Welcome to the fourth installment of Friday Night Jukebox, our weekly roundup of the best new songs recommended by our In Between Music writers. Follow this link to read the previous installments from the last few weeks.
All Get Out – “NBT”
The opening track on All Get Out’s new album Side A tears through nearly every sound that has characterized them since the project’s inception almost two decades ago. Occupying a space somewhere between early Modest Mouse’s brand of weird-indie and the southern rock of My Morning Jacket, Side A doubles down on the massive hooks, emo vocals and shout along choruses that have long left the the feeling that this is what Manchester Orchestra could have been if they stayed fun and loose before they pivoted to to a darker and more dramatic sound.
“NBT” waits absolutely no time before erupting into its sing-song and jaunty melody that blends its chorus with barely any transition, eventually breaking down into an immensely catchy hook that carries through the rest of the day. Fans of 2010s emo/indie have been having a great year and with this release All Get Out has made it clear that they deserve a place at the forefront of that conversation. [Quinn Parulis]
Basement – “Wired”
A beloved emo band that has bounced back and force from a variety of hiatuses over the last decade and a half, Basement has not only maintained a steady following but somehow managed to gain a wider audience upon each return. One of the first and most high profile bands to move away from emo towards grunge, “Wired”, the lead single for their first album in 8 years, sees them continue marching down that path while sanding a few more edges off their sound.
While the vocals still have sandpaper-quality grit to them, the riffs this time around are twinklier than they are buzzing and seem to befit the summer season the album will be released in. Sometimes bands changing up their sounds into entire other genres can be a bad call, but luckily Basement is out there proving that slow incremental changes can still be a winning formula. [Quinn Parulis]
JUVENILE & Megan Thee Stallion – B.B.B.
At long last, we have the Megan Thee Stallion and JUVENILE remix we’ve been looking for. Megan’s verse is a bit shorter than I would have liked, but that’s just me wanting more Megan verses. “A YN can’t do shit for me, I need that old money, AARP” is one of the best bars I’ve ever heard. If this is a reference to Y/N fan fiction, she just earned the coolest rapper alive award. Juvenile’s verse is great, but Megan is the one who truly shines on this remix. Her flow works exceptionally well with the production and her lyricism is, as always, witty. She shines on songs that allow her to have fun with her verse, which only makes the song that much better for all of her fans. [Kayla Chu]
Genesis Owusu, “Stampede”
The latest track from the Ghanaian-Australian rapper and singer Genesis Owusu finds him back in the dance-punk mode that has fit him so well on tracks like “Leaving the Light” and “Death Cult Zombie”. Owusu has a gift for writing a cool chorus, and “Stampede” has two different choruses for him to sink his teeth into. “Stampede” is a promising teaser for a new album that is hopefully on the way soon. [Ryan Gibbs]
Tigers Jaw – “Breezer”
Tigers Jaw’s longevity, especially compared to most of their peers, has never been a fluke. Surviving a transition between lead singers better than most bands could hope to, they’d seemed to have settled comfortably into their status as elderish-statesmen of the 2010s emo scene. After crafting a few strong and consistent albums of easy-listening indie rock that had enough dynamism and punch to satisfy the old fans while still being smooth and unassuming enough to pull in a mainstream audiences, the singles for their upcoming release seem to indicate that they’ve finally put some pep back in their step.
“BREEZER” is the least propulsive of the songs we’ve heard off the upcoming album so far, but it still retains the dissonant and metallic guitar tone that made the earliest singles stand out, and while the vocals glide over the track with the same dreamy layered harmonies they are still a bit darker and jagged than anything off the last few albums. With all four singles being so strong in a variety of different ways, Lost on You is shaping up to be one of the most exciting releases of the year. [Quinn Parulis]
Voxtrot – “New World Romance”
Voxtrot’s return has always carried a whisper of a question: what does romance sound like after time has done its work? “New World Romance,” the centerpiece of Dreamers in Exile, answers with a song that feels both familiar and newly unmoored. The jangling indie-pop DNA that defined their early work is still here, but it breathes differently now. It’s wider, more patient, with rhythms and textures that suggest a band shaped by distance and years away.
Lyrically, Ramesh Srivastava turns the idea of “the new world” into a layered metaphor of migration, reinvention, and the strange act of falling in love again when you’re no longer the person who first believed in it. The song builds from a tentative opening into a cathartic swell, mirroring its emotional arc and f-you to youthful certainty.
What makes “New World Romance” resonate is its sense of earned hope. It’s wonderful to see Voxtrot avoiding the trap of trying to relive the mid-2000s. They’re writing from the far side of them. Proving that the old romantic impulse—the belief that art and love can still surprise us—survives the exile of time. [Jon Negroni]
Rosa Walton – “Sorry Anyway”
The two members of British indie/electronic duo Let’s Eat Grandma are both currently engaged with solo material. First, Jenny Hollingsworth released her debut Quicksand Heart earlier this year featuring the great single “Every Ounce of Me”. Now, it’s Rosa Walton’s turn for a solo debut. Walton has already made a couple solo turns, like a track for the Cyberpunk 2077 soundtrack, but “Sorry Anyway” marks her proper solo induction.
“Sorry Anyway”, the lead track from Tell Me It’s a Dream, starts off slow before bursting with indie rock guitars. You can tell what each member adds to the LEG sound from their solo music: Jenny has the propulsive synthpop nailed down on her record, while Rosa has the alternative edge. Walton, like Hollingsworth, has a knack for writing great melodies and soaring choruses, and her solo career feels like a different thing entirely while still feeling familiar to fans of the band. [Ryan Gibbs]
