Underground Sounds with Chad Miller: June 2024
By Chad Miller - Summit FM Music Director
What's everyone been listening to out there? There's been an AVALANCHE of great new songs coming at us to start the new year, as per usual, with STILL more to come! Easily the most exciting time of the year in our world of music, that I get to sort through and play them for you on the radio. So much new music coming at us, so little time...however, these songs that might fly under the radar to most are what I've been diggin' most especially these past few weeks!
Like what you hear? Please email me at chad@thesummit.fm and let me know what you think!
Amyl & the Sniffers "U Should Not be Doing That"
Man, this song is an absolute banger!!! I seriously cannot get enough of this one. The utterly electrifying Melbourne, Australia based post-punk band Amyl & the Sniffers return with two new tracks as part of a standalone single, via Virgin Records, marking their first new music in two years. The energy is off the charts in this song which is even more amplified when watching this must-see music video featuring lead singer Amy Taylor and actor Steven Ogg (The Walking Dead, Better Call Saul), as they strut in each other's faces, in what could best be described as revenge fueled calisthenics in a dystopian landscape. It's awesome! With a heavy dose of glam imbued upon this punk song, and Taylor's signature Aussie snarl and sneer leading the way, the excellent lyrics capture all kinds of attitude and resolve in one of the toughest sounding songs I've heard in a very long time. This song and this band rules, and they're one of the bands I'm looking most forward to seeing at the upcoming Nelsonville Music Festival, taking place next month, just outside of Athens. Seriously...WATCH this music video!!!
Baby Rose "Weekness"
It may seem like an overstatement to say it, but I really feel this young woman has one of the most stunning and singularly unique voices I've heard in quite some time. Talk about stopping you dead in your tracks! Give this one a listen, and you'll see why as Atlanta based vocalist Baby Rose masterfully evokes moods and vibes with her delivery that brings to mind comparisons of Nina Simone and Billie Holiday, but even beyond that, to goosebump inducing feels like no one else we've heard really. After releasing her previous album in April last year, Baby Rose has returned with the new EP "Slow Burn," available now on Secretly Canadian Records, and produced by Canadian instrumental band and producers BADBADNOTGOOD. Coming from an honest look inward, these songs come from a place of both personal growth and much vulnerability, which has long been a key component of her music, and makes for a truly intoxicating blend to hear in the quiet moments worth finding for all of us.
Khruangbin "Pon Pon"
One of my absolute favorite bands in recent years is this fascinating and magnetic trio of world class musicians from Houston, Texas, who bring together so many different world music influences into a unique blend all their own, to consistently great results. This new song by the band is from their recently released fourth album "A La Sala," which arrived in early April, on Dead Oceans Records. I've been lucky enough to have seen them twice on their current extensive U.S. tour, and believe me when I tell you that seeing them live is pure greatness on display, both individually and collectively. Known for (mostly) instrumental compositions, this trio effortlessly weaves together different textures and sounds that flow seamlessly amidst the three. Guitarist Mark Speer is truly one of the best guitarists in the world, and just watching him up close is inexplicable. Every time I try to describe this band to someone who's not familiar, I sometimes struggle to do so, because (on paper) they seemingly do so much with so little, but it's something you just have to listen to, or especially see live, to appreciate. The vibiest of grooves and the grooviest of vibes is what I usually default to as a description, but I always say this analogy from the New York Times sums it up best: "Extremely slippery genre-wise... Is it psychedelic lounge-dub? Desert surf-rock? The sound you hear inside a lava lamp?" However one might pinpoint them stylistically, this album, and their catalog as a whole, is absolutely worth diving into, and you will not be disappointed.
Suki Waterhouse "OMG"
When one thinks of the long and storied history of legendary Sub Pop Records out of Seattle, WA, they may not think up and coming indie pop artists, but now that's changed with the multitalented Suki Waterhouse, making moves with not just her music, but also her acting chops. Coming off her previous album, released in 2022, this new single has quite a shimmery, synthy, and sleazy rock sound, with an anthemic chorus, that'll pound its way into your head in no time. It's been quite a busy last couple of years for her with her song "Good Looking," from a year ago, blowing up online via TikTok, and topping out at #1 on the streaming viral charts, starring as Karen Sirko, in the Emmy nominated Amazon television miniseries "Daisy Jones & the Six," and most recently crushing it at the Coachella Music Festival, this spring. It's a powerful music video, and there will be a new album coming later this year, with a tour already announced, including a stop at the Agora Theater, in Cleveland, on December 6th, with fellow labelmate Bully, as the opening act.
T Bone Burnett "Waiting for You"
Have you ever heard a song so devastatingly beautiful that it just absolutely crushes you with its spare simplicity and sheer sentimentality? This one did for me the very first time I heard it, and I was floored. This from a true underrated figure in the world of roots-rock and Americana music for decades no less. T Bone Burnett has been releasing music of his own, here and there, over the past fifty years, but has primarily been known as a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band during the 1970s, and especially as a decorated album producer since the 1980s for many artists and notable albums, as well as winning multiple Grammy awards for his work with the soundtracks and scores for films. On this new album "The Other Side," his first album in nearly twenty years, out now on Verve Records, he collaborates with Lucius on many of the songs. This song will really really get to you upon hearing it, with Burnett expertly and eloquently telling the tale of a longing for a special love, fueled by memories and melancholy of not having been in their presence in a painfully long time. The simple and rustic sepia tones of the music video are a beautiful touch to the feel of the song itself, but these kinds of songs I particularly love because it just paints a full image in my head of visualizing this piece as I see it just like reading a story from a book. Achingly gorgeous especially with the subtle backing vocals of Holly and Jess, from the band Lucius, this song WILL make you feel something. Which...isn't that the point?
Travis "Gaslight"
In what's been a bit of a resurgence since the weird pandemic summer of 2020, legendary Scottish band Travis make their return with this song from their forthcoming tenth album "L.A. Times," out on July 12th, via BMG Records. Written by lead singer Fran Healy, in his studio near the Skid Row area of Los Angeles, more commonly known as the Central City East section of downtown L.A., the album is a reflection of his new surroundings, right down to the album cover photo, which sees the band standing in the middle of the street in a quite striking photo of them at night, with the city skyline off in the near distance. It all makes for a bold new era for the band, marking 25 years since they formed in Glasgow in the late '90s. Healy himself said about the song, "I read a few weeks ago that gaslighting was the most web searched word in the world. We are living in a time where our realities are being warped by bosses, leaders, friends, teachers, and politicians. It really is everywhere. Gaslighters want to control you. They tell you things which undermine your confidence in yourself and make you question reality, and it makes you feel like you're going crazy." Ooooof...ain't that the truth?! Travis will embark upon a tour early next year which will see them playing in concert at the Agora Theater, in Cleveland, on February 11th.