Best New Tracks Of The Week 3/17/24
I am in the thick of Rolling Loud weekend and running on absolute fumes right now.
5. Monaco - Ride
Is it a bizarrely full circle moment to hear Ride sounding like they're trying to be Amusement Parks On Fire? Yes. But that doesn't prevent me from enjoying the results. While Ride's comeback has never inspired the same critical acclaim as some of their classic shoegaze contemporaries they have managed an impressive consistency in both release schedule and quality that I've grown to appreciate a lot.
4. Enough for you - Wisp
Once again shoegaze upstart Wisp has impressed me with a track from her upcoming EP. The formula here is far from unheard of but she's dabbling in sounds heavier than some of her contemporaries. With smashing drums and chugging riffs she's wandering her dreamy poise into Hum territory, an influence many of the other new age shoegaze acts probably won't reach for years. What results is an impressive level of sonic intensity that still manages to be as hazy and imprecise as it should be.
3. Enough (Miami) - Cardi B
After an incredibly tepid start to her new era with a "freestyle" things are starting to make more sense now. It kind of feels like Cardi saved all her good bars for this song and you can tell. The song foregoes an ultra-hooky chorus instead feeling like a two-minute assault of hard-hitting confrontational bars with absolutely no space to breathe. As you'd expect there's one quotable after another and Cardi's intensity never slows down.
2. Bitter Melon - Cola
Even though the first Cola album still has some strange sour notes the moments I enjoyed have only gotten better and better in the past few years. That's why I was excited to see them wander down this new territory and wander they did. In what feels like a return to their Ought days the band instrumentally and compositionally indulge on this muted, dark, and exceedingly nuanced track that is going to take a LOT more listens for me to understand in its totality.
1. Classical - Vampire Weekend
Given how rarely Vampire Weekend ever miss this was the least surprising great new track this week. They're continuing down a noisier path that I really enjoy with wailing walls of distortion backing key moments of the song and their typically robust array of instrumentation. The sour saxophone runs wailing over the song's bridge make it hard to even remember that you're listening to a Vampire Weekend song and yet it all sounds so good throughout.
