thehardtimes
patreon
Eight Songs We're Listening to This Week While The Merciless Beat of Time Marches On
🕑 Added 2024-01-07 08:04:03 +0000 UTCAnother year has begun, just like the year before it, and sadly, the year before that one. While many take the completion of another set of calendar pages as an opportunity to reinvent themselves, you have decided to maintain your rapidly stagnating personal status quo. We get it, change is scary and resolutions are hard to keep. There’s an easy fix though! For centuries people have used their musical tastes as status symbols. Countless listeners have long used their changing preferences as a vague proof of growth. Why shouldn’t you?
Judging by your excitement over MCR’s ‘Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge’ turning twenty this year, there’s a solid chance you haven’t really delved into anything new for quite some time. That’s where we come in. Our experts in the field of new sounds have scoured the internet to present you with a list of eight songs that have come out much more recently than 2004. We’ve also done the backbreaking task of compiling them into a new playlist which will be constantly updated all of 2024. If you want to see what 2023 was like check out our selections from last year: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0rlpqGD9JrGLs5LgPrnLLP?si=8d9a82052ddd4a88
Snõõper “for yr love”
Following a fantastic debut LP - which we designated as one of our favorite albums of last year - as well as an incredible one-off single “Company Car,” Nashville’s Snõõper are continuing their well-earned 2023 victory lap with the release of a chaotic cover of The Zombies classic “For Your Love.” Over what appears to be a sped up and warped sample of the original track, the quintet paints a sonic masterpiece complete with melting vocals, blown out guitars, and a brisk runtime that cuts the original arrangement nearly in half. The rendition is so quintessentially Snõõper, you wouldn’t have a hard time convincing us they actually wrote the ‘60s hit in earnest.
https://open.spotify.com/track/5x7lSKx7IFZ4V5uDIniOT1?si=8dfa231351b84d0f
Sprints “Heavy”
The up and coming Dublin indie quartet Sprints just released their debut album ‘Letter to Self’ and it’s a stunner. Mixing elements of noise, post-punk, and indie, the band maintains a cacophonous, yet accessible, wallop. Punctuated by the powerhouse vocals of Karla Chubb, Sprints is an absolute force to be reckoned with. Their latest single ‘Heavy’ provides a perfect snapshot of what the album holds. Ferocious guitars, insanely catchy hooks, and a backbeat that will have you halfway into the ground before the final notes ring out.
https://open.spotify.com/track/02bA26OEe0nNFyE3YcNx4K?si=ad2bc920abba43b4
Kid Kapichi “999”
If you’ve been looking for a barnburner track that you can dance to while simultaneously expressing your hatred for the police, then look no further than Kid Kapichi’s latest single ‘999.’ Armed with the band’s penchant for brutal riffs and scream-along hooks, ‘999’ is a fiery call to arms that absolutely does not let up. Since its release we have had to bolt all staff desks to the folder to prevent flipping, but that hasn’t stopped multiple chairs from being hurled through our office windows.
https://open.spotify.com/track/3X6kv6zO5IP2rSTYuUOFJi?si=9145309539e8439c
Trey Magnifique “I Could Get Used To This”
It’s a new year, which means a new you. And that new you wants one thing and one thing only: smooth-ass jazz saxophone. Fortunately, Trey Magnifique has you covered, having released his 63rd album of smooth instrumentals entitled ‘Mature Situations’ last November. As the song’s title suggests, it’s not hard to imagine yourself ‘getting used’ to the mellow sounds that permeate the entire album. Seeing as your only New Year’s Resolution was to bring your blood pressure down to a non-lethal rate, it would be well advised that you include this in the rotation moving forward.
https://open.spotify.com/track/0dlRgCp5yehlTRJv9jAXtb?si=4521f617f2bd47fc
Alkaline Trio “Versions of You”
Alkaline Trio are gearing up to release their 10th studio album ‘Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs’ this month. Their most recent single ‘Versions of You’ finds the band in their grooviest form yet. Syncopated bass and drums tumble over a hypnotic riff that lightly borders on the edges of math rock, creating just enough pocket space for some of Dan Andriano’s most cutting vocals ever put to tape. If The Police did way more pills in the ‘80s, it’s possible they could have cut something similar.
https://open.spotify.com/track/5552mB1SfLoZPP999vzyF4?si=f4a3b779a24c49b3
Bib “Two Faced Planet/Bitter Mind”
It’s been nearly four years since Omaha’s Bib released their dizzying hardcore masterpiece ‘Delux.’ Just as we all were starting to wrap our heads around how deliriously epic that album was, the quartet announced their new EP ‘Biblical’ with a set of two singles that further cement their status as one of the most exciting bands in the genre. Unfortunately, the staff has been so riled up by this drop, that we’ve had to temporarily ban both ‘Two Faced Planet’ and ‘Bitter Mind’ from being played during office hours. Our Managing Editor can only withstand so many spin-kicks to the head before quality starts to plummet.
TEEN PRIME “thingies”
In case you missed it, Berlin’s math rock legends TEEN PRIME surprise released their 8th album over Christmas, and it is as astounding as it is baffling. In true fashion for the duo, ‘no. 8’ is a dense, sprawling, and utterly massive journey through frenetic drums, fuzzed out guitar lines, and head spinning arrangements. While it can be a lot to wrap your head around, we highly recommend starting with ‘thingies’ and working your way out of the maze from there. We’ll wait for your review once you get your head strapped back on.
https://open.spotify.com/track/66oCildQqotJyk6BoUpNxs?si=b8ba469dc789417d
Like we said before, we know you’re too lazy to look these up yourself, so we did it for you. Click the link to like and follow the official What We’re Listening To playlist for 2024 and trick your loved ones into thinking you’re relevant again.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6G2FXPNUrXzhQlCCASkenI?si=cb8c2da59aed4349
Comments
Jim King
Sprints and Kid Kapichi. Nice choices
