By Danette Chavez, Jen Lennon, and Drew Gillis. Images from left: Motion City Soundtrack, The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World (Epitaph Records); Titanic, Hagen (Unheard Of Hope); Hotline TNT, Raspberry Moon (Third Man Records).
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?
A “gotera” is a leak, but on the first single off their upcoming album Hagen, Titanic turns a steady drip into a sonic downpour using drill-like percussion and jarring guitars. The Mexico City-based act, made up of multi-hyphenates Héctor Tosta (aka I. la Católica) and Mabe Fratti, mix water and fire imagery on the new album, teaming up with Daniel Lopatin (of Oneohtrix Point Never) and Nate Salon for the track “Pájaro de fuego.” The floodgates will open September 5, when Hagen comes out via Unheard of Hope. [Danette Chavez]
It’s time to get fucked up and die (figuratively, of course): Motion City Soundtrack is back, baby. It’s been 10 years since the last MCS album, which, if you ask us, is far too long. After the ’00s pop-punk mainstays released Panic Stations in 2015, they broke up less than a year later. Three years after that, they reunited for a tour and have been performing off and on since then. In 2024, they released the single “Stop Talking” from the Dìdi soundtrack, which hinted that they might be open to making new music together. And now, it’s actually happening: The band announced their new album, The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World, will drop on September 19. The first single, “She Is Afraid,” is a classic pop-punk earworm. It’s surprisingly light on the band’s signature careening, energetic synths, but it just feels good to have these guys around again. [Jen Lennon]
Wednesday, “Wound Up Here (By Holdin On)”
When Wednesday released their single “Elderberry Wine” a few weeks ago, it felt like an album announcement couldn’t be too far off. And, indeed, it wasn’t: This week, the band announced that their new album, Bleeds, will be released on September 19. They also dropped the album’s second single, “Wound Up Here (By Holdin On),” which has a much more ’90s grunge sound than the country-tinged “Elderberry Wine.” Singer and guitarist Karly Hartzman explained in a press release, “‘I wound up here by holdin on’ is a line from my friend Evan Gray’s poetry book: Thickets Swamped In Fence-Coated Briars. He gave me and Jake [Lenderman] a copy of it to read on tour once, and that line stuck out to me as pure genius, so I stole it and wrote the rest of the song in my own words around it.” [JL]
U.S. Girls, Scratch It
Scratch It, the ninth U.S. Girls record from artist Meghan Remy, arrives today, bringing with it more of Remy’s experimental, lightly psychedelic pop stylings. Remy’s cool vocal floats over the funk-cum-soft-rock beat of a track like “Like James Said,” recalling the 1970s progressive rock of Supertramp or ELO. Elsewhere, Scratch It takes on a bluesy tone, with “Walking Song” maintaining the 70s aesthetic by way of Harry Nilsson. All of these influences intersect on the sprawling “Bookends,” a nearly 12-minute odyssey that starts with a Pink Floyd-sounding harmonica before breaking into a disco. All of these influences may sound disparate but Remy blends them with aplomb. Her celestial vocal transcends any specific touchstone, creating something wholly original and distinctly U.S. Girls. [Drew Gillis]
Hotline TNT, Raspberry Moon
Hotline TNT’s Raspberry Moon marks something of an evolution for the band. The band, led by singer, guitarist, and lyricist Will Anderson, has refined their signature wall-of-sound shoegaze style, and it feels more fully realized here than on any of their previous albums. But it’s the optimistic lyrics that really add something new; Raspberry Moon feels joyous and positive, and it makes for an uplifting listening experience. [JL]
HAIM, I Quit
I Quit—perhaps unsurprisingly, given its title—is HAIM’s breakup record (thematically; the band is just fine). Before they recorded the album, the band, which consists of sisters Este, Danielle, and Alana Haim, parted ways with their longtime producer and Danielle’s former partner Ariel Rechtshaid. I Quit was instead produced by Danielle and Rostam Batmanglij, and while the sound isn’t quite as dialed-in as their previous records, there are plenty of bright spots, and the experimentation is still welcome, even when it doesn’t quite work. You can read The A.V. Club‘s full review here. [JL]
