Happy New Year! And welcome to Vice/Noisey’s New Music Friday list in damn-near a month. The holidays sure take a toll, huh?
I was surprised to discover that there are a lot more new tunes this week than I was expecting. Still, I sifted through a large collection of tracks, and what you find below are my strongest recommendations.
“Punk Rocky” by A$AP Rocky
I want to be careful how I say this, while also being as transparent as possible… This is maybe my favorite A$AP Rocky song ever. Let me reiterate that… EVER. I am not being facetious. It’s just so catchy and engaging.
The NYC-born rapper traded in stock beats for an indie garage-rock melody, and I’ll be damned if it doesn’t work perfectly. This is the kind of elevation you hope to see from your favorite artists, but it’s rarely achieved.
“I Know Where Mark Chen Lives” by Joyce Manor
Modern punk rock has many defining characteristics. No one’s hitting every single note, though, like Joyce Manor.
This week, the band dropped “I Know Where Mark Chen Lives”. It’s a new single from their forthcoming album, I Used to Go to This Bar. The song is relentless and nonconforming, making zero excuses for its rebellion.
“DESIGNED TO LOSE” by The Twilight Sad
We’re all well acquainted with how I’m a sucker for anything even remotely shoegaze adjacent.
The Twilight Sad isn’t a band you would necessarily define as “shoegaze.” Though there are some very compelling, big-sound elements to their music. The band’s newest single is “Designed to Lose”, a catchy, 80s-inspired tune with a solid melody and lots of fuzzy background elements.
“The Apparition” by Final Gasp
Macabre-core New Englanders Final Gasp are not f***ing around. The band is committed to conjuring dark, gothic post-hardcore jams, and they do not falter.
No, you haven’t fallen down a tunnel back to the 80s. I can, however, see why you’d think that. Imagine it’s like Type O Negative, if they were exclusively a neo-hardcore graveyard-jam band.
“Can’t Live Without” by Lakeview
The self-described “blue collar country” boys of Lakeview are absolute masters of their craft. It’s a little bit dad rock, a little bit nu-metal, and a lot-a-bit southern. I f***king dare you to find a band more unapologetically true to themselves.
This week, the fellas dropped their newest tune, “Can’t Live Without”. Unironic fans of Nickelback, Hardy, and A Day to Remember: press play.
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