlo rueby – “tentative”.
i don’t know much about Karlo Rueby — this song was passed to me by a friend — but this 2-song EP is really beautiful. my favorite track of the two, “Tentative”, is a soothing, relaxing stroll through an anxious mind.
ditch boys – “i’m bad”.
the 2019 release of Seven Minutes with Ditch Boys was one of the first long-form pieces of writing we did for ctverses. we’re excited, then, that the band are already gearing up for a new EP! that release, Saboteur, is scheduled for march 13th, so you can stream this to quench your thirst in the meantime. if you’ve caught them live, you’ll recognize “I’m Bad”, the melody-heavy song was recorded by Pharaoh Recordings and mastered by Sans Serif Recordings.
tracey gardens – “tongue tied”.
advertised as “America’s Favorite British Pop Band”, this is Tracey Graden’s formal debut (at least if you’re not counting their outstanding rendition of “Believe” by Cher on the benefit compilation). you can catch them coming soon to The State House with Choir Boy, Reduction Plan, and Pearl Sugar!
raygun freddy – “adrift”
“a friend told me to send this to you.” that’s how i got word of Raygun Freddy’s debut EP, a bluesy, neo-pop record with tons of promise. my favorite track is “Adrift”.
rex thurstan – “spell” waveform* cover.
after the release show for Eel People’s A Preliminary Display of Tomorrow’s Grievances, Rex Thurstan drove home and heard Waveform*’s “Spell”. the song caught them off guard, disarming with its plain vulnerability. the next day, Rex wrote a Peter Gabriel-style arrangement for the song, equal parts orchestra and post-rock. it’s a suitably epic take on an intimate song.
too much of a good thing – “ugwemubwem”.
these punk rockers from Meriden just released their new debut EP, Just Another Sadder Day. the final track, “Ugwemubwem” happens to be my favorite!
samantha preis – “mexico sun”.
back from a European mega-tour, Samantha Preis found some time to record a live performance of this new song. i’m not sure if the song has been released before in any other format, but it features what i love about Preis’ art: it’s confidently minimal, but starkly beautiful.
new average standard – “worthless”.
getting ready to release the new Friends, Forever, New Average Standard just released the single “Worthless” a week ahead of schedule. it is, as one commenter puts it, “another sadboy headbanger”. if you’ve never heard any of NAS’s previous work, this is a perfect place to enter their catalog.
t!lt – “dirt”.
New Haven’s T!LT have been releasing a steady stream of great singles in 2020. the most recent is “Dirt”, which might be the noisiest of the three so far. with a quick and slick groove, T!LT play around with samples and noise, keeping listeners on their toes. it’s experimental music disguised as pop!
the last years – “soft glow”.
part synthpop, part post-punk throwback, The Last Years’ newest song is a nostalgia trip down the beach. this sunny track feels direly needed in a winter season that can’t make up its mind on if it’s done or not.
ceschi – “red emma” music video.
perhaps my favorite track from the stunning Sans Soleil. the video for this scaled-back rocker is a mix of live action and animated footage. Ceschi has a show coming up this month at the State House in New Haven. the last time he played this one live, it was bigger and the entire crowd sang along.
low ceilings – “linger” live video.
a video companion to the ctverses benefit compilation track! this features the new full line-up of Low Ceilings, including Marissa Greene on keys, Kekeli Afantchao on drums, Christian Loftus on bass, and Ben Mueller on vocals/guitar. did you catch our interview from earlier this year?
sundots – “be” music video.
Drew from Pulsr has his own band, Sundots! They’ve played a few full-band shows (which includes members of Waveform*), and you may have even heard a Sundots song in the normal Pulsr set (I think it’s called “Dog”?). “Be” is the first music video for the project. Be sure to buy the custom cassettes Drew made before they run out!
xylorp – “waves of oil”.
a true solo record: Alec Bedini wrote, recorded, performed, and produced everything on Pink Steam, the first release from his xylorp project.
human fruit – “broke even (on bobby’s bed)”.
from the experimental mind of Shaguar. as part of the Prozaq Records collective, Human Fruit is planning on releasing a new record very, very soon. “Broke Even (in Bobbys Bed)” if the first taste from this longer release — all recorded from a lo-fi 4-track.
klezmer fusion collective – “chicken waffles”.
i’m really late on this one! the Klezmer Fusion Collective released this EP late in 2019. it’s psychedelic and wonderfully strange, incorporating many sounds/instruments you wouldn’t otherwise hear in the New Haven scene. this track features Xavier Serrano on lead guitar.
