Underground Sounds with Chad Miller: March 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!
Cigarettes After Sex "Tejano Blue"
While it may sound like an oxymoron, this exceptionally lush sounding dream pop band out of El Paso, Texas, has exploded in popularity the last few years in the world of "under the radar" music. Yes, I know that sounds odd to say, but with an in imitable sonic style led by the completely androgynous sounding vocals of lead singer Greg Gonzalez, who sounds so unique it's almost as if he's an alien come to earth, Cigarettes After Sex have cornered the market on the ethereal and romantic sound they excel at. They'll be releasing their third album "X's" on July 12th, via Partisan Records, and this first single ever so slightly changes up the formula for a more subtle slow dance type of feel, with this song portraying an old long-term relationship that's still really stuck with Gonzalez. Fair warning…this song is a HOT one, in its lyrics and subject matter, but I'd expect nothing less with this band as they truly thrive at this, their signature style of sensual slow burn love songs. With their first hit single from 2017 "Apocalypse" (highly recommended) having over a billion streams on Spotify, that justifies a true arena world tour for this album, which besides North America and Europe, will also take them to southeast Asia, South Africa, and Australia, with South American tour dates still to be added. Who goes that far out on tour anymore?! With a cult following such as theirs, they deserve every bit of their adoration and success.
Gary Clark Jr. "Maktub"
It's been a few years since we've heard from Austin, Texas based, and four-time Grammy winner, Gary Clark Jr. He's known not only as one of the most innovative blues guitarist around today, but also for never being shy about being creative and unapologetic with social commentary inherent in his songwriting. A song that deals specifically with forging a path ahead, no matter the cost, in addition to holding a steadfast belief in committing to the reasons to be in pursuit of such a personally stated mission or goal, it all lends itself to the title of the song "Maktub," which is an Arabic word meaning fate or destiny. Never one to be pigeonholed into any exact style or genre, the forthcoming fourth album "JPEG RAW," out March 22nd, on Warner Records, sees Clark Jr. dipping into a rather adventurous and varied combination of sampling, collaborators, and different styles, ranging from world music and jazz, to more traditional rock, hip-hop, R&B, and blues influences we've come to expect from him. The urgency in this song is nothing short of invigorating, and marks a solid return for this towering figure in our world of music.
Good Morning "Just in Time"
I'm totally a sucker for completely melodic songs that have sticky sweet choruses or hooks that really attach themselves into your brain, serving the need we all have for true ear candy. This song absolutely and unequivocally has all of that in a perfect example of lush retro sounding power-pop goodness, but with a gentle flourish throughout. One listen to this one and you'll see as this song, by the Melbourne, Australia based duo, grabs hold of you and won't let go, while offering up a terrific preview of what's to come on their upcoming seventh album "Good Morning Seven," to be released March 22nd, on Polyvinyl Records. The two bandmembers, and real life best buds, Liam and Stefan made all this themselves, in their homemade studio, as a self-produced double album. With upcoming tour dates opening for Waxahatchee as well, this new album will be a nice way to again get acquainted with American audiences who, like me, enjoy songs that will literally put a smile on your face every time you hear it, much like this one does for yours truly.
METZ "Entwined (Street Light Buzz)"
Sometimes what we all need is a veritable blast of really loud straight up rock and roll sounds, which is exactly what this Toronto based, by way of Ottawa, post-punk band has excelled at for just over a decade now. Loving this sound in general, I've been a fan of the band from the beginning, dating back to their debut album from 2012, and their punk rock fury and aesthetic is unparalleled. If that's your style, and the level of decibels you require, this is a band you'll love without a doubt. I also very much appreciate bands like this who are always ever so slightly adapting and evolving their overall sound without sacrificing who they are, which is exactly what's happening on this new song from the forthcoming fifth album "Up On Gravity Hill," out on April 12th, via Sub Pop Records. Turning now from loud songs about joyous rage, METZ have slightly altered the formula on this song to where, while still being loud, it's also imbued with more subtle atmospherics, and a hint of nuanced melodicism, not quite seen before from the band. A song that's about the ways of deep connection that people can have with one another through friendships, and how that can last a lifetime, even carrying those memories with us after the death of a friend, this might be the most powerful offering yet from a band using the raw power of rock music in a rather affecting way on a song that will hit you in all the feels.
Shannon and the Clams "Bean Fields"
One of the more unique sounding bands out there, Shannon and the Clams evokes the sounds of a vintage garage rock style of yesteryear, really leaning into Shannon Shaw's perfectly raspy vocals, along with a perfect blend of doo-wop, surf rock, and old school R&B tinged psychedelia, that brings to mind girl groups from the '60s, and even influences from the very early days of rock and roll, all with their own unique spin. An overall sound that attracted the ears of Dan Auerbach, who has been working and collaborating with the band for quite a few years now. This new single of theirs from the soon to be released album "The Moon is In the Wrong Place," out on May 10th, via Easy Eye Sound Records, is rooted, in an unspeakable tragedy that befell Shannon several years ago. Back in late August 2022, Shaw's fiancée Joe Haener was sadly killed in an automobile accident just outside his family farm in Oregon, which also caused the band to understandably back out of their scheduled performance at the Nelsonville Music Festival, in southeast Ohio, that Labor Day weekend. This song, which is a tribute to Haener, and the bean fields he planted, is a true emotional high point for the band, and a celebration of his life, in addition to a very sentimental, yet rockin', way to remember his presence.
St. Vincent "Broken Man"
There is no one in popular music today quite like St. Vincent, the musical project of Annie Clark. Not only an incredibly talented, innovative, and absolutely killer guitar player, she's also become a pillar in the world of art-rock, by keeping everyone guessing as to what persona and direction she takes from one album and collaboration to the next, throughout her decade plus career. With all that being said, she's gotten a lot of comparisons as being the David Bowie of our time, in the way she changes things up as a true rock and roll chameleon. She’s also gained respect in our greater world of music, by her fearlessly and confidently standing in for the late Kurt Cobain, while delivering vocals for the Nirvana song "Lithium," during the band's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2014. St. Vincent has now returned with this new song from her forthcoming self-produced seventh album "All Born Screaming," due out April 26th, via Virgin Music. Coming across on this new song, with a decided industrial edge, Clark evokes the sound of something like Trent Reznor would've done with Nine Inch Nails several decades ago. A tone-setter of a song for this upcoming new album, Clark herself sums it up best by describing it as "There are some places, emotionally, that you can only get to by taking the long walk into the woods alone – to find out what your heart is really saying." For me, it's one of my most anticipated albums of the year.