What a great week for new music! Welcome back to New Music Friday!
What is New Music Friday? It’s mostly a Twitch stream at twitch.tv/duckthepianowire on Fridays (usually at noon PT / 3pm ET, or thereabouts). During the stream, I use my expertise as an opinionated middle-aged dude to listen to the new music that came out today and give my unfiltered thoughts.
I bestow one of four possible verdicts on each new song after one listen: SKIP!!, Add to Playlist, Play the Whole Album, BUY THE VINYL!! SKIP!! is the worst designation and BUY THE VINYL!! is the absolute best.
Sidenote: Shout-out to my friend Joe Crow Ryan, whose birthday is today!
Here are the highlights from the August 6, 2021 New Music Friday stream:
Song 1: “Take My Breath” by The Weeknd
Final thoughts: It’s a bop. Creepy serial killer lyrics, but an irresistible groove. Play the whole album.
Song 2: “Nights Like This” by OCTAVIO The Dweeb
Final thoughts: Wow. What a nice surprise. Like a more medicated Jay Reatard, this mixes noisy garage rock sounds with sad boy pop moves. And it pulls it off. BUY THE VINYL!!
Song 3: “SUVs (Black on Black)” by Jack Harlow & Pooh Shiesty
Final thoughts: Some sharp rhymes and a fun mood. I wanna see what else these guys get up to. Play the whole album
Song 4: “Here We Go” by Saucy Santana
Final thoughts: So much fun. The beat takes me back to the good ol’ days of Kid ‘N Play’s House Party, and the lyrics are as saucy as advertised. Play the whole album
Song 5: “Faking My Own Death” by Allison Ponthier
Final thoughts: This is a singer-songwriter with smarts and personality. The arrangement and production offer just the right of oomph without overdoing it. Play the whole album
Song 6: “Walk the Beat” by Tierra Whack
Final thoughts: Very few of us get to be runway models. But we can all sing, “fancy, fancy clothes,” with a haughty accent. Play the whole album
Either I’ve turned into a total pushover, or this is the best week of New Music Friday since I started streaming. I think it’s the latter.
Follow the New Music Friday livestream at twitch.tv/duckthepianowire to find out when you can join in live!
Justin Remer makes movies, directs music videos, and plays in the bands Duck the Piano Wire and Elastic No-No Band when he is not writing movie reviews. His folk-rock documentary MAKING LOVERS & DOLLARS is currently streaming on Amazon.