Squid’s debut album isn’t out yet, and “highly anticipated” might be an understatement. Over the last several months they’ve released a series of singles that…are… awesome. The most recent, “Paddling”, should give you an idea of what they’re all about. You like it? You’ll like it.
Black Country, New Road - Track X
Black Country, New Road (which I’ll shorten to BC,NR from here on out) made an impression on me right away. “Sunglasses” which is a crazy, cool song, popped up in one of my playlists and when I heard it I did a double-take and went right black and listened to it again. And then I texted it to a few friends and my brother. A good sign.
As far as I know, BC,NR didn’t have anything else out at the time but have released a few other singles and a short LP, For the last time, which arrived in early Feb. Here’s the deal, they don’t have a lot of music out, but what they do have is awesome and very well evolved. I read somewhere that they’ve been playing together for a while and that shows. They are a bit hard to pin down, but “jazz-infused garage punk” might work, though, as always, labels are a bit limiting. They’re good and today’s song, “Track X” is a good example of what they do well, mixing melody, a variety of instruments and a lot of frenetic creativity. It’s a little on the mellow side but serves as a nice intro. Give it a listen and then check out their other stuff.
Fun note: their name came from a random Wikipedia generator and their album cover was sourced from Unsplash. Nerds. :)
PUP - Kids
PUP recently came out with Morbid Stuff, a terrific follow-up to their eventual classic, 2016’s The Dream Is Over and it’s great stuff. The first single, “Kids”, is both hopeful and super depressing at the same time. From their press release:
“‘Kids’ is a love song from one nihilistic depressive to another. It’s about what happens when you stumble across the only other person on the face of this godless, desolate planet that thinks everything is as twisted and as fucked up as you do. And thanks to them, the world starts to seem just a little less bleak. But only slightly – it’s still pretty fucked up to be honest.”
Fucked up? Maybe true, but it makes some great art and an excellent song.