Welcome to a weird sort-of holiday weekend–tomorrow’s the fourth of July, and I’m pleased to present Rosy Overdrive’s June 2023 playlist for you to throw on while you grill your various foods (for the Americans among us, at least). A lot of great brand new selections on this one!
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit and Tough Age have multiple songs on this playlist.
Here is where you can listen to the playlist on various streaming services: Spotify, Tidal, BNDCMPR (missing two songs). Be sure to check out previous playlist posts if you’ve enjoyed this one, or visit the site directory. If you’d like to support Rosy Overdrive, you can share this (or another) post, or donate here.
“Country Roads”, Spirit Night
From Bury the Dead (2023)
Spirit Night is the project of West Virginia-originating, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Dylan Balliett, whose last full-length album, Shame, came out back in 2015. I’ve liked Spirit Night for a while (the title track from Shame made an early appearance on this blog), but Balliett’s long-awaited fourth Spirit Night album and its lead single both represent a huge leveling-up moment for him. “Country Roads” is not the John Denver song (although Spirit Night do cover it for the single’s B-side), but an original fiery, massive alt-rock anthem that I never quite expected from Spirit Night, but one that makes perfect sense. Baillett digs deep here, repurposing the albums of his youth (“emo, punk rock, early 2000s Saddle Creek and Dischord Records”) and connecting the 17 year old driving around the Eastern Panhandle hanging onto music desperately with the thirty-something expat who’s “still back there all the time”.
There are thousand hometown-hating pop punk bands who’d kill to have come up with “Country Roads”’ vicious, stomping chorus (I can’t stop thinking about the guitar line that rushes up to the front when Balliett singes “at least I’m finally gone”), and Dane Adelman’s trumpet is a reminder that Balliett has plenty of emo tricks up his sleeve too. I do think that one can appreciate “Country Roads” without growing up in the same state that Balliett did, although realistically, being from West Virginia is a stamp that for whatever reason is hard to explain to anyone from the rest of the continental United States. There’s both an isolation and a pull to it that necessitates “Country Roads” being as strong-sounding as it is, like it would’ve been swallowed whole by John Denver and Spruce Knob and Walmart parking lots and “BBs under the skin” if it was any less firm in its rebuke of Balliett’s state of origin. And then you can see the nuance in between the grand, sweeping gestures, both in the lyrics of “Country Roads” and in Spirit Night’s accompanying completely sincere cover of the John Denver song as well (considering that Balliett is originally from Jefferson County, he hails from one of the few places in West Virginia that actually is reflected in “Take Me Home, Country Roads”). I’ll have more to say about Bury the Dead next month.
“Avid”, Faunas
From Paint the Birds (2023, Shitbird)
On their newest EP, Washington, D.C.’s Faunas reinvent themselves compellingly as a clean-sounding folk rock band and turn away from their noisy garage rock roots. On album highlight “Avid”, the duo of Genevieve Ludwig and Erin McCarley take this even further–it’s a piece of grand, sweeping heartland rock. Even with the muted power chords and jangly leads, the close-sounding vocals ground “Avid” and help it fit in with the quieter, more intimate side of Paint the Birds. Read more about Paint the Birds here.
“Give It a Day”, Tough Age
From Waiting Here (2023, Bobo Integral)
The Vancouver-based jangle pop trio Tough Age are a fairly versatile group. One of their most comforting modes on Waiting Here, their fifth album, is when they’re exploring the moments of guitar pop euphoria that have long marked New Zealand bands like The Clean and The Chills. The runaway hit of “Give It a Day” is perhaps the best example on record–it’s a song that is bursting at the seams with hooks and pure excitement. Read more about Waiting Here here.
“Short Centuries”, Upper Wilds
From Jupiter (2023, Thrill Jockey)
“Short Centuries” isn’t exactly a typical Upper Wilds single, but it feels just right for the Dan Friel-led power trio. For one, it’s just as catchy as any of their explosive noisy pop tunes are, but instead of belting out the winning melody, Friel and the band let “Short Centuries” unfold slowly and deliberately–it’s Upper Wilds’ version of a hymn. Friel is aided by vocals from Katie Eastburn and Jeff Tobias, adding up to something that matches the power of Upper Wilds’ “louder” songs. On Jupiter, Upper Wilds are inspired by “scale and perspective”, appropriate for an album named after our solar system’s largest planet–on “Short Centuries”, Friel’s subjects are apparently Julio Mora and Waldramina Quinteros, the oldest married couple on Earth.
“Days Move Slow”, Bully
From Lucky for You (2023, Sub Pop)
I’ve liked a Bully song here and there before, and I still think their debut album is pretty good, but Lucky for You is the first time that they’ve moved the needle for me in a full-length context since 2015’s Feels Like. Lucky for You is hooky in a way that Alicia Bognanno’s previous work would circle around but wouldn’t always reach for me, and the edginess is still there. “Days Move Slow” is like one huge chorus, a massive lost 90s alt-rock hit.
“Eat Sleep”, Deady
(2023)
Deady are a new band based in Louisville, Kentucky featuring Mister Goblin/Two Inch Astronaut’s Sam Goblin on guitar, which is how I found them. “Eat Sleep” is the band’s debut single, and it’s a very catchy and bonkers piece of blaring, weirdo indie rock that sounds more like an Ohio crop than the Bluegrass State’s variety. My co-worker who knows who The Jesus Lizard are agreed with me that it sounds like Brainiac (although he also said Mister Goblin sounds like Sufjan Stevens, which feels a little less on the mark).
“This Is Gonna Change Your Mind”, Martin Frawley
From The Wannabe (2023, Trouble in Mind)
Martin Frawley is an Australian singer-songwriter who gained notoriety as the leader of the band Twerps, although I discovered the Melbourne-based musician with his 2019 solo debut, Undone at 31. That album was full of effortless-sounding jangly guitar pop that evoked neighboring New Zealand, and his follow-up album, The Wannabe, offers up a collection of songs that won’t disappoint anyone who enjoyed his first record. Opening track “This Is Gonna Change Your Mind” is perhaps my favorite song on it, a casual-sounding song that still manages to ascend to “anthem”.
“When We Were Close”, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
From Weathervanes (2023, Southeastern/Thirty Tigers)
Jason Isbell has said that “When We Were Close” isn’t about anyone specifically, but I immediately thought of Justin Townes Earle when I heard it, as did seemingly everybody else who cares about interpreting Jason Isbell songs. It’s a howling rocker (written in the style of the Drive-By Truckers) about being the only one left standing among two once equally-self-destructive musician friends. Like most of Isbell’s songs, it’s just about as simple as it can get away with structure-wise, and infinitely complex everywhere else.
“Carl St. Bernard, Pt. 1”, Noah Roth
From Don’t Forget to Remember (2023, Devil Town Tapes)
Don’t Forget to Remember is an interesting follow-up to last year’s Breakfast of Champions for Philadelphia’s Noah Roth. Their newest album was recorded quite quickly while visiting family in the Chicago suburbs, as opposed to their last album’s years-long gestation time. Songs like “Carl St. Bernard, Pt. 1” don’t show any signs of being tossed off, however–Roth messes around with effects and distortion like they do elsewhere on the album, but this song is as catchy and poppy as anything on Breakfast of Champions. Read more about Don’t Forget to Remember here.
“Part Time”, Oceanator
(2023, Polyvinyl)
I can’t say enough about the talents of New York’s Elise Okusami, whose two most recent albums as Oceanator (2020’s Things I Never Said and 2022’s Nothing’s Ever Fine) were both one of my favorites from their respective years. “Part Time” is a one-off single, and it’s one of the Okusami’s most straightforward and poppy moments yet, contrasting with the more inward turn of last year’s Nothing’s Ever Fine. “Part Time” was co-written with Cheekface’s Greg Katz, which might explain the bounciness a bit, but it’s still unmistakably an Oceanator track.
“Voices”, All My Friends Are Cats
From The Way I Used to (2023, Grey Cat)
All My Friends Are Cats are a vaguely feline-themed pop punk/power pop/slacker rock trio from Pittsburgh led by vocalist/guitarist Dave Maupin and also featuring guitarist Patrick Roche and drummer Charlotte Pyle. “Voices” leads off their debut album, The Way I Used to, and it’s a really compelling opening statement–it sounds very casual, a mid-tempo track featuring Maupin talk-singing over some shaky but catchy guitar chords, and it slowly sneaks up on you from that foundation.
“Vanish”, Scrunchie
From Scrunched (2023, Candlepin)
You can always count on an under-the-radar Candlepin Records release to show up on one of these playlists somewhere. This month, it’s a selection from Scrunched, the debut album from Los Angeles’ Scrunchie (which is an un-Googleable band name, by the way– “scrunchie band” is beyond useless as a search term). Scrunched is a modern shoegaze record if I’ve ever heard one, with Scrunchie’s Danny Rincon layering on the effects like no one’s business. “Vanish” has an incredibly catchy chorus underneath the fuzz nevertheless, even offering up some slick “ooh ooh oh”s.
“Etched You In”, FOOTBALLHEAD
From Overthinking Everything (2023)
FOOTBALLHEAD’s debut album, Overthinking Everything, is a collection of thirteen power pop/alt-rock tunes run through in under half an hour. Chicago’s Ryan Nolen and his collaborators balance heaviness and hookiness quite nicely throughout the album, particularly on “Etched You In”, an exhilarating side two highlight that combines punk speed with jangly guitars and an all-time pop punk chorus. Read more about Overthinking Everything here.
“Forgiving Ties”, Deer Tick
From Emotional Contracts (2023, ATO)
Deer Tick are another band that I’ve liked a song from every once in a while (I still get “Jumpstarting” from 2017’s Deer Tick Vol. 2 stuck in my head with some frequency), but I don’t think I’ve been taken with a song of theirs the way I have been with “Forgiving Ties”. The Emotional Contracts highlight is effectively a vintage roots rock/college rock throwback from the alt-country band, basically sounding like a modern version of Los Lobos or The Silos or even Miracle Legion. Who else is making music with these touchstones right now?
“Mostly Roses”, Long Odds
From Fine Thread (2023)
I wrote about Connections’ new album, Cool Change, earlier this year–it’s one of this year’s best and a welcome return from the Columbus band. Although Cool Change was the first Connections album in a half-decade, there was a Connections-related album that came out last year: the debut album from Long Odds, the new project of former Connections and Times New Viking member Adam Elliott (and also featuring Connections bassist Philip Kim). “Mostly Roses” opens Fine Thread with a low hum, a sneakily catchy piece of lo-fi indie rock that will grow and grow on you.
“Pearl”, Empty Country
(2023, Get Better/Tough Love)
I’ve long been an open fan of the dearly departed Cymbals Eat Guitars, and frontman Joseph D’Agostino’s self-titled debut as Empty Country was a highlight of 2020 for me. Empty Country’s first new music since then is “Pearl”, a single that for now stands on its own but hopefully augurs the advent of more music to come from the project. “Pearl” is an impressive statement on its own, twisting and turning and layering on itself over five minutes–it really feels like Empty Country is developing into something distinct (but not removed) from Cymbals Eat Guitars, and my curiosity is certainly piqued.
“The Candlemaker”, Stoner Control
From Glad You Made It (2023, Sound Judgement)
“The Candlemaker” is possibly the first-place song on Glad You Made It, a rock-solid five-song guitar pop EP from Portland’s Stoner Control. The trio give the track a jangly sheen and also lead it down a few surprising left turns, but “The Candlemaker” nevertheless feels like it hits every right note. Sam Greenspan’s melodic vocal delivery is key for selling “The Candlemaker” (“Guided by candle, guided by candlelight” won’t leave my head). Read more about Glad You Made It here.
“Sixers”, The Hold Steady
From The Price of Progress (2023, Positive Jams/Thirty Tigers)
I saw The Hold Steady live recently. It was great! They’re a great band! Maybe I’ll write more about it sometime, but for now I’ll just say that I came away from it really appreciating “Sixers”, a song I hadn’t really given a second thought to beforehand. I’m slowly coming around to The Price of Progress after being a little disappointed in it initially, and “Sixers” is a brilliant track that shows that the band still very much “have it”. Craig Finn’s lyrics here are as engrossing as anything he’s written, and if he feels a little muted, well, this story isn’t exactly a triumphant one.
“Aujourd’hui”, Savak
From Rotting Teeth in the Horse’s Mouth (2020, Ernest Jenning Record Co.)
Brooklyn’s Savak recently recorded what will become their sixth album, but before that comes out, I have gone back and really checked out 2020’s Rotting Teeth in the Horse’s Mouth for the first time (long overdue, considering how much I enjoyed its follow-up, 2022’s Human Error / Human Delight). In addition to having one of the best album titles ever, Rotting Teeth in the Horse’s Mouth also contains “Aujourd’hui”, one of the best entries to the pop end of the Savak sound spectrum. The titular French phrase becomes an unlikely but undeniable hook as it repeats again and again over the soaring instrumental.
“China Aster”, The High Water Marks
From Your Next Wolf (2023, Minty Fresh)
Your Next Wolf is a really stacked album–over seventeen songs and forty minutes, The High Water Marks deliver highlight after highlight of bright, hooky fuzzy pop rock. The album’s A-side has a bunch of hits, but, hidden away towards the end of the record, “China Aster” might sneakily be Your Next Wolf’s best song. Hilarie Sidney’s vocals are somewhat restrained, but the rest of the band give her plenty of space, only roaring into fuzz-pop in the breaks between. Read more about Your Next Wolf here.
“Dog Leg”, Rodeo Boys
From Home Movies (2023, Don Giovanni)
Rodeo Boys are a garage-y, grunge-y, punk-y indie rock group that hails from Lansing, Michigan, and they tear through their second album, Home Movies, with appropriate ferocity. The catchy but still beefed-up-sounding “Dog Leg” is my favorite song from the album, and it takes me back to the vintage messy but determined sounding rock music from the 2010s that bands like Swearin’ and Screaming Females were making. Tiff Hannay sells the song completely, and there are also some legit guitar heroics towards the song’s end.
“Callin’ Out”, Paint Fumes
From Real Romancer (2023, DIG!/Bachelor)
Paint Fumes is a practitioner of what we can perhaps go ahead and call Rosy Overdrive’s bread and butter–garage rock/power pop. The Charlotte-based band has actually been around a while–Real Romance is their fourth album since 2012 or so, and it’s a blast. “Callin’ Out” is the biggest highlight to my ears–that chorus hook is undeniable and the quartet get everything they can out of it, and there’s a big old guitar solo sticking out of its midsection too.
“Never Fucked Up Once”, Militarie Gun
From Life Under the Gun (2023, Loma Vista)
I was moderately excited for the debut Militarie Gun album–I enjoyed some songs off the EPs, but I wasn’t a full acolyte of Ian Shelton’s music like others seem to be. Life Under the Gun was a pleasant surprise–it’s not my favorite album of the year or anything (yet), but it’s the band’s most fully-realized work to date and balances edginess and catchiness quite well. Shelton’s voice is probably still a deal-breaker for more traditional guitar pop fans, but he delivers the bittersweet “Never Fucked Up Once” about as well as one could hope.
“Sun Don’t Shine”, Luke and the Second Coming
From Luke and the Second Coming (2023, Mossdeep)
“Sun Don’t Shine” is the lead single and opening track off of Luke and the Seconding Coming’s self-titled debut album, and it introduces the Pittsburgh-based band (led by Luke Crouse) on a high note. “Sun Don’t Shine” is a shimmery, jangly piece of mid-tempo alt-rock with a beast of a chorus: it’s got that “90s adult alternative” sheen that evokes singles from bands like the Goo Goo Dolls and Gin Blossoms, although it’s a little more electric when that chorus kicks in.
“The Version”, The Radio Field
(2023, Less)
Dusseldorf, Germany’s The Radio Field is a new project from musician Lars Schmidt–I wasn’t familiar with Schmidt before now, but he’s been leading the Germany indie pop group Subterfuge for thirty years. The Radio Field only have five songs to their name so far, but if “The Version” is any indication, it appears that Schmidt has plenty of good guitar pop music left in him. “The Version” is aided by Max von Einem’s trumpet and trombone, a triumphant-sounding piece of jangle pop that is eager to please.
“Toothache”, Lydia Loveless
From Nothing’s Gonna Stand in My Way Again (2023, Bloodshot)
New Lydia Loveless? That’s effectively a lock for the playlist, yes. “Toothache” leads off the announcement of Nothing’s Gonna Stand in My Way Again, Loveless’ first album since 2020’s excellent Daughter. Loveless is back with a rebooted Bloodshot Records for their new album, and if “Toothache” is any indication, it’ll continue their long winning streak. “Toothache” has one foot in the more atmospheric indie rock touches that colored Daughter, but it’s also a fairly grounded tune and it’s not hard to hear the “classic Lydia Loveless rock and roll” contained herein as well.
“Haunted”, Big Blood
From First Aid Kit (2023, Ba Da Bing!/Feeding Tube)
I’ve vaguely heard of Big Blood before, but I think that First Aid Kit is the first time I’ve really checked out this Portland, Maine band, and it wasn’t quite what I expected. I knew that the band was in some way connected to 90s post-rock group Cerberus Shoal, but First Aid Kit is a pretty accessible, poppy post-punk/new wave record that feels right out of the early 80s. “Haunted” is a six-minute college rock anthem, plodding along with its bass triumphantly like a brighter Siouxsie and the Banshees cut.
“King of Joy”, Pickle Darling
From Laundromat (2023, Father/Daughter)
Christchurch, New Zealand’s Pickle Darling is the project of Lukas Mayo, who’s been making their delicate, twee indie pop on small labels like Z Tapes since the mid-2010s. Laundromat is their first record for Father/Daughter Records, but it sticks to Mayo’s enjoyable, humble lo-fi pop roots. “King of Joy” is under 90 seconds long–you’ll miss it if you blink–but it sports what might be my favorite Pickle Darling melody, slowly working its way up to a hushed electro-pop lullaby.
“Cast Iron Skillet”, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
From Weathervanes (2023, Southeastern/Thirty Tigers)
I’m thinking of that one Mountain Goats lyric– “I turned it over in my mind, like a living Chinese finger trap” (from “Pale Green Things”). This lived-in complexity, the kind that keeps your mind coming back to something and sifting through it, is why Jason Isbell is as good a songwriter as he is. The way that the title line of “Cast Iron Skillet” and a few similar ones invert typical “country wisdom” songwriting cliches to drive its points home is remarkable enough on its own, but there’s more and more to come back to even beyond a single clever subversion of expectations.
“Hideaway”, Tough Age
From Waiting Here (2023, Bobo Integral)
“Hideaway” is another great example of Tough Age’s kiwi-flavored power/jangle pop, rivaling the undeniable energy of “Give It a Day” earlier in the playlist. The track runs around in circles giddily, with Jarrett Evan Samson’s excellent vocals throwing out melody after melody and the playing of the rest of the band being more than punchy enough to match him. Read more about Waiting Here here.
“Whale Party”, John R. Miller & The Engine Lights
From The Trouble You Follow (2018, Emperor)
John R. Miller has a new album coming out in October, and I’m sure I’ll have something to say about it at some point, but this month I want to reach back to 2018’s The Trouble You Follow, an album I hadn’t really appreciated until recently. Miller is a great songwriter, and the loose but substantial The Trouble You Follow is a good example of it as any– “Whale Party” is one of the more fun songs on the album, a swinging piece of string-heavy folk-country with plenty of meat on it.
“Daytona 500”, Home Is Where
From The Whaler (2023, Wax Bodega)
The new Home Is Where album certainly sounds a lot like Neutral Milk Hotel, doesn’t it? Not that that’s a bad thing–tons of bands claim In the Aeroplane Over the Sea influence but they somehow miss on actually creating something reminiscent of it, but Home Is Where bandleader Brandon Macdonald and her crew have definitely hit on something here. And “Daytona 500” is a pretty singular creation–if anyone were to question Home Is Where’s Florida bona fides, this is quite possibly one of the most Sunshine State songs to exist.
“Were”, Pretty Matty
From Heavenly Sweetheart (2023, Self Aware)
Pretty Matty ends their latest album, the power pop hookfest of Heavenly Sweetheart, with the sweet and sour “Were”. It’s undeniably an anthem to send the record off with a bang, and lyrically it pulls no punches. In it, Matty Morand excoriates and sets the record straight about a one-sided relationship–Morand declares they have no intention whatsoever to return to “the good old days” of the addressee of the song enjoying themselves at Morand’s expense. Read more about Heavenly Sweetheart here.
“Sweet”, Feeble Little Horse
From Girl with Fish (2023, Saddle Creek)
The Horse is back! I’m not sure yet how their breakout album, Girl with Fish, stacks up against their earlier work for me, but at the very least I can already put “Sweet” up there with their best songs so far. It’s an excellent piece of fuzzy noise pop, with the opening blaring piece becoming a dizzy hook, and Lydia Slocum and Sebastian Kinsler’s vocals playing off each other quiet nicely. It’s all over in two and a half minutes, but Feeble Little Horse make enough racket and excitement for “Sweet” to work perfectly.
“Big, Strange, Beautiful Hammer”, U.S. Highball
From No Thievery, Just Cool (2023, Lame-O)
The British indie pop duo U.S. Highball have followed last year’s sublime A Parkhead Cross of the Mind with No Thievery, Just Cool, another solid collection of breezy guitar pop tunes whose surface simplicity doesn’t hinder their catchiness one bit. I could’ve chosen several from this album, but the verse melody of “Big, Strange, Beautiful Hammer” is so good that I have to go with this one.
“Huntin’”, Slander Tongue
From Monochrome (2023, Alien Snatch)
Here’s another one of these garage rock power pop hits! I’m not sure if there’s much to say about “Huntin’”, which is just an excellent snotty piece of rock and roll that pulls from early 70s punk and power pop brilliantly and undeniably. Sometimes a good song is just good, and I’m not going to pass on “Huntin’” just because I can’t think of any cool hook to put in this little paragraph. They’re from Berlin, that’s kinda unusual for the music I write about?
“Homebound”, Grapes of Grain
(2023, Drag Days)
Back in January 2023, Grapes of Grain released the Getaways EP, and I highlighted that record’s “In This Moment” in a previous playlist. The Utrecht-based band are back a few months later with a new two-song single (recorded during the sessions for an upcoming full-length album), and the A-side, “Homebound”, rivals anything from the group’s last record. It contains Grapes of Grain’s recognizable blend of vintage jangle pop and alt-country, with singer-songwriter Alexis Vos’ vocals rolling gently along the music provided largely by multi-instrumentalist Berend Jan Ike.
“Rockfort Bay”, Fust
From Genevieve (2023, Dear Life)
I could’ve chosen plenty of songs from Genevieve to put here (one of them, single “Trouble”, already appeared on an earlier one of these playlists), but I keep coming back to the short and sweet “Rockfort Bay”. The roaming and displacement at the heart of Genevieve is quite present on this sub-two minute tune: it’s a song about thinking and hoping that still ends with Fust’s Aaron Dowdy feeling that he’s “never gonna change” as he heads out of the titular town. Read more about Genevieve here.
“Smoky”, Alright
From Breaking Down (2023, Self Aware/Tor Johnson)
Charlotte, North Carolina’s Alright is the project of Sarah Blumenthal, who also co-runs Self Aware Records and co-leads the band Faye. “Smoky” was originally released as a part of a split single with Late Bloomer (whose Josh Robbins is a frequent contributor to Alright’s music, although Blumenthal recorded all of this single herself) along with “Pebbles”, another good track. “Smoky” shows off Blumenthal’s more pensive side, with synths and prominent bass guitar shading a wistful pop ballad.
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