Did you know we have a playlist?
Halfloves - “Just Wanna Sleep”
Halfloves has been an AsterTracks favorite band for quite a bit now and every time they drop a song we sort of feel the need to pause and listen. On this new one, “Just Wanna Sleep” the band shows us a side of themselves we’re not too familiar with and had this to say about the song’s creation.
“Grappling with yet another bout of serious depression & exhausting burnout, songwriter Trevor Polk remembered the sunshine while biking through Iowa hills blaring 60s rock & roll, singing along to the likes of Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, & Little Richard. Inspired by the raucously joyful performances & raw simplicity in the production of that pioneering decade, Polk took to the guitar & pen as therapy to craft an ironically heartfelt & relatable confession: “I just wanna sleep.”
It’s hard to split “Just Wanna Sleep” into parts because the track isn’t really one who can be torn apart. As the song progresses it introduces every member oh so subtly. The riff doesn’t serve as an intro, it’s essential to the entire first verse of the song. Everything comes in one at a time, building slowly up until the song’s chorus before crashing down into it. When I read the story about the song’s creation in comparison with actually hearing it I could picture the car driving along the highway to the guitar composition. I will admit the influences pulled from here aren’ something I usually go for, but I have to admire Halfloves as songwriters here. This vocal range, this entire feel isn’t like anything we’ve seen from them yet.
Halfloves continues on this trajectory of churning out songs and seeing what they feel fits them. I don’t care if not every experiment is to my taste, I can tell when a band loves what they do.
CLIFFDIVER - “dayz gone”
Two new Cliffy songs dropped just a couple of weeks ago, a pop punk rager led by Briana Wright and an introspective alt rock track sung by Joey Duffy. The marketing the band went for is in “dayz gone” so it’s the one I’ll talk about here.
“Dayz” opens with a whine where Briana loses her keys and it sets the mood of the track perfectly. This is something Cliffdiver is so proficient at; painting a bleak image to an already fun track and we haven’t even broken twenty seconds yet. The instrumental re-intro is very aughts, we had the stage set before but now we’re more so introduced to the mood the song is going for, which is a fun jam with a danceable throughline but also a hint of melancholy to it.
While the whine was fun Briana is giving her all here, you can hear the shape of the tension in her voice as she belts this out. As it goes on the backing vocals are a nice touch, this feels very in theme with everything from the last record but a bit more refined. The overall narrative is similar as well but sort of extends past the first steps of healing and dealing with the aftereffects of healing while on the road.
I definitely hear the horn in the back of the chorus, and it does get more pronounced as time goes on. Instrumentally all of “dayz gone” works really well and is another part of the craft Cliffdiver has mastered; it’s a fun little sliding melody with everyone in tune with one another. Lyrically the chorus makes me think the song itself is about accountability, you can’t blame everyone around you when things aren’t going well but also you should give yourself a break as well. Joey sings exactly two lines on this one but he sounds a lot better. Not saying I think Joey was ever a bad vocalist, but I think in terms of performance this may be his best one yet, something has leveled up here. I also really enjoy the extension of the narrative he offers here, being completely burnt out to the point of not wanting to even stand to leave a motel and carry on the tour.
Future Teens - “Double Down”
We have talked about every full project Future Teens has come out with to this point. The band did release another new song, “Mourning Time” earlier this year, and while both are great I really took a shine to this one in particular.
I don’t think I have much to say on the sonics of this song, it’s a fairly standard setting for Future Teens to be in. The reason I’m spotlighting this track in particular is its emphasis on trans joy via co-frontman Amy Hoffman. On “Double Down” he takes ownership of his pride as a transman and is unapologetic about it, even bringing up transphobia he’s faced in public. He also talks a lot about finding love from a community you’ve always lived around but thought you’d one day have to abandon. I also really like how he incorporated not changing his name, having a high-pitched voice, things internalized transphobia make us all insecure about but he’s totally embraced.
Beach Bunny - “Vertigo”
Finally, when Beach Bunny drops my whole world stops. I’ve found a lot of band’s writing for this blog and Beach Bunny has become my favorite, maybe of all time. Lili Trifilio has said not to expect an album cycle just yet and it seems the band is one member short now, so I expect the next couple of years to be a growth period for the band.
All of Beach Bunny’s catalog is mixed in terms of sonics though usually just an inch or so at a time. This time however this process has maybe skipped a few steps. This is much more dark and punk-inspired than the hyperpop-inspired pop rock of Emotional Creature. What I love about Lili is even when she’s shooting for something different she still has her signatures as a songwriter. The Beach Bunny structure is still there in the way the song and its parts are mapped out and she still does very Lili Trifilio moves like the non-flashy, but still effective post chorus solo.
The main part sticking out to me on the track as a whole is the vocal inflection and percussion behind it in the chorus. Both are so bold and very clearly worded to intently make a statement. Both also step way up in the song’s final hook. The conversation had lyrically about self-sabotage hits hard, especially when the last album was a lot more full-on positivity for the majority of the run time. Lili never really paints herself as the protagonist directly and holds onto this even on a song so introspective.
The back half of the song does have a full-force guitar solo, which we’ve also never really seen on any other Beach Bunny song. It does, however, go with these newfound heavier sonics. The piano outro is also very much appreciated. So, while I’m not anticipating an album just yet, I would take a year or two of Beach Bunny songs dipping into other genres and styles.
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