It feels like this week has slightly fewer releases than previous weeks. Our guess is that most bands are taking this time to work on their Halloween cover sets instead of new music. Is that right, Pulsr? Where’s that new music, Pulsr?? Anyways, there are still several cool surprises in the Bark List this week, including a few projects new to us, a few songs from long-beloved artists, and one of our very favorite songs of the year. 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 the new single from Dr. Martino (“When You Want It”), FiFac‘s new soundtrack Mount Summer, and Ovlov‘s “The Wishing Well”.
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:
FiFac – Mount Summer (OST)
Look, we like a lot of the stuff FiFac releases, but Mount Summer is easily our favorite EP of theirs yet. Made as a companion album to a collection of short stories by Travis Dahlke (called, yes, Mount Summer), these songs are just as vivid and compelling as any story you might read. Abstract, but built with plenty of context clues to keep it grounded (like the stir of crickets in “GLAK GLAK GLAK”), Mount Summer is a great record to let your imagination wander around to*. Released by Out to Lunch Records. *sorry for ending on a split infinitive.
John Airfield – TNT
Ah! Just when we thought we’d nailed down our “single” vs. “double single” policy, along comes this wonderful pair of songs by John Airfield! So, why do we have TNT listed as an EP when it is only two tracks? Because it’s been pressed on vinyl, my friend! Click through to their bandcamp page and check out TNT in either digital or vinyl variants, and all proceeds go to the Black Trans Travel Fund (all John Airfield releases raise money for various important nonprofits)! And as for the music? It’s incredible.
LABARA – 4 Specters
The start of a new tradition, Hartford’s LABARA will release a new EP every Halloween. The first of those EPs, 4 Specters, (also their fourth EP) signals it’s time to break out the pumpkins. Highly catchy, gothic alt-rock.
Ruby Koko – Heatwave
This debut EP defies any easy comparisons or genre labels. Part hip-hop, part synthwave, part guttural noise, part hardcore(?), Heatwave only sounds like Heatwave. The magic that Ruby Koko pulls off here is giving us music that feels like totally it’s own thing. In other words, this doesn’t sound like a collection of its own influences, but like a brand new style that has been excavated out of some bizarre ether. Feels like slowly melting action figures left out on the beach.
Singles:
77 Apes – “Ghosts”
It’s no mistake that 77 Apes released “Ghosts” this close to Halloween — the track is a haunted slab of organic goth rock. And by “organic”, I mean that it’s built around a devilish organ’s progression.
Bobo and the Unusuals – “Ladybug”
Bobo and the Unusuals has been incredibly prolific this year, releasing a new song almost every week (and sometimes more frequently than that). “Ladybug” caught our ear as a cool, sliding jam, centered around a hypnotic bass line. Be sure to check out Bobo’s bandcamp page for other sonic collages and jams (like the fun and stylistic curveball “The Corrupt Coterie”).
The Brazen Youth – “I Love It All”
This coming Friday, The Brazen Youth will release Changing, their new EP and first official release since 15 Billion Eyes. So by the time you’re reading this, you could be listening to that beautiful 4-song bundle. “I Love It All” feels like picking yourself off the ground only to realize how comfortable the grass is as these blades stand around your fingers.
Carter Lee – “TURN GOLD”
Earlier this year, Carter Lee released The Goldenboy: A Muchlove Story, one of our favorite (and most ambitious) albums of the year. We’re already getting a taste of new music with “TURN GOLD”, a short, explosive riff that wouldn’t feel out of place on an Armand Hammer mixtape.
Charter Ghost – “Fit to Lose”
I love jumping into a new Charter Ghost track blind, not knowing what to expect. Gustavo Colon (the architect of the project) captures that perfect balance of melody and post-punk paranoia that you’d only sometimes hear in the early 2010s (like Deerhunter, for example). It’s hard to sit still listening to “Fit To Lose”, a song that feels like it crawls over you with a million tiny legs.
Dr. Martino – “When You Want It”
Joy. Unbridled joy. I felt that twice in the span of five minutes, first in hearing that Connecticut DIY heroes Dr. Martino had released a new song, and then again while I listened to “When You Want It”. It’s a fast, peppy, incredibly catchy song about fair-weather friends. Amy and Sim trading off vocals in the final moments of the song might be one of our favorite music moments of 2021. The song didn’t come with an album or EP announcement, but… you never know…
Emei – “Late to the Party”
We first learned about New Haven’s Emei from CT music blogger My Emu Is Emo. “Late to the Party” is a song that works on multiple clever levels — a sneaky, spooky musical backdrop over lyrics about being late to the party in both literal and figurative ways. There’s a lot of fun lyrical wordplay to engage with but honestly, if you just wanted to vibe to this beat and killer melody, that’s cool too.
Evelyn Gray – “Cement Mixer”
Evelyn Gray is currently playing with Hit Like A Girl this fall, but they still found time to release this new gorgeous track. The song feels like slowly opening your eyes while you drift on top of body-temperature water at night. Come see them play it (maybe!) at The Beeracks on 11/11 with Hit Like A Girl and John-Allison Weiss.
Haunted Continents – “On Your Side”
Some of your favorite songs take a while to grow on you. Others are like “On Your Side”, and they just grab you within mere seconds.
Lexi Mariah – “Demons”
West Haven’s Lexi Mariah has a new song out! (With its own music video coming on 10/25). “Demons” is slick, catchy, and unapologetic.
Number One Babe – “Lonely Guy”
We love this CT/RI project. Imagine finding an unmarked vinyl record, throwing it on, and hearing this warmly nostalgic song — “Lonely Guy” (like many of Number One Babe’s songs) could have been produced for a 1960 record that somehow slipped through the cracks only to be discovered in 2021.
Ovlov – “The Wishing Well”
In a recent interview with Stereogum, Steve Hartlett mentioned that Ovlov’s new music marked a change in their usual style, embracing a more pop-forward mindset. This second single is incredibly catchy, and it loses nothing from the classic Ovlov you know and love — it’s beautifully fuzzy and thick. This is peak Ovlov. Their new album, Buds, will drop November 19.
The Problem with Kids Today – “The Ska Song”
Hmm, I wonder what “The Ska Song” sounds like. Oh, it sounds like The Problem With Kids Today but with 100% more ska! I guess they warned us. This song rules, and it continues the band’s unbroken streak of great singles.
Uncis – “Lemon Citrus”
We’re still enamored with Uncis’s album, Your Majesties, which came out earlier this year. The duo just released a new track: “Lemon Citrus”, is a beautiful, playful love song. RJ and Lars don’t miss.
And we didn’t include a “Music Video” section here at the end like we normally do because we ran out of time and didn’t have a chance to search Connecticut for new music videos. But hey, if you find some, let us know for next week!
