haunting welsh goth & the king of leather-suit italo disco

plus zach bryan! why not!

Welcome back to the Unskippables, where we refuse to believe doing the Macarena is part of having a Brat Summer.

There are so many Good Links I’ll spare you the chatter. Get reading, folks!

• Generation Montana – Brittany Spanos looks at the rise of Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan through the lens of Hannah Montana, and how that era of larger-than-life Disney pop is shaping our current pop moment.

• Off the Subway, With Saltz – Subway Takes host/pal/bandmate Kareem Rahma debuted his new show The Last Stop today, with Jerry Saltz, author Brenda Cullerton and comedians Ian Fidance and Neel Ghosh joining the show’s debut episode. The takes still abound!

• Those Who Wail, Teach – Really cool profile of Helium/Ex Hex/Wild Flag shredder Mary Timony’s new role as songwriting/rock mentor in DC. Plus, Brendan Canty and Ian MacKaye’s daughters have a sick band together???

• Put that shit on, Cousin – You may, like me, have mixed feelings about season 3 of The Bear, but we can all agree that there are many a menswear moment to be found, and this Threads account is here to give you the intel on the sickest pieces seen onscreen.

• Eight nickels ago! – Zen Arcade and Double Nickels on the Dime celebrated their 40th anniversary on the 3rd?

• A Vulture Looks At Midnite – Beck talked to the LA Times about his orchestral tour, dropping a few fun gems about getting signed to a major label in the 90s, why Midnite Vultures didn’t quite read his audience right, and the deep cuts popping up in his new tour.

As always, you can follow along on our playlists on Spotify and Apple Music, which update every Tuesday along with the newsletter. Enjoy!

Tristwch Y Fenywod – Ferch Gyda'r Llygaid Du

Tristwch Y Fenywod, per their press materials, roughly translates to ‘The Sadness of Women,’ and the band’s incredibly cool, inscrutable goth rock lives up to the name. Based in Leeds and singing exclusively in Welsh, the band’s debut single “Ferch Gyda’r Flygaid Du” is decked out in icy reverb and drum machine, like a lost 4AD gem, but the track’s haunting pitch-black syrup gleams with timeless, eerie strangeness.

Cornelius – MIND TRAIN

“MIND TRAIN” is crisp, crunchy Krautrock from Cornelius, on the heels of his semi-ambient album Ethereal Essence. The song digs into its motorik chug until a gorgeous shoegaze-leaning vocal at the 3:30 mark breaks through like the first light after emerging from a tunnel.

Zach Bryan – American Nights

If you told me Zach Bryan was visited in his sleep by an apparition who told him he’d die in 2025 and had to release as much music as possible, I’d absolutely believe you. There’s no logical reason for him writing and releasing music as hard as he is right now, but here he is with another shockingly consistent LP of laid-back country for (natch) the 4th of July. That said, Bryan keeps up his winning streak and hot hand writing bangers, and “American Nights” is the record’s biggest slam dunk of a chorus built for the arenas he’s been packing.

Sleepwalk – Morning After

Banging post-shoegaze/hardcore/heaviness from Sleepwalk’s new EP Out Of Focus. Like an MBV single accidentally put on 45, Sleepwalk pair a gooey, half-speed shoegaze melody with a crisp, relentless rhythm section that absolutely rip. The sensation that “Morning After” song is going at half- and double-speed only makes the buzzsaw guitars even heavier.

SAULT – ACTS OF FAITH

Continuing my favorite 2024 trend of skipping DSPs to drop entire-ass albums, SAULT released ACTS OF FAITH on WeTransfer and YouTube last week. Unlike their simultaneously-released five records from 2022, there’s no thematic grouping, but the group seems to be luxuriating in a jazzy, almost neo-soul mode that eschews some of their more experimental modes for a string-laden deep pocket. Not complaining!

throwback

Pino D’Angio – Okay Okay

RIP to the absolute king of wearing a whole leather suit on TV and chain-smoking while lip-synching perfect Italo disco. Pino D’Angio’s “Okay Okay” and “Ma Quale Idea” are both built on luxurious, rich disco sounds, but it's D'Angio's signature baritone barfly chat-to-falsetto chorus vocals that make the tracks unforgettable and charming.