This initial offering from Saunas is hypnotic, ethereal pop. They call themselves “Soul Wave Music” but that’s underplaying their tropical vibe meets Animal Collective trance. 

Loving this debut single from Yon Ort, aka ex-Wild Cub keyboardist Eric Wilson. It’s a laid back groove of psychedelic vocals pondering the Lack of Self. Heady material for a pop song but it works. Looking forward to the forthcoming EP.

Following up on their first release into the world, Hate You Now, And The Boys have released two additional songs to flesh out what to expect from them. Where “Hate you Now” was a scorching pop-rock song, “21st Century Pharaoh” has a bit more of a southern lean to it and “$1000 Bill” is a straightahead ballad.

Whatever these guys have got up their sleeves, it’s diverse and worth a listen. Oh, and their graphic design is on LOCK. Loving the single cover designs.

The new Tape Space “Single” is not a whole lot of actual NEW music, clocking in under 3 minutes, but given that  I’m still obsessively listening to the Power Up EP from back in June, any newness is a welcome treat. 

I’ve come to expect a new song or two from Bravemaker every 3 months, so it was unsettling to see a five-month gap between releases! Fortunately, the new song continues the trend of pumping a pop song through a perfectly balanced DIY bedroom production sound with just enough flair to keep it interesting. The crunchy vocals and ominous bassline are perfectly alluring. 

The debut EP from TV Sisters comes out of the gate extremely strong – bopping and exploding with energy at every turn. Vocal responsibilities swap between guitarist Josef Rumsey and bassist Michelle Sullivan, though the catchy pop-rock vibes never waiver regardless of the lead. 

The beauty of an EP is that there is rarely enough time to bore the listener. TV Sisters make great use of that by firing on all cylinders from top to bottom. Really looking forward to hearing more from these three.

The new Language EP from ONLY is filled with jangly pop songs and head bopping rhythms juxtaposed with lyrics yearning for good times. On “July” they even joyously call out “We All Die!” as they grapple with surviving this mortal coil. Honestly tho, it’s an enjoyable upbeat gathering of songs released just in time for the summer heat to wain as we all grasp for one more good time.

I could write an extremely long-winded treatise on the dangers of nostalgia – revisiting particular times of life can either halt you from enjoying new things or, worse, ruin the thing that you thought you loved. 

But instead, I’ll say that it was a damn delight to see Daphne’s Operation pop up on Bandcamp. The Murfreesboro shoegaze outfit was part of the mid-to-late 90′s scene around MTSU and created a bombastic amount of music influenced by the likes of early Modest Mouse, Sonic Youth and Pavement goofery (new music at the time). It’s often spastic and all over the place but that’s part of its charm.

It’s also worth noting that there’s a door to a deep history of the current Nashville music scene here. Daphne’s Operation featured, among others, Bingham Barnes; who would go on to keep the low end for Glossary, Wooden Wand and Jasmin Kaset to name just a few. Some of the catalog was also recorded by Brian Carter, another consistent presence in the Nashville music scene.