Gotta be honest, I’m in a bit of a lull for vinyl finds these days. It’s more than offset by the incredible new music I’ve found. If you missed it on Friday, I had a bit on Bitch Fest (and two of the shows are all ages if you’ve got younguns to corrupt). This week is all streaming stuff. I need new records.

As always, I’ll include the Spotify and Apple Music playlists at the bottom.

Streams

Days on Parade

This is a guitar rock band from St. Catharines, near Toronto. The album started as background music while I was writing something else, and slowly took over my attention. Great musicianship, good grooves and a lead singer with a great voice. There’s not much about them online apart from a long interview with a local music label called Routine Exploits.

The first music video has a fun DIY aesthetic that’s right in tune with the music:

Their prior EPs rip too. Here’s their Bandcamp and Instagram. And their website (which is weirdly hard to find). They’ve got a bunch of shows lined up.

As I was listening I was trying to figure out who this band reminds me of. Turns out it’s:

Joan Smith and the Jane Does

…who put two new tracks out last Friday! Here’s the A-side:

This follows their full-length from last year called Do Me Some Harm, which was also excellent.

I’ve been a fan of Joan Smith for a while. I first saw her play with her prior band Little Foot Long Foot opening for someone else at an empty Rivoli in 2011(!) or so, and I bought their album Oh Hell, which got constant play for a while.

She’s an unbelievable guitar player and her voice can stop traffic.

This band has been around since 2018 and tours relentlessly — I’m sure they’ll play somewhere near you soon.

Bully – Atom Bomb

She’s been a favourite since this KEXP performance in 2018, but last year’s Lucky for You album is an all-timer. This track is stripped down and vocal-forward, and it’s as good as anything she’s put out to date.

I love her vocals and lyrics. Check out this Instagram video to see and hear her recording vocals. It’s incredible that she still has a voice.

In this little feature from Sound Mind she talks about social anxiety, alcohol abuse and a bipolar II diagnosis:

Melt Motif

The week before last, these guys released a very fun cover of I Wanna Be Your Dog by The Stooges. I hadn’t heard of them before. Well.

Melt Motif is a 3-person outfit and they like mystery. Two members are based in Norway and the third is in Sao Paolo, apparently. Their latest full length (and the one on repeat for me right now), Vandalism Vol 2 (released Dec 2023), is made up of remixes from their prior LP Particles, Death Objective (released April 2023). A passenger in my car asked is the music was from a movie — when I said it wasn’t, they said “It should be”.

Their sound is a bit of a modern take on late 90’s trip hop — frequently in the same zone as Portishead, Sneaker Pimps and Orbital. Several songs on their records would fit in on iconic 90’s movie soundtracks like The Saint, Hackers and Run Lola Run.

I’ve spent a little time digging into their catalogue, but not enough. Expect to read more about these guys soon enough.

Mysterines

The new single came out a couple weeks back and it’s now a regular in the rotation. They just came off a tour opening for Arctic Monkeys and it sounds like they’ve found a new gear. The production is richer, the sound is darker, and song is catchy as hell. Lead singer Lia Metcalfe’s voice is dynamic and unique. Love it. If this is a new direction for them, I’m digging it.