
Sammy Rae & The Friends - We Made It
Hey everyone! đ We're totally vibing with the laid-back coolness of "We Made It" and can hardly wait for our epic party with the awesome Nettwerk Music Group and Fat Tire! Join us on Thursday, September 19 at the Good Time Tavern, a fantastic celebration with Sammy Rae & The Friends for the launch of their brand new album, "Something For Everybody"! đ¶âš
Expect a super chill evening featuring an intimate, stripped-down mini performance from the band, new friends, and some delicious Fat Tire brews at Ray's Brooklyn. đ» Itâs going to be a night of great music, even better company, and plenty of good vibes. Letâs kick back, enjoy some tunes, and toast to great times ahead! Cheers to an unforgettable night!
Tickets include live music, food, and 2 Fat Tire beers. Learn more here.
Enter our giveaway to win a pair of tickets to the event here.
Art by Brandt Imhoff
â Eric Weiner on August 16, 2024
Twin Peaks - Ferry Song
After putting out a single every month of 2017, Twin Peaks is finally teasing a new full-length album, Lookout Low, out September 13. The second single, âFerry Song,â fully embraces a musical direction introduced in the Sweet â17 Singles. âFerry Songâ was inspired by singer Colin Croomâs daily trips across the Mississippi River on a visit to New Orleans, but the song is steeped in the rich tradition of Chicago soul. With blaring choruses, gentle verses highlighted by rolling piano chords and lilting acoustic guitar riffs, a deeply groovy syncopated drumbeat, and the addition of a classic horn section, Twin Peaks is sounding more and more like their Windy City contemporaries, Whitney. Early comparisons may have pointed more towards The Rolling Stones, and the raucous outro provides some hints as to why. But itâs clear, as it will be if you catch them onstage on their upcoming tour, that Twin Peaks is mostly concerned with a good timeââTwo dollars ainât too bad / When youâve got nowhere to go.â
â Daniel Shanker on September 4, 2019
Hana Vu - At the Party
LA-based Hana Vu returns with a new single âAt the Party.â The post-punk-disco-synth track is danceable yet detached. Vu is vying for someoneâs attention as she sings âI hope youâre at the party / when you hear my song.â The meta-narrative continues as she wonders if hearing her song will drive this person back to her, but her subdued droning vocals add a laissez-faire quality to the otherwise desperate call for attention. The 19-year-old artist blends the meaning with the soundâusing a variety of synths and driving basslines to create a song that could feasibly be heard at a college party. The track is slow, deep, and sensual as she asks âdoes it make you fall in love with me?â âAt the Partyâ is the first single from Hana Vuâsupcoming double EP Nicole Kidman / Anne Hathaway due out October 25.
â Corey Bates on September 4, 2019
Roofers Union - Friends
At some point before the first in their newest line of three singles, Roofers Unionâs impressive back-catalog disappeared from Spotify and thus, seemingly, from existence entirely. Their full-length album with song titles like âMan Kills God, Man Creates Dinosaurâ and âGodzilla Does Dallas,â their wild music videos, everything, poof, gone. There is no clearer sign of an attempt at rebirth, and by all accounts, they are starting anew with a rekindled drive. The first new single, âKarate,â finally fulfilled so many indie bandsâ dreams of being recognized by Pitchfork, and they continue now with âFriends.â âYou were probably right / When you told me I am in control,â sings frontman T.C. Tyge, so close to reaching some kind of inner understandingââI just donât know if itâs up to me.â Despite the weight of the lyrics, Roofers Union still puts so much effort into its unpredictable sound as the kind of band that prides itself on its âdeeply bonkers multimedia show.â Their characteristic undercurrent of wackiness still defines the backbone of âFriendsââa wackiness that, when combined with their electronic influences, drummer Robby Bowenâs stunted breakdowns, and Tygeâs peculiar croonâmakes Roofers Union sound like an able successor to alt-J, and itâs a treat to hear them in any form they find.
â Daniel Shanker on September 3, 2019
Molly Sarlé - This Close
Singer-Songwriter Molly SarlĂ© impresses us once again with her recent single âThis Closeâ, the second in a string of new releases off her forthcoming album Karaoke Angel. While this is her first solo endeavor, SarlĂ© isnât the new kid on the block. She is one-third of the folk outfit Mountain Man, which also includes bandmates Alexandra Sauser-Monnig (who just launched her own project Daughter of Swords) and Amelia Meath (who founded Sylvan Esso.) âThis Closeâ widens the compelling space that SarlĂ© is making for herself, marked with a mix of pointed, striking songwriting and ethereal, billowing sonic landscapes. The flowing track is an ode to the âwhat couldâve beenâ scenario that weâve all had when we meet someone special, but things donât ultimately align the way we wish they had. Thereâs an underlying sense of self-awareness in SarlĂ©âs lyrics, âWhen everything happens / at once / Isnât that / What we love / Are we really this close / Or is it just / The drugs / Youâve been working yourself up into a state.â Her words arenât weighed down by wishful wallowing but instead amplified with reflective gratitude. Karaoke Angel is out 9/20 on Partisan Records.
â Meredith Vance on September 3, 2019
Chastity Belt - Elena
Chastity Beltâs newest single âElenaâ is a tribute to the enigmatic Italian novelist Elena Ferrante. It is slow and droning with Lydia Lund and Julia Shapiro layering vocals over fuzzy guitar, gentle basslines, and the soft crash of cymbals before gaining momentum in the second half. The track is an intricate web of sounds yet somehow it avoids feeling too engineered. They explore the feeling you have when your friend falls for someone who doesnât deserve their attention, âhis only intrigue was the lack of him / fill in the blanks with what you see fit.â Itâs painful, infuriating, and somehow always makes you feel like a teenager. âElenaâ is the newest single from Chastity Beltâs upcoming self-titled album due out September 20.
â Corey Bates on September 3, 2019
San Fermin - The Living
In advance of their upcoming album, The Cormorant I, the first album in a two-part project following two characters from birth to death after a visit from an ominous bird, Brooklyn chamber-pop group San Fermin has released the second single, âThe Living.â The scale of the ambition of their projects is almost comical until you hear how beautifully itâs matched by the ambition of their music. Ellis Ludwig-Leone is a master of orchestration, constructing avant-garde indie rock songs with pop hooks and classical arrangements. After recording three albums with largely the same group of musiciansâa group that started out as a piecemeal orchestra gathered specifically to record the self-titled debut and whittled down to a leaner bandâ what is most impressive is the way Ludwig-Leone employs each member's talents in the larger scope of the song. When Allen Tate, in his bone-rattling baritone, sings the song's memorable tongue-in-cheek lyrical winkââItâs for the living / We donât have to try / âCause arenât we alive?ââthe wink in the lyrics is matched by an unexpected chord change, a smirk as the first hint of San Ferminâs more artful composition shines through. âThe Livingâ is the albumâs penultimate track, moments away from the inevitable fulfillment of the circle of life, and the band proceeds to its most bombastic as the characters spiral towards their inevitable conclusion.
â Daniel Shanker on August 30, 2019
Hater - Four Tries Down
Swedish outfit Hater make an emotive case with their recent release âFour Tries Down,â the first of two new singles on their forthcoming 7â due out next month and the follow up to their magnetic, sophomore 2018 album Siesta. The tender track is a reminder of the bandâs ability to shift your mindset from a dream-like state into something more grounded with their poignant take on indie-pop. Lead singer Caroline Landahl guides you through a storm of difficult times with her steady, whole-hearted vocals as the punchy, rolling production marches close beside. Itâs a kind of plea to find whatâs left over when youâre at the end of your rope and out of options, felt as Landahl states âNo one knows their limit / till the limit is near.â As the instrumentals lead you out, youâre left wondering if she ever found what she was looking for to begin with. Four Tries Down / Itâs A Mess 7â will officially be out on September 6 via Fire Records.
â Meredith Vance on August 30, 2019
âAngel Olsen - All Mirrors
Angel Olsen: a true, witchy beauty with a musicality like Sharon Van Etten and Fiona Apple (and the wardrobe of a goth Jenny Lewis) is blessing us with a new record on October 4, titled All Mirrors. She dropped the title track on July 30. Tonally intact but musically different, "All Mirrors" is all synth-punk and dreamy. Angel's vocals are as crass, girly and undeniably authoritative as ever, but this song falls more accurately into an 80s pop strain than an alt-rock one. That being said, it's still Angel. "All Mirrors" is still fraught with emotionalism and that rich, velvety darkness that we find in most of her music. The music video features Angel sitting atop a rotating platform in a white gown, singing to the camera in a black-and-white frame. Perhaps the rotation is an echo of the monotony and ache of time as she sings, "Standing, facin', all mirrors are erasin' / Losin' beauty, at least at times it knew me." She's kicking off her North American tour this fallâcheck out the dates here.
â Hannah Lupas on August 30, 2019
Barrie - Chinatown (Alt)
Brooklyn indie-pop band Barrie strips back their sound to its dreamy, glistening essentials on âChinatown (Alt),â one of two new singles they released as alternate versions of the more upbeat retro-pop originals on their debut album Happy To Be Here, which came out earlier this year via Winspear. âChinatown (Alt)â relies mostly on nostalgic, twinkling keys and singer-songwriter Barrie Lindsayâs clear, wistful soprano. The song is a gorgeous dream-pop lullaby, making strategic use of bare, plinking instrumentals and airy harmonies to transport the listener to a place amongst the stars. The raw intimacy of the production proves that sometimes, less is more. Lindsayâs soothing vocal reverberates at the front of the arrangement, so it sounds like sheâs whisper-singing into your ear. The lyrics are equally fitting: âOh, the light in Chinatown tonight/ Those are weaker days / When I talk to you when I say your name / I can't tell if I fell back asleep.â Listen to âChinatown (Alt)â to wind down after a long night, and youâll be instantly relaxed.
â Britnee Meiser on August 29, 2019
Bon Iver - Naeem
From Bon Iver's newest LP i,i comes "Naeem," a track likely named after Justin Vernon's collaborator and co-writer Naeem Hanks. More rhythmic and brimming with vocal warmth than some of the other tracks on this album, "Naeem" feels emotional and omnipresent: a cinematic departure from Vernon's otherwise loftier songwriting. This is not to say that this song is shallow in any sense. On the contrary, it feels more authoritative and defining. During an interview with BBC Radio 1, Vernon describes this particular track as signifying a crucial turn in the album: "I think itâs like the end of the first act. It ends the first side [âŠ] It was kind of too rambunctious, too energetic, or too Les Mis to end the record. Itâs the end of the first act, the end of the first breadth of songs. It kind of gives you a chance to start over again on the second side." Bon Iver released i,i on August 9, 2019.
â Hannah Lupas on August 29, 2019