Look, we know we throw a lot of new music at you. We also know that not everyone who comes to this site has the time to be as involved with or informed about the local scene as maybe they’d like to be. So for those casual readers who either can’t or have no interest in keeping up with the parade of artists we try to cover, who may not know the difference between Bitter and Biters, we have created our TRIPLE THREAT feature. The premise is simple: every Friday our writers will put their heads together and come up with three tracks that grabbed our attention over that week. Then we tell you why the songs are great and worth listening to. That’s it. Maybe some weeks we’ll have a guest commentator come in and share their favorites, but the format will always remain the same: three songs, some words, and we out. Enjoy.
Harlot Party – “I Miss You”
From the MOEKE Records compilation, Summer Singles 2017
Guys. I’ve tried to write this intro for three hours, to glorify Athens’ wondrous web-weavers Harlot Party, and each of my drafts echoes back to me false. What greater movement of quiet power, what wider picture of moving pictures, what pride in validation can encompass the butterfly metamorphosis in this single? Those arcs exist, but they overshadow the kindled flame in the sculpture at hand, the dynamic drums in the bloodstream of “I Miss You.” Rather than obscuring KyKy Knight’s raw emotions, these undulations mesh like veins with the delicate guitars, so that her simple pangs of loneliness surge into overwhelming loss. It’s the same symbiotic dissonance that made Mothers so compelling, yet even more seamless here because there’s no extra drama attached—instead of their slow burn, “I Miss You” soars swiftly by, enough to leave spectators (like myself) dizzy and breathless. – Lee Adcock
Harlot Party will perform on Sat., July 29 at the Big Thing at RowdyDowdy. Doors open at 6 p.m. Admission is $5.
More Info
Bandcamp: harlotparty.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @HarlotParty
Tumblr: harlotparty.tumblr.com
Twitter: @HarlotParty
Ethereal – “Like Rico”
From the upcoming LP, Mankind
It only takes only about a half second to glide into the new woozy new single from Ethereal. Press play and that opening bass drop is but a slippery slope into the nocturnal, blunt-smoke haze of the rapper-producer’s grimy underworld. The beat is absolutely cavernous, coated in icy synths and jagged melodies that dangle across the track like so many stalactites. But while the atmosphere may be murky and mysterious, Ethereal makes no bones about his desires. On the track’s indelible hook, he declares he’s trying to get paid like (influential producer and Organized Noize co-founder) Rico Wade, a clever line that serves as a signal to his bold ambition and relentless work ethic, while also paying respect to Atlanta hip-hop royalty. – Avery Shepherd
Mankind is out July 21 via Awful Records.
More Info
Bandcamp: ethereeeal.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @etheeereal
Instagram: @etheeereal
SoundCloud: @etheeereal
Twitter: @etheeereal
A Drug Called Tradition – “Goin’ Down Alone This Time”
From the upcoming LP, Medicine Music
July has never failed to provide us with a steady stream of bright sunlight and brutal heat and humidity; luckily, this year it’s also given us a refreshing blast of shoegaze melody to accompany our sultry state of being. While symptoms of excessive sun exposure include blistering, dehydration, nausea, and heavy lethargy, A Drug Called Tradition’s new single, “Goin’ Down Alone This Time,” allows listeners to soak up some vitamin D without the need for SPF 50. Radiating a… how shall we call it?… toasty aura comparable to a heat wave, this raw, well-layered tapestry of psychedelic sound will envelope you deep in a summertime daze. Although sunlight may occasionally hide behind ominous clouds, these golden rays are forever shining, crafted and captured into scintillating waves of magnetic sound. – Sophia Rubin
Medicine Music is out July 28 via Psych Army Intergalactic.
A Drug Called Tradition will celebrate the release of Medicine Music on Fri., July 28 at the Earl. Supporting them will be The Difference Machine, Order of the Owl, and Wray. Doors open at 9 p.m. Admission is $8. 21+ to enter.
More Info
Web: adrugcalledtradition.com
Bandcamp: adrugcalledtradition.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @a_drug_called_tradition
SoundCloud: @adrugcalledtraditionband
Twitter: @adrugcalledtrad