PREMIERE: Hit Like A Girl - Cold To Be Alone

Will Shenton

The raw sincerity of Hit Like A Girl's "Cold To Be Alone" is refreshing. Lyrically blunt and heartbreakingly familiar, it's a song that captures the seemingly incurable pain of loneliness and lost love without trying to smother it in ironic detachment. Nicolle Maroulis' vocals soar with bitter anguish against the glimmering instrumentals, recalling the delivery of the best emo and pop-punk of decades past.

But "Cold To Be Alone" isn't just a lamentation—it's also an expression of furious resentment. Maroulis pulls no punches, singing "You don't get to discuss whatever happened to us / 'Cause you did this to me / You're the one who chose to leave." The band's forthcoming LP, What Makes Love Last, is itself an exploration of romance and the myriad ways it can leave us feeling broken, but it's in these moments of catharsis that it feels empowering when it could have simply wallowed.

Of the many things that set Hit Like A Girl apart, perhaps most impressive is their charity, No More Dysphoria, which raises money to help transgender individuals pay for major aspects of their transition. The band forgoes their own merch sales to instead support the organization at shows, and they dedicate a portion of the profits from their music to the cause as well.

So if you're looking for a reason to hit that pre-order button, look no further. What Makes Love Last will be released August 28, 2018.

REVIEW: Ducktails - Jersey Devil

Laura Kerry

His latest release in his nine years as Ducktails, Matt Mondanile’s Jersey Devil is both a return to the familiar and a march into uncharted territory.

That contradiction starts with the conditions of the album’s creation. For as long as Mondanile has performed as Ducktails, he has dedicated most of his attention playing guitar for Real Estate, but last year he parted ways with the band to focus exclusively on his solo project. Setting out on a new path, the artist ended up back where he started: his mom’s basement in Ridgewood, New Jersey (he repays her with a warm and fuzzy tribute on “Keeper of the Garden,” singing, “I’ve never loved a woman more than I love my mom ... If you see her give her flowers”). The title of Jersey Devil refers to a folkloric Garden State beast (and X-Files episode) that stalks the coastal woods, a fitting metaphor for a guy who has returned to haunt his old stomping grounds.

In sound, Jersey Devil is also a mix of old and new. Since his first album in 2009, Ducktails’ sunny psych-pop has become increasingly polished, leading up to his tightest and glossiest work, 2015’s St. Catherine. This new album marks a return to the lo-fi, bedroom-pop aesthetic of Mondanile’s earlier music. Using a muted palette of drum machine, retro synths, and guitar, he travels back through time, situating us in a version of the suburbs from Stranger Things or, one could imagine, the way the artist might have experienced them as a kid in the ‘80s. Opening on “Map to the Stars,” a track with a restrained batch of synth sounds to match the celestial title, Ducktails sets the stage for travel into another galaxy in the hull of a cardboard spaceship—a spacey journey with simple tools.

Also different on Jersey Devil is Ducktails’ favoring of digital sounds. In both this project and Real Estate, Mondanile has defined himself by the characteristic sound of his sun-saturated guitar. While his new album includes the occasional jangle, it relies much more on fluid washes of synths. Between this and the often-subdued vocals, some of the album feels hazy and indistinct; it is recognizably Ducktails, but sometimes the ‘70s soft-rock version. Jersey Devil eases in, though, picking up energy towards the middle in songs such as “Lover,” “Mannequin,” and “Shattered Mirror Travel”—all of which feature strong basslines and other sturdier elements to ground them. In these and other places, Ducktails takes the best of his distinct sound and pushes it in a new direction.

As the artist himself might have recently experienced, Jersey Devil feels like coming back to your childhood home to find that your parents have rearranged some rooms. It is uncannily familiar and foreign at the same time. Once you settle in, you might find you like the new layout.

Jersey Devil is out October 6. Pre-order it here.

VIDEO PREMIERE: Stolen Jars - Gone Away

Will Shenton

With their phenomenal sophomore LP, Kept, Stolen Jars established themselves with one of the more distinctive sounds we'd come across in 2015. Their follow-up, glint, is a similarly unique EP, comprised of five tracks that explore "themes of loss and renewal ... finding hints of memory in the present and trying to keep sight of them just long enough to let them go." On top of all that, it's a video album, each song accompanied by evocative visuals.

The fifth and final video, "Gone Away" (directed by Marissa Goldman), is a vignette from the end of a marriage, depicting the moments when familiar places become abruptly foreign in the wake of emotional upheaval. Against the backdrop of a somewhat fantastical apartment (made even more so by liberal use of green screen), we watch as a woman suddenly grows too big to fit in her living room. Stolen Jars' signature percussion and gorgeous male-female duet scores the scene, which concludes with our protagonist calling to tell her boss she's going to be late for work—presumably admitting for the first time that she needs to grapple with her loss.

"Gone Away" is brief, but nonetheless powerful. Like the rest of glint, it's a story of pain and the hope that springs from its depths. In that vein, 25% of all sales of the EP will benefit the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, a legal aid organization that "works to guarantee that all people are free to self-determine gender identity and expression, regardless of income or race, and without facing harassment, discrimination or violence." So if it resonates with you as much as it did with us, we highly recommend picking up a copy.

REVIEW: MoRuf - Loosies

Laura Kerry

Those who know MoRuf tend to love him. The following that he has earned since his debut in 2011 is fiercely loyal, lighting up the internet with calls for more attention paid to his 2013 album, the underrated Shades.Of.Moo. It's a fact that the artist—New Jersey native Moruf Adewunmi—seems aware of on his expansive new EP, Loosies. At the beginning of the second song, "Viewtiful Fish," a woman, presumably a radio DJ, compliments an artist, presumably MoRuf, saying that she has seen people stop in their tracks when his music comes on, that he "has an ability to captivate a listener who's not really even listening to the music." It's a subtle and humble exhibition of swagger, a self-endorsement that says, trust me, you'll want to listen to this.

And it's accurate. The version of Loosies that I listened to plays all eight tracks as a continuous stream, refusing to let you emerge for air until the last notes fade out. But the EP contains plenty of breathing room in itself. With a different producer for each song producing varied shades of MoRuf's self-proclaimed "Soulhop," the album ebbs and flows through different sounds and themes, unified by an underlying warmth, accessibility, and jazz-influenced '90s hip-hop vibe.

A few of the many highlights include "GOLDEN LAKES," a song that combines an introspective gaze with a full, intricate sound focused around smooth keys; the gentle song "Huxtable," about love, poetry, and the Cosby Show; and the epic track at the end, "I WANT YOU," which catapults off of a single encounter in the street, using heart beats, breath, and MoRuf's rhythmic flow as percussive elements in a ten-minute, anxious, longing-filled journey that travels to childhood and back—and is worthy of the Erykah Badu song that it reimagines. Diverse and inviting, Loosies is another strong case for MoRuf that deserves your attention.

TRACK REVIEW: Fond Han - New Alright

Kelly Kirwan

New Jersey-based group Fond Han is awash in crinkling, blue-feeling indie rock. A certain static coats their guitar riffs as world-weary vocals waft through, and facets of punk and prog deliver a rough touch that doesn't aggravate. Fond Han has a taste for the mismatched rhythms so often associated with math rock, and their songs have no idle space; they're filled to the brim and overflowing with fuzzy edges. Their latest single, "New Alright," naturally follows suit.

The track opens with tangy guitar strums and a nasally pitch that twists and bends towards the end of its note, with just a small dose of distortion, as is Fond Han's style. The tension builds over its three-minute span, the vocals morphing into an angst-riddled, airy shout as the instruments swell and then topple over one another. There's a guitar skittering out, a quick pattering of drums, and a moment of sonic anarchy that grips us, and our emotions spike with feelings of earnest desperation, a kind of riot against everyday ennui. The lyrics are often shrouded by the melody, which crackles with the white-noise intensity of a shoddy phone line—an element which very much jives with their haywire style.

"New Alright" offers a sullen sort of catharsis, a rallying cry for nonconformity that manages to bypass the pitfall of feeling contrived. But then again, this is a band that's taken up the genre labels of "rink donk" and "shark doom," so convention has never been their benchmark. That's a good thing for anyone who gets the chance to listen.