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.
PLS PLS – “Fools”
From the upcoming LP, Jet Black
I have to admit that I was not exposed to PLS PLS until Immersive featured them on our list of the most anticipated records of 2017, but after hearing the new single “Fools” from their forthcoming third LP, Jet Black, I’m here for everything they have to offer. PLS PLS offers a bombastic synth-punk approach to pop tunes that guarantees to claim space in your brain. On this latest cut, the band has set up camp with a lively chug of bassy rhythm and a vocal melody and hook that brings to mind DFA Records era dance punk and mid-aughts glossy anthemic rock. There is a slight industrial tinge that feels somewhat indebted to Depeche Mode, an influence that extends to the earworm vocals as well. This is positively big music, the kind of song that would close out a show and leave the room wanting more. – Justin Green
Jet Black is out Apr. 7 via Slimstyle Records.
More Info
Bandcamp: plspls.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @plsplsband
Instagram: @plsplsatl
SoundCloud: @plspls
Twitter: @plsplsatl
Nag – “False Anxiety”
From the upcoming “False Anxiety” 7″
The title of Nag’s new single might be “False Anxiety,” but the constant clatter of Ryan Fetter’s drumming and Brannon Greene’s machine gun vocals will disquiet even the most seasoned punks. The track grinds to a halt before it’s possible to sort chorus from verse, leaving the listener hanging from the jagged guitars and staring into a threatening abyss. The combination of skin-crawling melodies with mosh-ready rhythms has become a seemingly effortless formula for the trio whose bleak outlook echoes every waking hour of 2017, and even though this is only the first single from what promises to be a busy year for Nag, you can bet the band is already thinking of ways to top it. – Russell Rockwell
“False Anxiety” is the A-side to Nag’s upcoming 7″ on Total Punk records, which drops Feb. 28.
Nag will perform tonight at 529 in support of Allen Thomas. Fellow locals Nihilis and U.S. Drag (tape release) will also perform. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. $5-7 suggested donation. 21+ to enter.
More Info
Bandcamp: werenag.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @nagatl
Leisure Service – “Esoteric Cartoon”
Once you’ve been to the Go Bar in Athens, you never really leave. It’s a trap for the subconscious, a bohemian snare that catches you in dreams and story schemes: the low-slung mirror ball, the long mirror, the TVs with art-house foreign films, the California surfer-type bartender that carded you once because you left your ID at home, and you were kinda flattered because—oh wait, that’s just me. Anyway. So you’d go to the Go Bar, and more often than not, some surreal experimental duo would come in with their four or five synth pads, lock into this groove, and hold the whole room hostage, all ten of you for a good 45 minutes or so. Now, I can’t say for sure, but I suspect that Leisure Service were one of those duos—and one of the better ones, too—that actually compelled us to dance on those concrete floors at half past midnight. And even if they weren’t, “Esoteric Cartoon” proves they oughta be. – Lee Adcock
More Info
Bandcamp: freelancefiend.bandcamp.com
SoundCloud: @leisureservice