Welcome to the July 2023 Rosy Overdrive playlist! There’s a ton of great music from this year in this one (I think that there’s only one song on here that didn’t originally come out in 2023, so you can’t accuse Rosy Overdrive of not being hip and current. Well, you can’t accuse RO of not being current, at least).
Who gets multiple songs on the playlist this time around? That’d be Your Heart Breaks and Guided by Voices. And while they have exactly zero songs on this playlist, I compare multiple bands to Belle & Sebastian in this post, so that’s something.
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.
“Sheep on Mars”, Dagwood
From Worse for the Wear (2023, Model City)
Shout out to Dagwood, the New Haven-based power-pop-punk band that’s put out one of my favorite singles in recent memory. Fans of the Dazy school of pop songwriting, in which massive melodies get punched up with 90s alt-rock and plenty of fuzz power, would do well to give the two-minute “Sheep on Mars” a spin. One of three songs they’ve put out this year, “Sheep on Mars” is all hook–the verse melody, the chorus, the Rentals synths, and the power chords are all competing for the title of “catchiest part of the song”, and we’re all winners here.
“Snow Dusted Ponies”, Your Heart Breaks featuring Christine Fellows and John K. Samson
From The Wrack Line (2023, Kill Rock Stars)
I’ve known about Your Heart Breaks for a long time (they covered “First Few Desperate Hours” on Tallahassee Turns Ten for Christsakes!) but The Wrack Line is I believe the first full-length I’ve listened to from the Clyde Peterson-led project. Spanning over an hour and nineteen songs in length (not to mention the appearance of several guest stars), The Wrack Line is a lot to take in, but its best songs hit immediately. Peterson gets an assist from Rosy Overdrive favorites John K. Samson and Christine Fellows on “Snow Dusted Ponies”, a heartland folk rocker with some inspired lyrics “about life in a northern town”.
“Rudolph”, MJ Lenderman
(2023, Anti-)
I got to see MJ Lenderman and the Wind in concert a couple weeks ago (with the excellent Styrofoam Winos), and it was perhaps the best show I’ve seen this year. Lenderman played several as-of-yet unreleased songs, all of which were great, as well as opening with the brand-new “Rudolph”, his debut single for Anti- Records. First off, it rules that Lenderman is now on the same label that’s posthumously releasing an album from what I’d imagine is one of his biggest influences, Sparklehorse. And, of course, the song rules too. Other than Xandy Chelmis’ pedal steel, Lenderman plays everything on this one–lyrically, it’s sparse, but every line lands, as does the massive fuzz-country sound that he’s been perfecting. Already with several great records under his belt, it feels like the dude’s still just getting started.
“Waiting for the Man”, Mopar Stars
From Shoot the Moon (2023, Furo Bungy)
I’ve been really enjoying Shoot the Moon, the debut EP from Mopar Stars, the Philadelphia power pop offshoot from Poison Ruïn/Zorn’s Nao Demand. The whole thing’s good, but opening track “Waiting for the Man” is hard to beat. Demand’s humble vocals, a healthy amount of distortion, and the band’s workmanlike power chords land the song somewhere between vintage 70s power pop and the friendlier side of Pavement-esque 90s indie rock. There’s a guitar solo here that should be “showy”, but it sounds a lot more modest in Mopar Stars’ hands. Read more about Shoot the Moon here.
“Backdrop Painters”, Dream Version
From Dream Version (2021)
I recently learned about Chicago’s Dream Version–their self-titled third record came out a couple years ago, but it’s new to me. It’s a pretty varied album, but my favorite track on it, “Backdrop Painters”, hits on a very specific brand of smart but accessible indie rock that I’ve long enjoyed (it’s a nebulous concept, but I’m thinking of power pop-adjacent groups like Hallelujah the Hills and Mike Adams at His Honest Weight). Alec Harryhausen’s lyrics are all over the place, although his line about imagining a utopian future where record labels “churn out Pavement sound-alikes” (and then immediately walking it back) is a nice moment of self-awareness.
“Brotigan”, Joyce Delaney
From Gently But Firmly (2023, GoldMold/Common)
Say hello and also goodbye to Joyce Delaney, the Glasgow “DIY bubblegum punk band” led by guitarist/vocalist Chrissy Barnacle and bassist/vocalist Nyla Ahmad and rounded out by drummer Barry Carty. I learned about Joyce Delaney via the release of Gently But Firmly, which appears to be the band’s first, last, and only full-length album (they played a farewell show not long after it came out). I’m glad they got an album out before ending, especially considering that it includes “Brotigan”, an incredibly compelling piece of offbeat, twee-friendly indie punk, which is loose-sounding but plenty catchy as well.
“Permanent Storm”, Upper Wilds
From Jupiter (2023, Thrill Jockey)
After the fifteen-second “Greetings”, Jupiter opens with “Permanent Storm”, a thundering fuzz rock song that begins on the titular planet’s Great Red Spot but functions more as a thematic scene-setter than a physical one. Upper Wilds’ lead singer, Dan Friel, acknowledges that the eternal storm on Jupiter will exist long after him, and that outer space contains “things that you and I will never see”, but the latter line then shifts to “places I know I would like to see” in the next verse (but not before Friel acknowledges that space also features “so much there to kill us”). Read more about Jupiter here.
“Why Won’t You Kiss Me”, Guided by Voices
From Welshpool Frillies (2023, GBV, Inc.)
Hey, it’s time for Welshpool Frillies, kids! Guided by Voices’ varied and limber second album of 2023 is maybe the most excited I’ve been about a new release of theirs since 2021’s Earth Man Blues (and considering that La La Land was one of my favorite records of 2023 so far, that’s not faint praise). Songs like the Wire-y post-punk pop-hopper “Why Won’t You Kiss Me” are a huge part of why–there’s some of the orchestration and prog moves of the band’s recent output here, but it’s all part of a tighter, sharper package. And I don’t like when songwriters break the fourth wall (it screams “bereft of ideas” generally to me), but Robert Pollard’s “I’m wondering why motels [are] no longer providing pens” feels like a subtle enough glimpse into his constant creativity.
“Wrong”, Hey I’m Outside
From Smile (2023, Archival Workshop)
Hey I’m Outside (good band name) are the duo of Patrick McPherson and Hannah Fletcher and they hail from Medford, Massachusetts–May’s four-song Smile EP seems to be their second release, after a three-song self-titled EP a couple months previously. My favorite song from Smile is the imminently enjoyable “Wrong”, a nice piece of lo-fi indie rock with a bit of rootsiness to it. The acoustic instrumentation and McPherson’s vocals trend “Wrong” towards alt-country territory, but it’s first and foremost a downbeat but catchy piece of indie rock, suggesting Hey I’m Outside is a project worth keeping an eye on.
“Tangled in Joy”, Temple of Angels
From Endless Pursuit (2023, Run for Cover)
Temples of Angels’ debut album is a throwback with the songs to back it up. Endless Pursuit is a “dream pop” album, but it’s less of the sleepy modern variety and more of the genre’s origins as part of post-punk, new wave, and college rock. “Tangled in Joy” is a beautiful single that could’ve been a lost 80s alt-rock hit, with Bre Morell’s clear and centered vocals delivering one hell of a melody, and the rest of the band shine and soar along with her–it’s “ethereal”, sure, but it also rocks in a way that feels at home on Run for Cover Records.
“Outside”, Taking Meds
From Dial M for Meds (2023, Smartpunk)
I kind of missed the boat on Taking Meds, the New York four-piece who’ve been slowly growing in popularity over the course of three albums and the better part of a decade. Still, “Outside”, the second song from their upcoming fourth record, Dial M for Meds, has my full attention. The band evokes the poppier side of 90s indie rock/punk on this track, containing shades of Archers of Loaf and Superchunk in the song’s simple but effective structure. Eager to hear more from Taking Meds soon.
“French Girls”, Sandra’s Wedding
From The Hopeful Boy Replacement Service (2023, Subjangle)
I keep collecting songs like “French Girls”; I don’t think I’ll ever truly get tired of this sound. Sandra’s Wedding are British, and this comes off on a lot of The Hopeful Boy Replacement Service, but on album highlight “French Girls”, they hit on a specifically American (and maybe Canadian too) brand of post-grunge alt-rock-tinged power pop (“adult alternative”, twas called at the time), humbly swaggering through deceptively catchy verses before launching into a lost-radio-hit chorus.
“Clean Slate”, the Mountain Goats
From Jenny From Thebes (2023, Merge)
The Mountain Goats really are back, huh? 2022’s Bleed Out got me excited for the band’s studio output in a way that I hadn’t been for their last few records (2020’s pandemic-recorded Songs for Pierre Chuvin notwithstanding), and the lead single from their next suggests a winning streak bound to continue. Jenny from Thebes is something of a sequel to John Darnielle’s boombox swan song All Hail West Texas (nerds like me remember Jenny from the songs “Straight Six”, “Night Light”, and the song titled after her), and the showtune-inspired “Clean Slate” sounds like nothing the band’s done before (well, maybe a little bit like a couple of recent tracks) but is a perfect fit for Darnielle’s songwriting.
“Independence Day”, Palehound
From Eye on the Bat (2023, Polyvinyl)
Palehound! A band that I’ve long viewed as “just okay”, enjoying a song here and there but never being wowed by El Kempner’s songwriting the way some others have. Has Eye on the Bat changed my perception of them? Not entirely, but it does feel like their strongest record yet, and it does feature “Independence Day”, a pretty unimpeachable piece of pop rock. It’s quite hooky, but Kempner declines to sand the edges off their sound here, instead having the confidence that their writing will shine through either way (and it does).
“Dead Ahead”, Oxbow
From Love’s Holiday (2023, Ipecac)
Let me tell you–the first Oxbow album in six years sounds an awful lot like an Oxbow album. Although it’s streamlined in comparison to some of the San Francisco quartet’s earlier work, an “easy listen” it is not–there’s some stuff on Love’s Holiday it’ll take me a while to figure out. Opening track “Dead Ahead” is not part of that–it’s a blistering piece of noise rock featuring a characteristically wild performance from Eugene S. Robinson and an uncharacteristically smooth chorus that nevertheless fits the song well.
“Tune You Out”, Steve Marino
From Too Late to Start Again (2023, Pop Wig)
The peppy “Tune You Out” kicks off side two of Steve Marino’s Too Late to Start Again with the album’s biggest power pop moment, sounding like a lost Gin Blossoms or Lemonheads single. The Jack Boy bandleader and Angel Du$t member turns in a song that’s still very much a downer lyrically despite the upbeat tempo that Marino gives the track. It’s a classic power pop trope–to quote Marino himself in the chorus: “You know how it is”. Read more about Too Late to Start Again here.
“Comfortable Situation”, 12 Rods
From If We Stayed Alive (2023, American Dreams/Husky Pants)
Although If We Stayed Alive, the first 12 Rods album in twenty-one years, is a bit more restrained and casual-sounding than the band’s “classic” work, Ryan Olcott still knows how to rock in his own way. “Comfortable Situation” deploys a bit of fuzz and distortion, but it’s just another tool to serve the song rather than overwhelming it. As it is, it’s a loud power pop song–Olcott standing firm in the middle of the storming guitar chords, finding a midpoint between playful and serious. Read more about If We Stayed Alive here.
“Walk Like the Devil”, Sorry Machine
(2023, YGTM)
I believe we’re talking about a debut single with Sorry Machine’s “Walk Like the Devil”; it’s always cool when Rosy Overdrive finds a new band to spotlight in this way (and even more cool when I find it organically rather than through a PR email, but I digress). According to their Spotify bio, they’re a four-piece group from Madison, and their first song contains shades of math rock, post-punk, noise rock, and post-hardcore–but it’s also weirdly catchy. I’m interested to hear more from Sorry Machine soon.
“Dear Angeline”, The Goods
From The Goods (2023, Dandy Boy)
Dandy Boy Records’ recent winning streak continues with the release of The Goods, the debut self-titled EP from the Oakland duo of guitarist/vocalist Rob Good (also of Sob Stories) and drummer Paul Wiseman. The Goods’ first four songs present a band that have already got their grip on what makes a good power pop hit single–“Dear Angeline” isn’t the only massive tune on The Goods, but Good’s enthusiastic delivery of the title line just might push this one a cut above the others.
“Swine Among the Relics”, Other Houses
From Didactic Debt Collectors (2023, Aagoo)
On their latest EP, Didactic Debt Collectors, Other Houses displays a knack for both a Robert Pollardesque warped but pleasing melody and curiously memorable turns of phrase. Both of these tendencies are perhaps best expressed by closing track and highlight “Swine Among the Relics”, a relatively lo-fi and chilly song featuring chiming melodic guitar playing and a chorus in which Morgan Enos triumphantly sings of “Reliquary swine / With articulating spines”. Enos seemed genuinely surprised when I chose this song as my favorite from this EP, but to me it’s a distillation of the charm of Didactic Debt Collectors. Read more about Didactic Debt Collectors here.
“SlowLeak.wav”, Superdestroyer
From SoakedInSynth.Zip (2023, Lonely Ghost)
Columbus, Ohio’s Superdestroyer is an anonymous solo project that’s been putting out short, intriguing records of experimental, electronic-tinged emo music at a steady clip the past few years (in addition, the mind behind Superdestroyer is also the founder of Lonely Ghost Records). The appropriately-titled SoakedInSynth.Zip delivers successes like “SlowLeak.wav”, a synth-and-drums-led pop song with a classic melodic emo vocal that restrains itself in service of evoking the leak to which its title refers.
“Eutherians (Ultramarine)”, ME REX
From Giant Elk (2023, Big Scary Monsters)
ME REX–there’s no one else doing it quite like them, huh? Following a ton of EPs over the past few years, they’re presenting October’s Giant Elk as their debut album (even though I consider the 52-track Megabear one of my favorite LPs of 2021, that project is so unique I have no qualms considering it something other than an “album”). Now a trio (vocalist/guitarist Kathryn Woods contributes to the upcoming album but appears to no longer be a full-time member), Myles McCabe leads “Eutherians (Ultramarine)” towards a classic ME REX-sounding, emotionally brimming indie pop rock tune with help from Phoebe Cross’ drumming and bass and synth from Rich Mandell. Excited to hear the rest of this one.
“Weather”, The Roof Dogs
From Here You Are (2023, Earth Libraries)
The Roof Dogs have become subservient to the weather. Whom amongst us can’t relate to that? The Chicago four-piece band offer up plenty to like on their second album, Here You Are, not the least of which is the five-minute bliss-out-fest of “Weather”. The mid-tempo garage plodder gets a lot of mileage out of its titular line, but the repetition is aided by some inspired playing by the band, including a triumphant, explosive outro featuring trumpet provided by Tommy Creighton.
“So Long”, Spirit Night
From Bury the Dead (2023)
Another winner from Dylan Balliett and crew with “So Long”, the second single from upcoming Spirit Night LP4 Bury the Dead. Although I don’t quite have as much to say about this one as I did with “Country Roads” last month, that doesn’t mean it’s not a “hit” in its own right–it’s an excellent, upbeat piece of pop rock about long-term depression. “Never thought I’d be sad so long, never thought it’d be bad so long,” Balliett sings in the chorus, “But I guess I was wrong”. I’ll have more to say about Bury the Dead very soon.
“Wings”, Cory Hanson
From Western Cum (2023, Drag City)
I’ve liked a song from Cory Hanson’s main band, Wand, here and there, but it’s safe to say that his latest solo album, Western Cum, is the thing that’s caught my attention more than anything else I’d heard from him before. Like Hanson’s other work, it’s got plenty of psychedelia hanging over it, but the best songs on Western Cum incorporate Crazy Horse-esque rocking and rolling and some straight-up power pop, like “Wings”. The guitars soar and strut on this one, counterbalanced by Hanson’s laid-back but not too-laid back vocals.
“Dysthymia”, Mia Antifa
From Coming Home (2023, Hogar)
Mia Antifa are a punk rock group from El Paso, Texas–tag them skate punk, pop punk, ska punk (particularly on the sharp rebuke of “ACAB”), their songs are catchy and enjoyable, frequently heavy but not overly self-serious. Although the title refers to a kind of depression and the lyrics reflect this, it’s a melodic punk anthem nevertheless, with lead singer Joshua Zermeño delivering plenty of hooks even as he’s tackling some rough thoughts.
“Wesley Crusher”, Your Heart Breaks featuring Kimya Dawson
From The Wrack Line (2023, Kill Rock Stars)
Another star-featuring song from The Wrack Line, Clyde Petersen gets help from Kimya Dawson on “Wesley Crusher”, although the latter’s vocals stay in the background pretty much entirely. That’s probably a good thing, because Peterson has a lot to say on “Wesley Crusher”, a breathless power pop song that uses the titular character to beam back to Peterson’s childhood and as something as a stand-in for Peterson himself (this is aided by how Peterson plays Crusher in the song’s charming music video).
“Sleeping Sideways”, Andrew Huston
From Outward Kid (2023, Buzzer Beater)
Andrew Huston used to drum for Philadelphia group The Tisburys before leaving to pursue a solo career–clearly the departure was amicable, as The Tisburys’ Tyler Asay and Doug Keller contribute to his latest record, Outward Kid. Furthermore, Huston’s writing on album highlight “Sleeping Sideways” is in line with Asay’s brand of heartland rock/power pop/90s mid-tempo alt-rock. Huston and his collaborators go for a big sound throughout the song, but the title line is appropriately left simple.
“Blue Eve”, The Fruit Trees
From Weather (2023, Flower Sounds)
Southern California’s The Fruit Trees cover a lot of ground on Weather, their debut full-length album, even as they do so in a subtle way. Album highlight “Blue Eve” would be easy to miss if one wasn’t paying enough attention to the record, but its charms are undeniable–it’s a beautiful, acoustic, folk-slowcore duet with a keen sense of melody that almost puts it in Belle & Sebastian territory. Synths lift the song to a surprisingly busy conclusion that sneaks up after its humble initial period. Read more about Weather here.
“Summerase”, The Illness
From Summerase (2023, Sea)
The debut EP Summerase from Britain’s The Illness offers up four songs with four distinct styles, all executed impressively. Still, the closing title track feels like the biggest success on the EP–it’s a piece of gorgeously full-sounding baroque pop, with strings and woodwinds accompanying the work of this somewhat amorphous “collective” of musicians. Read more about Summerase here.
“Crepe Myrtle”, Hearts of Animals
(2023)
Hearts of Animals is the project of Houston, Texas’ Mlee Marie, who also contributed saxophone and vocals to the latest album from the country oddballs of Alien Eyelid. Marie’s latest single as Hearts of Animals, “Crepe Myrtle”, is a sparse piece of acoustic-based baroque folk: for the most part it’s just Marie’s delicately-played guitar and Erin Rodgers’ clarinet accompanying the vocals. The song is an ode to the titular genus of tree, a southeast Asia/Australia-originating tree that, it seems based on the song’s video, has been planted around Houston.
“Tower”, Cammy Cautious and the Wrestlers
From Cammy Cautious and the Wrestlers (2023, Warttmann Inc./Noise Merchant)
Hey kid, want to hear some good Australian garage punk? Well, Cammy Cautious and the Wrestlers have you covered. The latest EP from the Sydney trio is four songs and ten minutes of such music, being put out by Warttmann Inc., a fine purveyor of such things. “Tower” is my favorite tune on Cammy Cautious and the Wrestlers, a dirty-sounding but sharply-written piece of vintage punk rock that builds deliciously into a fuzz rock anthem. Lead singer Sarah’s shout of “noise, noise, noise” is appropriately distorted, but the message comes through.
“Wash Me”, CS Cleaners
From Drolomon (2023, DIM Things/Spirit Lust)
CS Cleaners are a New York-based four-piece with a really intriguing sound (to me, at least)–they’re certainly in the wider world of “egg-punk”/”Devo-core”, to be sure, but they’ve also got a darker undercurrent of post-punk, noise rock, and even a bit of New York no wave mixed in for good measure. My favorite song from their debut EP, Drolomon, has to be “Wash Me”, a song that feels like it’s about to break apart from the tension between the two vocalists playing off each other in the chorus, but it nevertheless soldiers on.
“There’s No Place in This World for Me”, The Menzingers
(2023, Epitaph)
I like The Menzingers a fair deal, although their last proper album, 2019’s Hello Exile, was a swing and a miss for me. I’m pleased to report, then, that “There’s No Place in This World for Me” is a strong statement of a lead single for their (as of now) unannounced follow-up record. The Scranton four-piece definitely get a lot of mileage out of the song title, which is just right for their brand of world-weary “heartland punk” music. Greg Barnett still sounds great–he’s really giving it his all here, and the music does enough to stay interesting without overshadowing him.
“Lightsleeper”, The Merrier featuring Equipment
From If We Fall Asleep Too Early (2023, Lonely Ghost)
The Merrier is a Cleveland-originating project that’s very collaboration-centric–every song on their latest EP, If We Fall Asleep Too Early, features a different lead vocalist. “Lightsleeper”, my favorite song on the EP, features vocals from Nick Zander of Toledo emo-punks Equipment, whose emo-tinged delivery contrasts with the minimal synth-dream-pop instrumental offered up by The Merrier. One of the more intriguing combinations I’ve heard recently, I’d say this experiment is a success. “I’m thunder, you’re a light sleeper”–hell of a one-liner, that.
“Reactor”, Current Affairs
From Off the Tongue (2023, Tough Love)
Although Current Affairs are a new band to me, they’ve been a part of the fertile modern Glasgow scene for a while, and now feature Gemma Fleet of Dancer and Order of the Toad, so it’s no surprise that I’ve found plenty to enjoy in their long-overdue debut full-length, Off the Tongue. “Reactor”, my favorite song on the album, is a piece of vintage post-punk with more than a bit of Siouxsie-esque goth-pop applied to its sharp foundation. The rhythm section is on point, but there’s plenty more going on here too.
“Dream”, Rainwater
From Wave (2023, Furious Hooves)
Seattle’s Rainwater has been steadily putting out music since about 2015–the six-song Wave EP is the Blake Luley-led project’s first release since 2021’s In-Between. Everything on EP opener “Dream” was recorded by Luley himself–a sleepy drum machine combines with guitars and synths that land somewhere between dream pop and indie folk, aided in no small part by Luley’s gentle vocals. “Dream” gets busier towards its ending, but it never stops evoking the surreal beauty its title suggests.
“Mother Mirth”, Guided by Voices
From Welshpool Frillies (2023, GBV, Inc.)
“Mother Mirth” (along with the equally-as-good “Chain Dance”) is a genuine surprise on Welshpool Frillies. Even though the new record was recorded by the full band live-to-tape, “Mother Mirth” keeps it simple and lo-fi, a pleasing acoustic guitar strum and little else accompanying Robert Pollard’s enjoyable vocals. Interpreting Guided by Voices songs can be a fool’s errand, but I got it in my head that this one is about 9/11 somehow, and I think too many lyrics hit on this for me to discount this thought. Do what you will with this.
“Beautiful Praise”, Grand Drifter
From Paradise Window (2023, Subjangle)
“Beautiful Praise” is the first single from Paradise Window, the upcoming third album from Grand Drifter. Italy’s Andrea Calvo leads the project, and he plays everything on this song, a gorgeous piece of pastoral, guitar-led indie pop that evokes a slightly more lo-fi version of Belle & Sebastian in its bedroom baroque sound. The acoustic guitar and piano accents keep it relatively upbeat throughout, despite its inner wistfulness. Curious to hear more from Grand Drifter.
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