Seratones - Gotta Get To Know Ya

Porridge Radio - "The Rip" from the 2022 album Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky on Secretly Canadian. Right before the pandemic shut the world down, Brighton band Porridge Radio dropped Every Bad, their first record on Secretly Canadian that would go on to receive a Mercury Prize nomination as well as a generous amount of airplay on KEXP. While not technically the first album under the Porridge Radio moniker, it felt like an introduction to the band, who blended UK post-punk with anthemic indie rock for a uniquely cathartic sound. Last month, they released the follow-up Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky which broadens Porridge Radio’s sound without giving up any of their defining characteristics. Our Song of the Day is “The Rip” which is led by soaring synths and roaring guitars, as the song slowly builds and bursts. Frontperson Dana Margolin had this to say about the song: “‘The Rip’ was the last song to be finished for the album, and we finished it about a week before we went into the studio to record it in March 2021. We wanted it to sound like massive pop, like Charli XCX, but with the instrumentation of bands like Slothrust or Deftones. It took the longest a song has ever taken me to write lyrics for, and they took form over a few years. At the beginning it was a song about a power dynamic where I was in control, by the end it was about one where I had none. My friends always accuse me of making up idioms and using them like they are well known phrases and I think this song is full of those. I love the idea of something being sick at the seams, like it’s disintegrating from its core. I like things that are so simple they are universal. I wanted it to sound like when your heart breaks so badly that your entire body aches. I wanted it to feel like your soul is dropping out of your body.” The song comes with a video directed by Margolin’s sister Ella which mimics the intensity of the song with Margolin furiously running on a treadmill while menacing figures in papier-mâché masks envelope her. Watch the video at the link below and catch Porridge Radio in Seattle on Tuesday, September 13th at Barboza. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

7 Juni 20222min

Julia Jacklin - "Lydia Wears A Cross" from the 2022 album Pre Pleasure on Polyvinyl. Four years after charming the socks off of us with her 2018 record Crushing, Julia Jacklin is finally releasing its anticipated follow-up. Titled Pre Pleasure, the record was conceived upon returning home at the end of a mammoth Crushing world tour and finished in a frantic few months of recording in Montreal. Our Song of the Day is the lead single and opening track off the record, “Lydia Wears a Cross.” Harkening back to her Catholic upbringing, a young Jacklin struggles with an understanding of what she’s being fed while deeply enjoying the pageantry of the church. “I'd be a believer /If it was all just song and dance,” she sings on the chorus. In a statement, Jacklin describes the song like this: “The song is about a lot of things but mainly being a 7yr old Jesus Christ superstar fanatic attending catholic school trying to figure out which way is up. The music video was filmed by my constant collaborator and friend Nick Mckk at Splitpoint lighthouse. I played a show close by recently and asked on stage if anyone could let me film inside. Someone in the crowd knew a guy and that was it. The rest was filmed in the streets of Northcote, Melbourne.” Pre Pleasure was recorded in Montreal with co-producer Marcus Paquin (The Weather Station, The National) and finds Jacklin teamed with her Canada-based touring band, bassist Ben Whiteley and guitarist Will Kidman, both of Canadian folk outfit The Weather Station. It also introduces drummer Laurie Torres, saxophonist Adam Kinner and string arrangements by Owen Pallett (Arcade Fire) recorded by a full orchestra in Prague. Jacklin will be embarking on a US tour this August, with a date in Seattle on Friday, September 30th at the Crocodile. Watch her incredible KEXP in-studio performance from 2019 at the link below. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

6 Juni 20224min

These Arms Are Snakes - "Camera Shy" from the 2022 album Duct Tape & Shivering Crows on Suicide Squeeze. Thirteen years after the unceremonious breakup of post-hardcore outfit These Arms Are Snakes, the Seattle band have released the double LP Duct Tape & Shivering Crows. While it’s not made up of entirely new material, the record gives a thorough overview of the band’s expansive experimentations over their seven-year run. Our Song of the Day is the track “Camera Shy.” Originally released on their 2008 split-LP with Chicago’s Russian Circles, the song utilizes a crisp, throbbing rhythm section as a platform for Ryan Frederiksen to lay his always-intense spacey yowls. Following These Arms Are Snakes’ reunion shows in Seattle last August, the quartet is hitting the road for a run of five dates in Denver, Chicago, Brooklyn, Oakland, and Los Angeles starting in June. Watch the visualizer for “Camera Shy” at the link below. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

3 Juni 20224min

We believe that everyone who runs should have a great soundtrack. Not one curated by an algorithm, but one that’s hand-picked by a DJ who runs too. The Runcast with John Richards brings you a dynamic mix of music and inspiration to keep you company and motivate you on your run, no matter what your level. Subscribe to KEXP's The Runcast with John Richards, wherever you podcast, and enjoy new episodes every two weeks, June 3 - October 7, 2022.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

3 Juni 202243s

Kraus - "Anyone" from the 2022 album Eye Escapes on Mutual Skies. Will Kraus has been releasing his unique brand of caustic shoegaze under his surname since 2016. Since then, the Dallas musician has released four records, with his latest being 2022’s Eye Escapes. A collection of recordings from 2016 - 2021, primarily from a lost album between Path and View No Country, the 11 tracks were mastered by the legendary Sacramento-based producer Blank Body, who also recently dropped a new record - his first in five years. Our Song of the Day, “Anyone,” is another excellent addition to Kraus’ discography of lush, dissonant sounds. Anchored by heavy distortion, his soft vocals float angelically yet indecipherably over the semi-caustic soundscapes. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2 Juni 20222min

The Hunt - "I Can’t Stand (Zola Jesus cover)" from the 2022 album Todo Muere SBXV on Sacred Bones. This year, Brooklyn-based label Sacred Bones Records celebrates its 15th anniversary, and to commemorate this occasion, they've devoted the latest volume of their annual Todo Muere compilation to artists on their roster covering other artists on their roster. And who better to reunite for this release than The Hunt? The post-punk duo helped launch the label with their very first release, a 7" single from the band. While both band members — Jasper McGandy & Christian Kount — have sinced moved on to join Cult of Youth, they've reconvened to cover labelmate Zola Jesus for this special release. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

1 Juni 20223min

Automatic - "Skyscraper" from the 2022 album Excess on Stones Throw. Los Angeles trio Automatic tap into consumerism on their latest single, “Skyscraper,” channeling a materialistic yuppie type, obsessed with consumer culture. “It’s about spending your life making money and then spending it to fill the void created by said job,” explained bassist/vocalist Halle Saxon, with bandmate Lola Dompé cheekily adding, "Kind of like going to LA to live your dreams." The track will be released on their forthcoming full-length Excess, out June 24th. Automatic plays Seattle on September 10th and 11th, opening for Osees at Neumos. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

31 Maj 20223min

Working Men’s Club - Circumference from the 2022 album Fear Fear on Heavenly Recordings. UK quartet Working Men’s Club return with their sophomore full-length Fear Fear, to be released July 15th via Heavenly Recordings. Like their first album, Ross Orton (The Fall, Arctic Monkeys) provides production talents; unlike that debut LP, the band have evolved their post-punk sound in a more new wave, synth-heavy direction, providing a stark contrast to their lyrical approach this time around. “The first album was mostly a personal documentation lyrically, this is a blur between personal and a third-person perspective of what was going on.” says frontman and songwriter Syd Minsky-Sargeant, in a press release. “I like the contrast of it being happy, uplifting music and really dark lyrics. It’s not a minimal record, certainly compared to the first one. That’s because there’s been a lot more going on that needed to be said.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

30 Maj 20223min