Deadshirt

Deadshirt is Listening…Bringing you a rundown of our staff and guest contributors’ favorite new tracks released in the past week after they’ve had the weekend to blast them in their cars, in a club, alone in their rooms, etc.

Julian Ames is starting over to…

“Begin Again”
Purity Ring
Another Eternity
Electropop

Last month Purity Ring dropped “Push Pull,” their first new material in a while, along with an indication that a new record announcement was iminent. This past week, the band finally made good and announced Another Eternity, Purity Ring’s next full-length album due out in March. In tandem with the news of the record, they also put out another new song called “Begin Again.” Where the playful yet mellow sounding “Push Pull” was a refinement of Purity Ring’s established style, “Begin Again” is a little different, with the band using synth sounds that would commonly be found in big room house and other popular EDM genres. But, just as Purity Ring has the ability to take Trap beats and make something distinctly not Trap, so too can they turn an EDM staple into something agreeable to even the most staunch indie snob.

“Satin Black”
Hanni El Khatib feat Freddie Gibbs
CONS EP Vol. 3
Hip Hop

If you look up some of Hanni El Khatib’s previous songs, you might recognize some of them from commercials over the past five years or so—his previous albums have had that “almost Black Keys” sound that is perfect for advertisers. (He’s still definitely worth a listen, I find I like some of his stuff more than the Keys.) He’s preparing to release his third full-length album, Moonlight, but he’s also contributed a track to the Converse mixtape CONS EP Vol. 3. “Satin Black” has El Khatib putting on his beatmaker hat, writing music for Indiana rapper Freddie Gibbs to rhyme over. If we’re keeping score here, yes, The Black Keys did a whole album like this in 2009 called Blackroc, but whatever, this is still cool. During the verse, when Gibbs is rapping, El Khatib lays down a funky, fuzzed-out guitar line. The song completely changes gear at the chorus, which is more mellow and trippy, filled with strings and El Khatib singing. It almost sounds like something Danger Mouse would’ve produced. Anyway, “Satin Black” is a cool little oddity from an artist I like, doing a completely different style of music than we’re used to. It’s definitely worth a listen.

Mike Duquette is experiencing a time paradox to…

“Somebody’s Baby (Jackson Browne Cover)”
Have Mercy
Have Mercy/Somos Split
Rock

Let’s get one thing straight: I’m glad I’m not a teenager anymore. That certainly doesn’t mean I don’t regard those heady adolescent years with at least some fondness, as this cut from Baltimore emo-punkers Have Mercy plainly indicates. This cover of Jackson Browne’s hit from the 1982 classic Fast Times At Ridgemont High soundtrack is one of the best plaintive love songs of the eighties, a decade I spent my teen years wishing I’d lived through. And Have Mercy’s peppy, thrash-y cover (on a forthcoming split with Somos, due in February from No Sleep Records) perfectly encapsulates the sounds I did experience as a goofy, skinny, would-be mall-punk in the mid-aughts. If, by chance, you’re the kind of listener who digs this weird generational disconnect, meet me at The Galleria in thirty minutes to check out how many babes look like Pat Benatar—or is it Hayley Williams?—this semester.

Stephanie Salo is feeling surprised by…

“Rose of Sharon”
Title Fight
Hyperview
Emo/Post-Hardcore

I sort of gave up on emo around my eighteenth birthday. I never thought it would be something that interested me again. I found the emo that was produced around 2008 to just be the same stuff over and over again, and it got really boring. Now, emo is seeming to have some sort of renaissance, and it’s actually pretty interesting! It’s that, or my recent birthday has me subconsciously running back to the music of my high school days. Either way, Title Fight’s new single “Rose of Sharon,” from their upcoming album Hyperview, has got the same growling vocals you would expect from 2008, but the production is done so well and the reverb in the backing guitar makes it much dreamier, and therefore more interesting. This is definitely not the same music I left in the aughts. For those of you that are into Nothing or My Bloody Valentine, it’s not that far of a stretch from Title Fight. I will definitely keep them on my radar, and am interested to see what else these new emo bands have to offer.

Mike Pfeiffer is slamming shots to:

“Apocalyptic”
Halestorm
Into the Wild Life
Hard Rock/Heavy Metal

Lzzy Hale’s bread, butter, and thick-sliced ribeye steak is songs about destructive relationships gone by that happened to yield some insane sex. But until now, she’s been saddled with production that dilutes her valkyrie wail down to some more bubblegum songstress tone, which is a total bummer to anyone who’s heard her real pitch. Her sibling-driven hard rock outfit Halestorm also ran into this problem where that same production ground down a pretty inspired sound to some insipid post-grunge drudgery, which they started to break through and find their voice on last album, The Strange Case Of. I was cautiously optimistic that maybe Lzzy would finally get the chance to do whatever the fuck she wants on a record, and then they dropped “Apocalyptic” earlier this week and I nearly broke the coffee carafe at my day job attempting to start a mosh pit in the reception area. It’s basically all the best Halestorm stuff (star-crossed love with great sex, heavy riffs, big hook) crammed into a far hornier version of “Mississippi Queen,” but with Lzzy finally getting to stretch her voice to the female-Dio level that fans of their live show know that she has. I’m very much hoping that their next album Into the Wild Life follows the same path.

That’s what we’ve been listening to this week—what’s got your ear this week? Tweet your recommendations @DeadshirtDotNet or drop us a line on our Facebook page.