by hapago

What’s good y’all, hope this finds you and yours well. Here’s some stuff I’ve been bumping this week. What have you been listening to? Write in let me know, anyways—Titan Up!

MJ Lenderman – On My Knees

The penultimate track on the incredible MANNING FIREWORKS from the man who can’t miss, “ON MY KNEES” is an amazing distorted, open-chord rocker that could fit in easily on ZUMA. I wanna hear more of these kind of songs, off-the-dome types. Also, I’ve never experienced such vivid flashbacks until that “‘Cause I know goin on vacation brings out the worst out of everyone” lyric. I think of Destin, Florida circa 2012 when I hear that line. It was me and all of my fellow annoying 12-year-olds that I met on that trip versus the world. LMFAO was playing in the background. I’ll never go back.

RAM – Ain’t That Bad

From the west coast comes RAM with an incredible track titled “AIN’T THAT BAD.” This is the good stuff folks. If you’re one of the lucky few out in California, go see them this weekend with HOTLINE TNT. It’s GRAM PARSONS, it’s almost FUGAZI, but it’s 100% RAM. The people gotta know though, was the project named for the MACCA album? If there’s response, we’ll publish it.

Artificial Go – Artificial Go

Anytime there’s a new FEEL IT RECORDS release, yr in for a good time. When FUTURE SHOCK has a release, you know it’ll be good. When these two midwestern staples come together, it can’t be anything short of perfection. Enter ARTIFICIAL GO—Cincinnati’s newest jangle/pop!/post-punk? whatever! They’re here and it’s amazing. The trio has crafted a moving, relentless record that keeps pushing forward and forward. The self-titled track is a standout to me—the callback to the wonderful single “PAY PHONE,” the guitars that stab you straight in the face, and a chant that unifies all ARTIFICIAL GO fans: “RED LIPSTICK/GO/HIGH HEELS/GO/PLASTIC/GO/HAIRSPRAY/GO/CURLING IRON/GO/MASCARA/GO/ARTIFICAL GO/SILICONE!/GO!”

Prison Affair – Last Meal

The heroes of Barcelona PRISON AFFAIR have released the last installment of the DEMO tapes, and DEMO 4 is a great goodbye to this era. “LAST MEAL” is true PRISON AFFAIR at it’s core—it’s got some of the craziest guitar/bass parts that don’t leave any breathing room, and a wild sped-up drum machine section that you can’t possibly imagine being recreated live (and somehow they do and somehow it’s even faster)! I’m sad that this era is over, but am incredibly excited to hear what’s up next. Shoutout my PRISON AFFAIR family, love y’all. Til the next time!