Sorry again for a late send this week - hopefully like me, your Tuesday was spent recovering and Googling “can you get gout from too many hot dogs.”
Speaking of - did you see Joey Chestnut put a protestor in a chokehold during the Coney Island hot dog eating contest? I’ve never seen someone move that fast with that much sodium running through their veins. And Chestnut STILL won!!
Anyways, here are this week’s other Good Links
His Way - Usher is still so, so great at being Usher in his NPR Tiny Desk concert. It’s all killer, no filler, and the tight live band arrangements of his peak hits are a delight.
Hey, fuck these guys! - Malcolm Harris does a great job outlining the danger of transphobe shitheads like Matt Walsh “just asking questions” in New York Mag.
And now, on to this week’s tracks - as always, you can follow along on our playlist on Spotify and Apple Music, which update every Tuesday along with the newsletter.
UNSKIPPABLES #43
Lesser Evil - “Contemplate”
A seductive, crunchy groove drives the first single from Lesser Evil’s upcoming new album Subterranean. The song’s pop bounce at 2:30 shows a deft touch balancing synth-driven moodiness with brutalist hooks.
Tiësto ft. Charli XCX - “Hot In It”
This song is filled to the brim with blunt, dumb force, basically a song-long chorus after an introductory verse. The song doesn’t dare deviate from a thick, uncut stupid grind, to the point where it’s surprising it’s not paired with a hard seltzer commercial whenever you hear it. The end result is incredibly effective, and your house/beach/roof party will be better when you have its power on your side.
Alvvays - “Pharmacist”
Come for the killer chorus, stay for the warped guitar solo that closes out this first single off Alvvays’ upcoming new LP Blue Rev.
Wax - “80008”
Minimal, ethereal house from Berlin’s Wax. There are only wisps of piano to grasp onto for a melody, but the track’s lurching bass and swung groove make its seven and a half minutes fly by.
No Age - “Andy Helping Andy”
No Age’s skill with cool-as-hell ambient tracks has always been an underrated strong suit amidst their library of punk bangers, so it’s cool hearing their lead track from their new album People Helping People in the ambient/weird lane instead of a DIY rager. I saw No Age so many times (so many!) in 2008 and I still love hearing what they’re up to with every album.
THROWBACK CORNER
The Toms - “Let’s Be Friends Again”
This power pop track from 1979 is one of those songs that you wish every dive bar sounded like right as you walk in.
And that’s all for this week, folks! Please subscribe if you’d like these opinions straight in your inbox. See you next week!