Most things suck right now. And by most, we mean about 96% of things.
10 or 20 or 30 years ago, this living hell might not have lasted quite as long. There might have been a light at the end of the tunnel by this point. Today, there is none.
And also 10-30 years ago, internet speeds weren't nearly as fast. In 2020, we can communicate faster; we can instantly share ideas virtually (for better or worse); we can not only create homemade art and music, but we can share them on handheld computers.
Most things suck right now, but at least there's screaming mummies.
And rock is still here, thriving more than any other genre, far beyond the boundaries of capitalism without shows, without venues, without major labels, without big money bloggers, and with its most heinous offenders recieving their karmic due diligence. Virtual DIY zines and newsletters are more important than ever. Free charity EPs comprise many of 2020's best releases.
Rockism might come back with a vengeance by the time the pandemic eventually fades, free of blue checks and rich parents dictating future end-of-year lists. 2020 was blessed with Bandcamp's massive free storage capacity -- unavailable decades ago.
Most things tremendously suck right now. But new rock is not one of those things.
The newest news. The hottest jams. Let's go...
Nashville's Thirdface Release a New Summer Single
May or may not be hinting at more music later in 2020.
Also check out their video from last summer...
"PUNK BAND" Has Been Looped In Our Head For A Few Days
It's still there.
Don't Think We Forgot About Territory Slugs
We did not forget. Still no word on a release date, but the long awaited "Alone Time" was posted back in April.
https://soundcloud.com/andy-chervenak/alone-time-vox-2
(Sandy) Alex G Is Now Alex G
This really messed up our scrobbles, and turns out it was all for naught. If they just combined these into one artist account, Alex G would be our 4th or 5th highest scrobble of all time. But instead it's split between "Alex G" at #28 and "(Sandy) Alex G" at #12. Can someone get on this already?
Here's their latest video from back in Feb:
Cloud Nothings Release Surprise Quarantine Full Length
And somehow emerge tighter than ever. Only two songs are available for free now. No word from Todd Hyman on the official release date just yet:
Lavender Flu Covers "In League With Satan"
We're in favor of more bands covering this song. Midnight's cover is also sick. They're both sick.
https://lavenderflu.bandcamp.com/track/in-league-with-satan
Super Flasher's Self-Titled Arrives On Bandcamp!
We don't remember liking this band on Facebook, but we're glad we did because hey check this out:
Lea's Latest New Single Is One In A Million
A few months ago, we played "One In A Million" by Aaliyah during our radio shift. We did this because we have a 12-inch single of this jam, and we like to occasionally play it on the radio since it is the greatest record of all time.
So long story short: Vitti was driving around, probably with Jon and Salvator and possibly Boner, and they heard a re-run of this show where I correctly described it as the greatest song. A few minutes later, I got a random text from Vitti saying "How much did James pay you to say that hahah" and it took me about 10 minutes to figure out that #1 it was a Monday night around 11:30PM, #2 the radio station was playing this specific re-run, and #3 Vitti misheard me as saying "Lea" instead of "Aaliyah."
So now Lea has a new song that is the actual greatest song of all time. It's "all the feels." It's everything. Waiting on that full length already.
Shamir Drops "On My Own" Video
Future MTVZ content is here.
Vince Loves The New Knot Single
Can you blame him?
After Hours Top 10 Most Played -- Week Of July 20thth
We're trying to figure out how to get anyone to care about After Hours FM. Here's the songs with the most plays from last week:
"Mantra" gives us hope for a future Earl & Miguel collab. The beat suggests a painful struggle with intimate exploration. With Miguel, this would entail a more sensual (sexual) journey, while Earl's is entirely introspective - a drug song. Starting at 2:40, the warped coda sounds like the chemicals are finally starting to work their magic. By 3:20, Earl is painless and catatonic while the intro of a far more relaxed and polished beat slides its way into the picture.
The classic rock radio backlash 
“Take a sip of my secret potion / One taste and you’ll be mine.” We hate to break it to you, but what people call "love" is just a chemical reaction that compels animals to breed. It hits hard, and then it slowly fades leaving you 
Despite popular belief, there's a lot more Frank Black than Kim Deal injected into "Purple Rage," a jam that might have been the most perfect traditionally structured loud rock song of 2015. There's even a breakdown after the second chorus, plus plenty of opportunities for audiences at their shows to scream "YAAEEEEEEAAAAAA" while throwing their fists in the air. Slack is back - with a vengeance. 
Not gonna lie here: We don't know enough about jazz to correctly identify which sections of The Epic sound closest to John Coltrane or Chick Corea. But we listen to 
We found two other online reviews of Stove Is Stupider that individually note the ignition of the Big Muff in "Dusty Weather's" outro as an album highlight. And while we're inclined to agree, the preceding 3 minutes and 20 seconds of quiet restraint are equally crucial. Within the album's sequencing, it's the first moment on this record that doesn't rest comfortably on the line between Ovlov and what happened afterwards. The Stove era feels more introspective than ever, and possibly as a consequence, slightly more aligned with the textures of Jimmy Eat World's Clarity and The Get Up Kids' Something To Write Home About (both from 1999). But what's truly remarkable is that any randomly chosen song from Is Stupider might actually prove itself just as timeless as almost anything from either of those albums.
This refers to the 3:34 version posted to Soundcloud back in July and (for some reason) 
Sources have reported that Ava Luna's creative process involves brainstorms and organization so extensive that their notepads might be incomprehensible to average humans. Whenever any band does a song about money or bills, we always say it's "their official commentary on the nation's economic climate," and we're usually half-kidding. But in this case, Ava Luna seem to have sonically captured a frustrating balancing act between responsibility towards both money and relationships. The complexity in the lyrics reflect its "mini-symphony" arrangement, soulful vocals that wouldn't be out of place on a Hall & Oates record, and drum mics pushed into the red. Its arrangement seems oddly balanced as well, with an earwormy singalong chorus that doesn't return the same way twice. 
We regret not throwing together a few interviews for this year's Hot Mix. In this instance, it might have been helpful to know if "Sofa Queen" was remotely composed, like that Postal Service album. In either case, we stand by our initial assessment that we've probably already drunkenly confessed to the three musicians involved: "It sounds like Ellen singing on a Grass Is Green song," which for us is a "Breaking News" headline worth far more than "Check Out Josh Homme and Dave Grohl's New Band." You know those instances of big business collaborations where the headline is worth more than the actual music? Dave Grohl is usually involved in a lot of these. "Check Out Kanye and McCartney's New Single On Tidal." You get the point.
Fact #1: As an official Beyonce-dubbed title, 
2015 may have been "the year of lead singles from promised albums that never got released." While Missy's "WTF" and Rihanna's "BBHMM" were among the most notorious, many Kanye fans must have been tipped early on that the odds of these McCartney collabs ending up on Swish were just as likely as "Mercy" or "Clique" winding up on Yeezus. All three songs arrived within the first 3 months of 2015. By the time October arrived, it was pretty certain that Kanye had moved onto other things. A lot of fans couldn't help noticing the similarities between the intros of "All Day" and 
On their tour following the release of A Distant Fist Unclenching, Krill would frequently close their setlists with a strategically placed emotional earthquake: 
Our favorite moments on Alex G's last few records are the darker, more bizarre moments, if only because they're always more unexpected among the larger, more traditional fraction. The oddities have been showing up more frequently since 2012's Trick. "Salt," "Look Out," "Brite Boy" and "In Love" might be the weirdest, darkest and arguably best sequence on any of his albums so far, while the more traditional singer-songwriter parts of Beach Music are as strong as ever. There's a very good possibility that it's his best album yet. The quiet dissonant guitar feedback in "Kicker" suggests a madness creeping underneath all the coolness. "Big plan for a big man / Tough change for a tough guy." A definite album highlight.
Here's a great example of visuals in a music video capturing the essence of a song. The Youtube viewer gets to literally run away with Carly Rae as she escapes to Paris, NYC and (possibly) Tokyo. The production elements and sax riff help it to fit within the current fake-'80s trend (M83's 
"NOW she wanna fuck with me...". She sounds like she's dealt with this many times before. This lyric accompanied by a abruptly warm and dark introduction kicks off an otherwise outstanding 4-song front-load and the year's most sadly unheralded song sequence. If '90s nostalgia is still considered hip, then Ego Death arrived just in time for what appears to be a brief revival of neo-soul. Syd Tha Kid's understated coolness recalls Amel Larrieux's vocals on 
Homeshake is a home recording project of Mac Demarco's former rhythm guitar player. The sleepy, melancholy aura within "Heat" somehow aligns pretty well with its unauthorized 
In October 2014, we were fortunate enough to visit the Odd Future store on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles (which closed down the following January). The items were a bit pricey, but Devin bought socks, and we picked up some "GOLF" bumper stickers. It was pretty empty with the exception of 1 or 2 clerks and 2 or 3 dudes at the front of the store who were loudly playing FIFA 2014 on XBOX. And by "the front of the store," we mean you had to walk right past them since the TV was above the entrance. And by "loudly," we mean they were laughing and yelling expletives at each other creating a less-than-typical environment for a retail store. And if memory serves correctly, there was no music, so these FIFA dudes were the only audible sounds throughout the entire time you were there. We'd like to think that those 2 or 3 dudes were employees who were paid to help generate an OFWGKTA-approved atmosphere. 
Palehound's knack for strong melodic hooks is probably the most obvious attribute at the heart of "Healthier Folk's" dopeness, alongside their excellent usage of careful restraint. But the structural twists and turns are what might make this their quintessential jam. Like the finest Simpsons episodes, it 
A welcome inclusion to any of her future Greatest Hits packages, "No Sleeep" chronicles Janet's sexual excursions confined within some lavishly decorated house or apartment throughout a rainy 48 hour period - one in which Janet and the object of her desire receive no sleep despite surrounding themselves with very soft and comfortable beds, couches, blankets and pillows. It sounds like they start to run out of steam around 2:51 as the beat switches back to the heartbeat-sounding kick drum from the intro. Janet starts to doze off here, but then gets awakened for another round. "No Sleeep" might also a strong candidate for the "fade out hall of fame" (alongside Aaliyah's "One In A Million," Beck's "Loser," Bowie's "Space Oddity") as the heartbeat resurfaces throughout its final 15 seconds. (Sadly, this is the portion of the song that J. Cole raps over in the album version. But fortunately, R&B radio has avoided this version.)
We may have blown our #BBHMM load on 
We hope these guys never disappear. The lengthy introduction section of “Lifeboat” reminds us of an industrial factory assembly line. But once the vocals enter, the narrator admits that he's somehow managed to escape, rescued from his monotonous situation, while his former cohorts remain trapped, perhaps indefinitely. “They can't get out.” New Liars LP is expected to drop in the next few months, and this single's gotten us especially pumped for more brooding drone.
As a song title, “Damage” might suggests various shades of deterioration: confused and pissed off, chaos and punk rock. Abby's vocals project a nonchalant and subtle coolness, no fucks given while watching the fire destroy something from the past, with her delivery of “now that you're gone” especially maximizing the “fuck you” quotient. The buried isolationism within Phoebe's surfer-girl guitar fills stay very much in character with the best of Potty Mouth's repertoire. Our favorite element is Ally and Victoria's engine room, as they continue bashing down its walls with baseball bats, feeding the momentum provided by such a brilliantly deep and driving guitar riff. Fresh CPR breaths provide new life to punk rock with songs about destruction. Oh, the irony.
While many of Lou Barlow's recent contributions to Dinosaur have strongly shone as standouts, Jason Loewenstein's most recent Sebadoh jams may have outdone Lou's just the same. To Lou's credit, he has more outlets for songwriting, whereas Jason may have been holding onto “Beat” since a few years ago. It's definitely their best recent song, and among Jason's crunchiest and most cathartic, securing his placement as Sebadoh's secret weapon, just the same as on albums like III and Bakesale all those years ago. Some things never change.
So many questions in this life. Trinidad closes his Don't Be S.A.F.E. mixtape with a pensive downer. His flow is still tight as fuck and he still recognizes his freshness, but the struggle for perfection in the most valuable areas can bring down even the most talented MCs. “It always surprise me how the realest niggas be the fakest, man, and the underdog be the greatest, man...” Our only gripe is that it ends slightly too early, and we wish he had returned to the chorus just once more before the abrupt outro. 
It's too tough to choose between Am's two drop-D bummers. We couldn't help but notice some vague resemblance between Steve and Sadie's shaky-hand boy/girl unisons in “Where's My Dini” and the child voice actors from An American Tail who played Fivel and Tilly, specifically during saddest-song-ever candidate “Somewhere Out There.” We're imagining a similar scenario: Gazing into the sky miles apart, wondering where their loved one might be, seeking comfort in the possibility of wishing upon the same star. As a muse, “Dini” seems to represent something larger than a single instance, as the song's crushingly overwhelming sense of longing strikes a universal chord. The same goes for “Moth Rock,” expanding on a classic metaphor: “Like a moth through a flame, burned by the fire, my love is blind, can't you see my desire...” And yes, we really did just compare Ovlov to Janet Jackson.
“Ice Cream” is basically a caricature of any drug sequence music from a Hollywood movie. Its quieter A-section establishes an absurdly catchy vocal melody that might fit on a record from Donovan or maybe Syd Barrett. The B-section releases inhibitions, expands consciousness, stimulates the nervous system, and intensifies sensual experiences. By the time the A-section returns, a balls trippin' sound collage has entered the picture, not sounding all that far from the stranger moments in “Revolution 9” or “I Am the Walrus.” Also: Earworm alert.
We're counting this among the year's finest '90s-throwbacks, which could feasibly have been a mid-decade West Coast jam, or maybe even a '98-era Atlanta jam. Plus, it supplied us with a preview of TLC's well-timed resurrection. “It makes me excited for the next TLC album,” says Sadie Dupuis, who we asked for some quotes, because we're lazy and can't think of shit to say. “Macklemore sucks hella, despite trying to deliver a positive message, but J.Cole actually is delivering a positive message in a way that I like, because he's actually a good rapper and his production isn't cheesy. This song makes me want to spend less time in the bathroom so that my roommate won't be like 'why you gotta take so long?'”
Far past their eponymous anthem, Krill's catalog boasts a trove of gems now cherished by the diehards who might resent anyone choosing “Theme” - now probably their most popular jam - to represent Lucky Leaves or their music as a whole. While it's not their absolute career highlight, it's still probably their quintessential jam, combining all their best elements into a neatly packaged anthem: Tight songcraft with finely tuned arrangements, yelps and voicecracks, bombastic musicianship, and self-deprecating sense of humor, combined with one of the year's finest drunken singalong choruses. For the same reasons, we'd likely have no problem eventually settling on “Theme from Krill” if we were forced into the impossible task of crowning Boston with an “Anthem of the Year 2013.”
Instead of approaching "MILF" as a sequel to "Dance(A$$)(Remix)," Sean and Nicki sorta took the route of Tommy Boy & Black Sheep, casting the same chemistry partners in a different scenario. The result is probably the weirdest love song of the year, describing the complexities of falling for a MILF. We thought the kids were singing "Man on my mama," but Rap Genius reveals it's "Man, not my mama." When the kids aren't looking, Big Sean eats their snacks. When Seany's not looking, they're peeping through the keyhole. It's implied that Nicki Minaj plays the part of the 50-something MILF on welfare with fake teeth, an interesting twist that would fit more typically in a bizarre Sundance Festival film than within modern hiphop.
For some reason, "the song on the summer" seemed to have been emphasized through internet and radio marketing more so than in previous summers, and "The Way" def wins for top 5 summer 2013 jams, beating out "Blurred Lines" by a long shot. Thicke's and Pharrell's interpolation of "Got To Give It Up" didn't add as much sweetness (and dopeness, frankly) as Ariana's triple-thick frosting spread over the "Still Not A Playa" cupcake. By the time April showers turned to July thundershowers, "The Way" became inescapable and familiar enough to remove her Mariah similarities from the equation, embodying the jam entirely, and significantly upping the ante from 
Apart from having one of the catchiest earworm-basslines of the year, "Never a Joke" derives from the LP that spawned this historic blurb from our staff writers: When your path crosses Krill getting wasted in the gutter, they won't shout expletives at you or ask for change. They might not even want your attention. But if you give them 3 minutes, you'll be in on the joke. Despite its endearing wit, this record's enormity never quits. Bummer slack. Stay in bed for a week. Some of those caterwauls might be hiccups. - 
The song title suggests witchcraft, but we're hearing Satanic stews a-brewin'. Right when “Sorceress” hits the throttle within its first minute, the rhythm section and guitars quickly lose any sense of synchronicity, suggesting stumblingly drunk raw power. Halfway through, Fred Phelps (or someone) condemns the heathens just before a monstrously thrashy riff brings it home for 4 or 5 minutes, only occasionally joined by Cultes' vocalist, scream-laughing while shoveling the non-believer souls into the eternal incinerator.
A less adventurous pairing of DJ & Rapper might have split this into 5 or 6 separate jams. Leave it to Party Supplies to make good on his chosen DJ name, serving up mostly familiar samples from more unexpectedly uncovered areas of 80s MTV than Puff Daddy's first solo record...
Throwing some Minaj into the mixture was a nice touch, but not enough to launch “Get Like Me” into its well deserved placement within the Top 40 stratosphere. Most fans of Pharrell who've been awaiting some sort of Neptunes resurgence probably expected it to sound like this song, as opposed to his two genuine summer 2013 megahits. Under normal circumstances (if Top 40 radio hadn't completely turned to shit over the past 2-3 years), “Get Like Me” could have easily fit into heavy rotation. Unfortunately, Nelly and Pharrell shot for an era of nostalgia that wasn't marketable in 2013, with a beat that was dope as hell, albeit less than immediate. There's always next summer.
The past few years have been rough times for the most mysterious rock stars. Since Loveless, Kevin Shields remained elusive as his records grew more legendary, only intensified as the years progressed without a follow up. By the time it was finally released, MBV arrived long after legend-debunking trolls began fueling an age of anti-mystique, discouraging mystery and legend, suddenly placing every article and interview piece very close by to anyone with access to Google searches. The intensely layered guitar jings and effects pedal filtering transcends past the debunkers, preserving the mystique required for their sparkly brand of spacewarp. We're also guessing the last 15 seconds of this song are everything that precedes played backwards.
Ten years on, the phenomenon of the unclassifiable indie/R&B/hiphop crossover continues, following a decent lineage of songs that typically place at #1 on Spin Magazine's favorite singles of the year: “Hey Ya,” “Feel Good Inc,” “Crazy,” “Paper Planes,” and “Fuck You.” This time around, it only makes sense for EDM to fall somewhere into this crossover equation, nicely laying down the red carpet just in time for “Get Lucky” to take the world by storm. After quickly getting suckered into its brilliant marketing campaign, many of us assumed throughout May and June that “Get Lucky” was the bees knees of summer jams. While this assumption failed to hold water, it's still dope enough to qualify as “essential summer 2013” (far more so than “Blurred Lines” or “Applause”) and the best song from a slightly disappointing albeit decent record. (LP version is about 2 minutes too long. Radio edit wins.) P.S. “Song of the summer” seems to have turned into an annoying internet marketing phrase. Expect an attempt to repeat of this next year with similar-sounding dancey stuff.