In this weekly column, we’re rounding up many of the songs, albums, and videos that grabbed our attention throughout the week. It was a pretty huge Friday thanks to Bandcamp Friday. Even though that day is over, Bandcamp is still the best way to support artists directly when you can’t physically hand them cash in hand — doesn’t matter if it’s a Friday or a Tuesday. Our round-up this week is a little smaller than last week, so you don’t have any excuse to skip one of these tracks! Many of these bands are also playing live shows now (check out our event calendar for Only Good Gigs [tm]), so if you go, make sure you take a mask and don’t be a weirdo.
Our special picks this week are Kim Normal’s Picturesque, the new Phat A$tronaut track “Good Pain”, and the debut single from Josie’s Ring (“That’s All For Now”).
Check out this Bark List’s songs below, and as always, if you like what you hear: share it with a friend! And if you have the means, consider buying their music. Spotify is nice and all, but unless you plan on streaming a song multiple hundred times, Bandcamp is best. I know that tracking down songs on Bandcamp can be a pain in the ass, so if you discover new music on Spotify, consider throwing your playlists into this tool to quickly track down the Bandcamp page of these artists: https://hypem.com/merch-table/ .
You can follow us on instagram and twitter for more music during the week.
Albums + EPS:
CamTheCreator – Creator’s Tablet 1
The first mixtape from CamTheCreator is available on streaming now. The Hamden-based (formerly from the Bronx) producer has this collection already released with more on the horizon, and you can shop his beats for purchase if you’re looking for that too.
Daze in – Live from Chapel Street
Released to coincide with last week’s Bandcamp Friday, Live from Chapel Street is a four-song collection you may remember from their live video made with Sans Serif Recordings and Kicker Pictures. God it sounds goods! Fun mix of indie-rock jangle and jammy psychedelia. It’s a great (short) set, and also a perfect place to introduce yourself to Daze In if you’re unfamiliar!
Kim Normal – Picturesque
Kim Normal’s official follow-up to On Your Own Wave (which was one of Hartford Courant’s albums of the year!). But if you ask me, Picturesque is even better than On Your Own Wave. And even though fan favorites appear to be “Asunder” and “In Your Hands” (great songs of course), we’ll be out here fighting for “Into the Pines”, a song that has the band backing off the gas pedal a little bit and finding a killer groove. But anyways, don’t take our word for it – check it out and let me know what you think.
Michael Slyne – Montauk Mowhawk
If you know Slyne and the Family Stoned, you never know what to expect with a new release! Sometimes, you’ll get incredible drone-laden psychedelic rock; sometimes you get punk-friendly solo cuts. Montauk Mowhawk is another curveball from Michael Slyne – it’s a collage of old tapes, distorted, looped, broken, and splayed on other old tapes. And like Slyne’s other work, you won’t find this on the usual Spotify/Apple Music digs.
Spark Kent – Northern Hospitality
Spark Kent’s Northern Hospitality is a throwback to old school hip-hop, chronicling the skateboarder’s move from South Florida to New Haven County. Playful lyrics that have an eye on politics and income inequality.
Woozles – If A Band Leaks Their Album…
Another Bandcamp Friday exclusive. How exclusive? So exclusive that if you didn’t get it, it’s already gone! Woozles’ If A Band Leaks Their Album But Nobody Clicks The Link to Listen, Does The Leak Really Exist? was a 24-hour drop, and it’s already vanished from their Bandcamp page. Let this be a lesson to those of you that didn’t grab it, why it’s important to hit that “Follow’ button on Bandcamp for the artists you love! Also I just wanted to brag that I’ve heard it.
Singles:
Driveway Ceiling – “Step 2 Me”
Check out this debut single from Driveway Ceiling, the Trumbull-based group. They’ve promised new music coming out in the next couple weeks, with a song that may or may not be about Bill Buckner…
Green Light – “Heads”
Hey! A surprise single from Green Light! One of our favorite indie pop bands in the state released “Heads” last week. This track is more stripped down that the familiar Green Light sound, letting Courtney Seely’s vocals take center stage and Bill Cox’s production is slick as hell. The song goes by so quickly, we needed to play it about a half dozen times before we could move on to anything else.
Grizzlor – “Talking to Yourself”
Damn it feels like “Warp Speed” just came out a few weeks ago, but Grizzlor is back with a new single and a new album later! Their new Hammer of Life will drop on October 1, so you’ll have to make due with this 2-minute slice of scar tissue, noise, and grime for the next month and a half. Hammer of Life was recorded and mixed by Grizzlor’s own Victor Dowgiallo, and the album will be released on vinyl, CD, or digital, so you can enjoy your pain in any medium you like.
Josie’s Ring – “That’s All For Now”
A new band! Josie’s Ring is a trio featuring Autumn Eliza Sheffy (who runs one of our favorite sites, The Eliza Monologues), Mike Held (from Was And When & Snowpiler), and Nick Restivo (from Snowpiler, Ourselves Alone, and more). So tell me, what kind of music would you expect with that line-up? If you said “warm, beautiful alt-pop”, (1) you’re correct, but also (2) how could you have possibly known that??
MightyMoonChew – “Maserati”
A wild, psychedelic, noisy jam, “Maserati” is another great song from MightyMoonChew that feels a bit like you ate too many sour patch kids and spun around too fast. Released on Bandcamp Friday, the band had this to say at the time of release: “Maserati Poppin”.
Phat A$tronaut – “Good Pain”
The A$tronauts are back from the Fifth Dimension, dropping a new single just in time for last week’s Bandcamp Friday. The new song “Good Pain” is great (of course, what were you expecting?), mellow, funky, and soul-laden. It goes so well with 2020’s “Rare Fruit”… I wonder if we’ll be seeing more Phat A$$ coming soon in the future?
Snowpiler – “Room for the Roof” / “Ides” (Codeine cover)
Another Bandcamp Friday joint! The second appearance on this Bark List of Nick Restivo, this is technically two songs: one new Snowpiler song and one cover of a Codeine song. And tbh – don’t tell the band this – if you take Snowpiler songs and play them at 50% speed, it sounds like Codeine, so if you wanted, you could check out their Compiler compilation, play it at half-time, and bam you have a brand new Codeine album. We love “Room for the Roof”!
Music Videos:
Aster Rhys – “Pygmalion” (Live Acoustic)
We were on hiatus when Aster Rhys released her album MÆTA, so please check that record out if you have not yet! Here, “Pygmalion” is given the live acoustic treatment, complete with a gorgeous setting, incense, candles, and two other familiar faces in the room (Olive from Olive Tiger on cello and Sam Carlson on drums). Psychedelic folk music inspired by classic myths delivered passionately and perfectly? What’s not to love?
Kim Normal – Picturesque Full Live Show
If you couldn’t make it out to the Beeracks in East Haven this weekend, Kim Normal have released their entire set on YouTube! It’s fantastic, and you should certainly check it out (even if you were attendance that night). We love when bands do this because not everyone is able to make it out to the gig, whether that be for reasons of ableness or geographic barriers. Thank you for sharing this, KM! (Stay for the final song – trust us!)
Them Airs – “Reception Desk”
Man, you just can’t question Them Airs. They just dropped this music video of a song from Union Suit XL, which isn’t even their most recent album. But here’s the thing, (1) “Reception Desk” is an amazing song, and (2) this music video rules and I watched it too early in the morning and it gave me the hiccups. Featuring distorted footage from Psych Shack (I think). Five stars.
