Singles of Summer
New singles from Rachel Sage, Bitheru, Beauty, & The Flashing Astonishers help kick off the season
RACHEL SAGE & THE SEQUINS - “Just Enough” (MPress)
From the first rounded notes of Rob Curto’s Hammond organ, Rachel Sage’s “Just Enough” transports you back in time. Is there a more evocative sound in rock? Add some sha-la-la’s, a horn section, and a funky wah-wah’d guitar and, “Just Enough” could easily pass for one of those Laurel Canyon folk-pop confections that soared to the top of the charts way back when. Rachel Sage has long established her bona fides as a folk artist and song interpreter, but performing with this full ensemble only adds to our appreciation of her tone and phrasing, her kittenish come-hither allure, and her sophisticated lyrics. This cup doesn’t runneth over; there’s “just enough” love to go around, and as Sage sings, it is everywhere: “I feel love like a child on a ferris wheel / Love like the moment when you know it’s real / I feel love like an eagle on a mountain top / Love like a bottle in a soda shop.” Roll over, Olivia, and tell Billie Eilish the news. Rachel Sage is making a statement.
BITHERU - IWANTYOUAROUND (streaming)
Give credit to Bitheru, the stage name of Hudson County teenager Thomas Pareles: He knows how to keep you guessing. His recent string of singles has ranged from backpack raps to romantic ballads to the new “IWANTYOUAROUND,” a five minute torrent of sound that takes a few listens to sink in.
Bitheru has been blessed with a sweet singing voice and he croons a love ballad here, with impressive inflection and nuance - but sped up to a speedmetal tempo. It’s foregrounded not by the sexy R&B samples you might expect, but a frantic flurry of spastic electric guitar and percussion (courtesy of 3 Dollars drummer Ben Kamel.) The track literally assaults the listener, a cacophonous racket superimposed over a love song, until the noisy stuff fades away and you’re just left with that vocal - sweet, sincere, a little sexy. The fast, noisy verse starts up again, then fades out into an intricate electric guitar bridge, until it all starts up again, one more time, Bitheru singing his heart out - “I want you around” - amid stinging guitars and throttling percussion. This Bitheru kid is a show off: Crazy technical electric guitar (as well as Kamel’s speedy drumming,) first-class homemade production, and an A+ for originality. Just get ready to get knocked off your feet.
THE FLASHING ASTONISHERS - “Porches”/”Holy Christ” (Bandcamp)
Here’s another band I met at Wilmington, NC’s W.E. Fest many years ago, Syracuse’s Flashing Astonishers, still going strong at 30 (after an 8-year hiatus in the ‘00’s) with their signature “dark indie rock.” Fans of Eighties indie rock (especially those who think “indie rock is dead”) should revel in the steamy blast of churning guitars and vocals (with a decided R.E.M. flavor) that is “Porches.” Dan Musclow’s mumbled vocals, buried in a wall of guitars and propulsive drumming, pushes the song forward, creating meaning not from the lyrics but from the tone and tenor and passion in the music, with a long instrumental coda bringing the track to its conclusion. The “flipside,” “Holy Ghost,” unfolds like a church procession, with an air of both mystery and formality. Musclow wails and the guitars ring to the heavens as the song builds tension, multi-tracked vocals adding to the urgency on the chorus. Both songs might bury the lyrics in murky kudzu but, even without parsing every word, I guarantee you will feel something listening to them. And isn’t that why we listen to music in the first place?
BEAUTY - “Acid Baby Girl” (Strange View Records)
Red Bank trio Beauty’s debut album is coming August 1, but first there’s “Acid Baby Girl,” a fuzz-box symphony of guitar, bass, reverb’d vocals, and a retro Sixties melody that makes for the perfect Summer single. Beauty’s previous singles hewed to straight ahead power-pop, and while the catchiness remains, the beefier guitars here add a Phil Spector- goes-to-the-Jersey-shore vibe to make this single really pop. There’s a bit of subversive fun going on too, since our “Acid Baby Girl” is not just pretty, but pretty stoned: “Acid baby girl, where’d you get those eyes? / Are they supposed to slide in and out like a kaleidoscope? / Are you scared of the future, do the drugs help you cope?” Kudos to guitarist, vocalist, and lyricist Deaglan Howlett, bassist/vocalist Nic Makoto Palermo, and drummer Owen Flanagan for coming up with a great sounding single that’s more than just Bubblegum pop. This is a really fun and yet intelligent track and I’m looking forward to more.