Stuff by: Steven Ward
Raucous dance-pop group Haiku Hands, who just released their self-titled album this year, have shared a new track titled “Suck My Cherry,” a pulsating anthem of rebellion that also serves as the soundtrack for the horror-comedy Freaky, starring Vince Vaughn and Kathryn Newton. Director Christopher Landon, already a big Haiku Hands fan to begin with, […]
MoreRoberto Carlos Lange has been busy during quarantine. This past summer saw the release of his Kite Symphony EP, which he created while in Marfa, Texas over the summer; and now, as Helado Negro, Lange has unveiled his first release on 4AD as a cover of Neil Young’s “Lotta Love.” The song, which already features […]
MoreHoning in on the disorienting epiphanies about American racism that she’s had as a bi-racial woman, Casey Malone’s debut single “Hey Amerika,” is an impassioned response to the emboldened nature of racists in this country. The song was written in 2019 after Malone realized that a favorite holiday tradition — celebrating the 4th of July […]
MoreThere’s an innate tenderness with which Local Natives tend to paint the environs of the greater Los Angeles area into the background of their songs, offering little markers with which one can trace the story to the band’s beginnings. Formed initially by Kelcey Ayer, Ryan Hahn, and Taylor Rice, classmates at Tesoro High School in […]
MoreElena Rose might only have a handful of singles out but the Latin singer/songwriter has already made a deep impression with her breathlessly spirited anthems. Her latest single, the emphatically passionate “No Voy A Cambiar,” puts Rose’s larger-than-life enthusiasm on display as she raps over the song’s buoyant melody in a vibrant tri-color coat and […]
MoreBarcelona-based, Argentine-born, Nathy Peluso has released her debut album Calambre and it’s quite the vulnerable-meets-sensual-with-a-slice-of-fierce record. Here’s the rundown: On the heady, bass-pounding “Sana Sana,” Peluso uses her knife-sharp wordplay to take a stab at economic disparity in style — with the music video, directed by Nicotine, embellishing the grandiose elegance of her flow in […]
MoreAfter releasing back-to-back EPs in 2018-19, Omar Apollo has announced his return with a slew of new singles, the latest of which is the riveting “Dos Uno Nueve.” A classical Mexican corrido that doubles as a shout-out to Apollo’s home in Indiana, the song is an intimate walk through the familiar world that Apollo grew […]
MoreBrothers and band-mates, the psychedelic cumbia-punk that David and Rene Pacheco have pieced together over a decade as Tropa Magica has coalesced into something sublime on their sophomore album Tripiando Al Infinito En Mi Recámara (Tripping to Infinity in my Bedroom). Expanding on their alt-grunge-psych Cumbia sounds with a variety of new tastes and styles— […]
MoreStains of a Sunflower, the Los Angeles alt-rock outfit led by the unapologetically hyperfeminine Natalie Renée, has finally returned from their two-year hiatus with the release of their you know it’s such a shame… EP. A trio of gorgeously sleek and potent anthems that center around Renée’s ever emphatic praise of the female spirit, unfolding […]
MoreMon Laferte and Alejandro Fernández duet on “Que Se Sepa Nuestro Amor” a love letter to Mexican culture
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