Welcome to our weekly music post, where we spotlight our favorite new songs and albums. Hop in the comments and tell us: What new music are you listening to?
Laura Jane Grace In The Trauma Tropes, “Your God (God’s Dick)”
It seems like every new song from Laura Jane Grace features a different backing band with a new name. Last year, we got an EP from Laura Jane Grace And The Mississippi Medicals; now, we’ve got a new track from Laura Jane Grace In The Trauma Tropes (fingers crossed we’ll get an album announcement soon, too). “Your God (God’s Dick)” is a joyously crass indictment of religion with backup vocals from Grace’s wife, Paris Campbell Grace. Their voices sound like they were made to go together, and the song’s anthemic chorus feels tailor-made for a sweaty shout-along in a dark, crowded club. It’s laugh-out-loud funny yet incisive—this is Grace doing what she does best.
Wishy made a splash with their first full-length album, Triple Seven, last year, and they’re wasting no time capitalizing on that success. The band’s new EP, Planet Popstar (yes, it is named after Kirby’s home planet), drops on April 25, and we’ve got a new track to enjoy, too. “Fly” is a little more put together and less fuzzed-out than anything on Triple Seven, though it’s still got the band’s signature dream-pop elements. “We really wanted to lean into the high-production style and had a lot of fun in the studio using these songs as an opportunity to explore a more polished, adult-contemporary feel,” singer and guitarist Kevin Krauter said in a statement.
Perfume Genius, “No Front Teeth” (feat. Aldous Harding)
Perfume Genius and Aldous Harding are quintessential “if you know you know” musicians (though if you don’t know Perfume Genius, you might at least recognize some of his songs from the copious films and TV shows in which they’ve been featured), both hard to describe and yet essential listening for those who get it. Mike Hadreas (the artist behind Perfume Genius) and Harding are also both extremely visual in their storytelling, using their music videos as a secondary form of expression. The video for “No Front Teeth” is appropriately weird, featuring an ice-rink accident and a manic waffle-making party. It matches the feeling of the song rather than literally interpreting its lyrics, leading to an off-the-wall, operatic, sad, funny, and soaring visual accompaniment.
Patterson Hood, Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams
Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams is the third solo album from Drive-By Truckers frontman Patterson Hood and his first in 13 years, following 2012’s Heat Lightning Rumbles In The Distance. Hood wrote many of this album’s songs on piano, an instrument he barely knew how to play, to try to push himself musically. The result is a gorgeous collection of songs supported by some buzzy collaborators, including MJ Lenderman, Lydia Loveless, and Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield.
Porridge Radio, The Machine Starts To Sing
Porridge Radio’s new four-song EP is composed of outtakes from their 2024 full-length Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me. It’s also the band’s final release, as vocalist and guitarist Dana Margolin recently announced. It’s hard not to feel sad that Porridge Radio is disbanding just as they were really hitting their stride, but the new EP is a nice complement to last year’s album, and they’re undoubtedly going out on a high note.
Anxious, Bambi
Anxious’ second album, Bambi, is pure early-’00s-style emo. According to vocalist Grady Allen, the record is less an evolution and more about embracing what the band always envisioned for themselves. “Bambi is the band we could have been, that I want us to be–and I think the record is that,” he said in an album note on Bandcamp. Maybe that’s why Bambi sounds more self-assured than the group’s still-great 2022 debut, Little Green House. Anxious has clearly found their ideal sound, which is a real feat for such a young band.
