[SONG OF THE DAY] San Scout - "Soap"

After laying low for far too long (imo), San Scout have resurfaced and there is a fair amount to make you aware of so strap in.

Earlier this week, the London duo launched an update to their website in the form of their immersive VR world that they’re referring to as “The Pharmacy”. This wild expanse of pixels is soon to be home to all of their forthcoming releases in addition to showcasing other artist friends of theirs in additional rooms. If you venture about the world in its present state you can click around to find all sorts of San Scout goodies, including links out to their social media accounts and unreleased demos. Spoiler alert: if you click on the pill bottles it will take you to their Spotify artist page. This is because the guys have actually based the concept of The Pharmacy on the topical concept of music as a prescription drug.

I mean, they’re not wrong.

In addition to The Pharmacy, today they released their latest single, “Soap”, which features their signature glitchy melancholic melodies and brooding airy vocals. As I excitedly expressed to the band via DM, these guys always know how to throw a vibe. The way that Freddy’s vocals overlay each track these guys make does often come off like drugs to me if I’m being honest, so I suppose the whole Pharmacy thing is a match made in musical heaven.

More updates from these sweet sweeties soon! In the meantime, if you happen to have free time on your hands, I know on good authority that the band has casually dropped their phone number inside the Pharmacy if you want to dial up these dudes and tell them that I sent you their way. 😘

HAPPY WEEKEND! <💖

[SONG OF THE DAY] The Streets - "Call Me In The Morning (feat. Chip & Grim Sickers)"

still taken from the “Call Me In The Morning” music video

I hope you missed me because I def missed having this moment of geeking out every day even if my days were crammed full of quality hangs with my big brother.

ANYWAYS BACK TO OUR REGULAR SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING

Y’all The Streets are actually going to be releasing a new album next year and I’ve been so emotional ever since I heard the news. 😭😭😭

Awhile back, Streets mastermind Mike Skinner informed us in his interview with Q that we should be keeping an ear out for this new single, “Call Me In The Morning”. Last week Skinner gave us so so much to be thankful for by finally unveiling the track along with an accompanying video.

In addition to the new single, Skinner has also promised us a mixtape in 2019 in addition to playing a string of music festivals and releasing a film, which apparently was one of the main reasons he quit doing The Streets to begin with. As Skinner explained to Mr Porter in an interview back in March, “The reason I finished The Streets was to make a film, and the reason I started The Streets up again was to make a film.” The film, which has a lofty but all familiar title for true Mike Skinner stans: The Darker The Shadow, The Brighter The Light, which was the side project he used to release 19 tracks over the course of last year. At any rate, the film is allegedly, “a Streets musical, like Casablanca but not as much as La La Land” but with heady dialogue a la the days of Dawson’s Creek, according to Skinner. He also shared that the script is “very like a Streets album”.

Um. This me rn:

But really tho, 2019 is gonna be my fuckin year even if it’s just because I get to stan extra hard for one of my favorite all time artists.

Do we think he’d cross the pond and do some shows in the US of A or am I really gonna have to sell some organs to get to one of these upcoming shows? I’m prepared either way tbh.

The Streets 2019 Tour Dates:
01/17 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Academy
01/18 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Academy
01/19 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Academy
01/21 – Glasgow, UK @ O2 Academy
01/22 – Leeds, UK @ O2 Academy
01/24 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo
01/25 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo
01/26 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo
01/28 – Newcastle, UK @ O2 Academy
01/29 – Sheffield, UK @ O2 Academy
01/31 – Bournemouth, UK @ O2 Academy
02/02 – London, UK @ Academy Brixton
02/03 – London, UK @ Academy Brixton
02/05 – London, UK @ Academy Brixton
02/06 – London, UK @ Academy Brixton
02/07 – London, UK @ Academy Brixton

[SONG OF THE DAY] Blanche - "Moment"

Photo credit: Chloe Sheppard

Belgian alt-pop artist Blanche (born Ellie Delvaux) released her latest single, “Moment” late last week along with an accompanying music video.

Speaking on the track, Blanche explains that "Moment" is about the struggle with, “living in the present, trying to forget about any doubts and fears you have…” She goes on to say, “We have to let ourselves live. If we don’t learn to enjoy the present moment, then we might regret it when it’s over.” This theme is reinforced in the music video, which features her and her friends letting go of their inhibitions while focusing on the excitement and purity of youth.

Fun fact about the track: the hook for “Moment” was actually written by Delvaux’s boyfriend for one of his rap tracks, but they quickly saw the potential in collaborating on making a new Blanche song with it. It would be cool to hear the original to fully understand the journey that the track took before being blessed with the alt-pop star’s powerhouse vocals, but an awesome factoid nonetheless.

[SONG OF THE DAY] SATICA - "Agave Nights"

Long Beach based songstress SATICA unveiled her latest single, “Agave Nights” along with her first ever music video. I stumbled into SATICA when she teamed up with SKOA favorite SAKIMA for their song, “Dysfunctional”. Since then the siren has been stringing us along with more bops like “Drippin’”, “Inner Child”, and my personal drug of choice (pun intended) “miss yr high”. According to SATICA, “Agave Nights” is, “probably the most honest/emotionally driven things I’ve written.”

LA fam can catch her on December 8th at The Roxy with Shawn Wasabi. Tickets available here.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Bronze Whale - "Never"

On Friday Austin based duo Bronze Whale unveiled their latest single, “Never”. The electro-pop outfit have been working diligently on their upcoming full length, The Shape of Things, and have been sharing some tastes of what’s to come along the way with songs like, “One”, “Gold Grain”, “Patterns”, and “Warm”.

Speaking on the new single, the band shared, “‘Never’ is about grief, loss, and the stages we go through to bring our head above water.” They added, “we wanted the music to represent these feelings just as much as the lyrics, so we built this song with the idea of muted melodies that erupt with emotion in the choruses.”

In addition to working on the new album they also recently returned from a trip to LA trip and are finishing up some collaborations they worked on with Khai, Pronouncedyeah, and Aire Atlantica. 

If you happen to be in the Austin area you can catch the band on December 2nd at Sweater Beats.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Slum Sociable - "Afterthought"

Slum fam are back! When last we ran into the dynamic duo that is Slum Sociable it was back in June with their single, “Can’t Figure It Out”. During their downtime they managed to team up with Kim Moyes from The Presets along with producer Konstantin Kersting (The Jungle Giants, Mallrat) for their brand new single, “Afterthought”.

As you may recall, their self-titled sophomore full-length saw a slight delay in release due to singer Miller Upchurch’s struggling with depression but ultimately ended with them dropping a heart wrenching album (and if I’m being honest, one of my favorites of the year). With every single that they’ve dropped since then it’s very obvious that Upchurch is in a lot better place than he was previously. Their latest single, “Afterthought”, is a moment of reflection where Upchurch wishes he had done certain things differently. “Looking back on them can be frustrating”, he explained, “so I channeled my frustrations of not acting sooner into this song.”

Given that Upchurch’s voice has quickly climbed the ranks as one of my favorite all time voices, it is to be expected that I am so happy to hear that things seem to be going better for him.

In addition to this new song, the band has announced that they’re going to be hosting The First Annual Slum Sociable Xmas Special along with guests Two People and Ro at Corner Hotel in Richmond, Victoria (Australia obviously).

If anyone would like to pitch in for plane tickets this may legitimately be all I want for Kibbmas, especially if they’re actually planning on playing “Last Christmas”. Sigh.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Money & The Man - "Just Like The Sun"

Blessed be the day that The Algorithm™ came into our lives and somehow knew just the song to include in our playlists or in this case, at the end of a song I sampled on Soundcloud. As much as I love to romanticize my days of record store shopping in college where I just bought things that looked interesting, I adore the power that The Algorithm™ wields.

At any rate, I am happy that I was able to stumble in to Money & The Man. Based in Zwolle, Netherlands, the Dutch duo unveiled their debut self-titled full-length late last week, which is a blend of grungy blues-rock and has the ability to fill (possibly even overflow) the gaping hole in your soul that Queens of the Stone Age left after you found out all of the awful things Josh Homme is capable of doing when he drinks too much and you couldn’t bring yourself to listen to them anymore. If you find yourself enjoying their latest single, “Just Like The Sun”, just wait till you hear the rest of the record.

Mmm I am really enjoying this rock block I’m currently on. Sometimes I think that my rock days may be over, but then I just realize that most of the rock bands out there right now are kinda….boring? Money & The Man are definitely the opposite of that.

blah blah blah the band are playing everywhere that isn’t here. Actually that’s only half true, while they’re not playing in the US, they’re actually only playing a few shows in The Netherlands in the next couple of months. You can find more info over on their Facebook page.

[SONG OF THE DAY] MID CITY - "Old Habits"

Right so you’re welcome in advance for your new obsession.

Fam, please allow me to introduce you to the band you’ve been waiting all year for, MID CITY. Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, these dudes are about to blow out your fucking eardrums in the best possible way. You know how in cartoons a character would do something normal like open a random door but then unsuspectingly get run over by a train? That’s what their latest single, “Old Habits”, feels like in your earholes. This is some high octane indie rock for fans of bands like The Walkmen or more recently (and incidentally enough, also Australian) Gold Class. I imagine that listening to “Old Habits” paired with The Walkmen’s “The Rat” and Gold Class’ “Twist In The Dark” back to back could give the faint of heart some palpitations.

Earlier this week the band unveiled the video for the single in addition to announcing some tour dates (which are nowhere close to me whatsoever 😩) for January and February 2019. Aussie fam please make sure you go see these guys and report back on their live show for me so I can be jealous, k?