Here are our top 5 songs to stream this week — and remember to subscribe to our Spotify playlist for all of our weekly picks.
Weezer — I Love The USA
A power ballad which hit ears just in time for this year’s America-day celebrations, I Love The USA was released by famed ’90s alt-rockers Weezer in honor of NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter. With lyrics like “I love the USA/Fuck yeah, this place is great,” it’s not exactly the most inventive song in their repertoire, but that doesn’t make it less appropriate to blast at full volume this Monday.
Andrew Bird — Capsized
Prior to seeing the live video Andrew Bird and Co. recorded at Seattle’s acclaimed KEXP radio station, you probably wouldn’t believe that a violinist could rock out so damn hard. A steady-grooving single which features breaks, distorted bowed solos, and Bird’s perfectly-pitched vocal inflections, Capsized is the kind of song you put on when you need to get some grease on your hands. Throw it on and tackle that latest house project, bobbing your head all the while.
Parquet Courts — Human Performance
There’s something simultaneously disconcerting and intriguing about watching a group of puppeteers act out scenes while totally visible, as shown in Parquet Courts’ music video for Human Performance. But it’s the slow-rolling single which makes the creepy faces of those puppets more funny than off-putting. A self-inspecting critique of his own “flawed performances” in real life, songwriter Andrew Savage creates a song out of his own self-doubts which is deep and interesting.
Porches — Car
Machine-like apathy abounds in Porches’ latest music video, which sees the band coordinating dance moves in white pants while performing their car-themed single. But when you really listen in, there is a subtle depth to the band’s cool-as-a-cucumber aesthetic, a format in which layers of synths, guitars and drums create an extremely catchy end product. It may seem simple, but it’s also one of the best songs about an automobile you are likely to stumble across in the near future.
The Strokes — Threat Of Joy
We all miss the Is This It-era Strokes. You know, the casually distorted, hyper-cool, early-2000s-defining Strokes. Thank God, then, for Threat Of Joy, a simple vocal-driven number which somehow encapsulates the band’s decade-old aesthetic, while also delivering a conspiracy-laden music video that seems straight out of the Cold War era. Finally! The same Strokes that you put on that mixtape for your high school sweetheart!
That’s it for now, but check back every week for more new tunes to stream!
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