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.
Saline – “Knee Socks”
From the upcoming LP, You Did It to Yourself
I don’t know about you, but the concept of reincarnation smells bogus to me. After all, why spin yarns about some lineage of “past lives” when our present selves are already segmented into radically separate chapters? The notion struck me this morning, one of those idle thoughts that sneaks up on you in the gym and fades away in 30 minutes as you settle into the day’s actual concerns. Yet Saline jogged my subconscious this evening with a jolt. The fuzzy firepower of Athens’ five-piece demolition team has suddenly snapped into focus, and the difference is astonishing. They always reminded me of Rodan, with the blistering complexity of their dynamics (plus the fury of Hale Johnson, aka prolly the best drummer in town), and that’s even more evident in “Knee Socks.” But now there’s also a divine intro, a misty dream sequence that completely contrasts the song’s punishing collapse toward the end. Here, Anna Staddon also marvels at her old school uniform, the tattered remains of a former self. I can’t quite follow what happens next, but given the wailing maelstrom that engulfs the narrative eventually, I imagine some radical new self also emerged there, too. So, yeah—no need to die to assume a new form. This life we inhabit now has enough twists and turns. – Lee Adcock
You Did It to Yourself is out Apr. 13 via Perfect Attendance Records.
Saline will perform on Sun., Apr. 1 at the World Famous alongside Scooterbabe, Yazan, and Dagmar Vork. Doors open at 7 p.m. 18+ to enter.
More Info
Bandcamp: saline1.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @salineATH
Book Club – “It Takes a Thief”
From the upcoming LP, Dust of Morning
With “It Takes a Thief,” the second single from their upcoming third LP, Book Club prove they haven’t lost a step since 2015’s One-Way Moon. If anything, the indie-folk collective seem to be packing some additional pep, balancing Robbie Horlick’s wistful warble against a thumping groove and driving backbeat. The track has more of a “rock” feel than many of the group’s more plaintive Americana offerings, and that boost of scrappy energy helps breathe some needed grit into a song about pursuing life outside the margins. Book Club have always been at their best when they’re channeling heartache and hope through a reflective lens, and for all its cautionary warnings, “It Takes a Thief” sounds positively triumphant. – Guillermo Castro
Dust of Morning is out Apr. 6. Pre-orders are available here.
More Info
Web: bookclubtheband.com
Bandcamp: bookclubtheband.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @joinbookclub
Instagram: @bookclubtheband
Twitter: @BookClubAtlanta
Cosmic Trigger – “Swamp Dance”
From the single, SWAMPY
The funky new track from Gage Gilmore’s (Visitors, 10th Letter Ensemble) solo project Cosmic Trigger adds an earthiness to his lo-fi electronica. “Swamp Dance” features quintessential techno rhythms winding through a jazzy landscape. The downtempo influence of his work in the 10th Letter Ensemble is visible in the complex beats and squelchy synth undergirding the track, but Gilmore shovels grainy dissonance over the entirety of song, keeping the final destination hidden from the listener. – Russell Rockwell
More Info
Bandcamp: gagegilmore.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @cosmictriggeratl
Instagram: @gageagainstthemach1n3