I’m back from Eaux Claires and let me tell you: If you were there, you missed out! Har har har… I’m just kidding, probably.
Having checked off my big northern Wisconsin trip for the year, my eyes are turned toward new, pressing concerns: Will Ms. Lauryn Hill show up for her Pitchfork headlining set on time? Is Let’s Eat Grandma such a bad band name that it will get in the way of me enjoying their very enjoyable I’m All Ears? Will I ever listen to all these new Drake songs? Will you, reader, hear any new songs you like in this week’s column? If “yes” is the answer to any of these questions, let’s hope it’s the final one!
Thin Lips: “Gaslight Anthem (The Song Not The Band)”
Thin Lips, like seemingly half of my favorite rock bands these days, is from Philadelphia. That’s about as much as I knew about them before listening to “Gaslight Anthem (The Song Not The Band)” based on its title. I’m really glad that the song led me to listen to Riff Hard, their great 2016 debut LP. Featuring vocals from members of Kississippi, Modern Baseball and Hop Along, “Gaslight Anthem” is a loud, bummed out anthem. Singer Chrissy Tashjian slurs over big midtempo riffs with an absorbing malaise that’s immediately easy to empathize with, even if you can’t pick out all the words on the first listen.
Justin Timberlake: “SoulMate”
I’m betting that, until reading this sentence, you forgot that Justin Timberlake released an album this year. But he’s had enough of a presence on the past few decades’ pop charts that I feel like his new stuff is always worth checking out (even if just to see whatever M.O. he’s adopted lately.)
“SoulMate” sees Justin dropping his Man of the Woods lumberjack cosplay, pulling on a tank top, and beginning this one-off single with the spoken proclamation: “Summer. Starts. Now.” (Gutsy!) Let’s forget about all of 2018’s other established Songs of the Summer(™) for a few minutes, because “SoulMate” is a bop worth bopping. And if it sounds like a Drake song, it’s because its lead writer Nineteen85 also wrote and produced on “Hold On, We’re Going Home,” “Hotline Bling” and “One Dance.”
Mike Krol: “An Ambulance”
This crunchy new Mike Krol track is the A-side of a 7” single coming in early August and it delivers the kind of quick, blown out melodic garage rock I adore. Aside from a 2017 re-release of his earlier albums, it’s been a while since we’ve gotten a full-length from the Milwaukee native. This standalone single is being released to coincide with a tour with Swearin’, but hopefully it won’t be long before a new LP follows.
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