“Pretzel Drunk” - Beverly Tender

Across Beverly Tender’s debut Lord Mayor Makes 1,000 Speeches, no other song quite captures the duo’s penchant for wading through melancholy and light-hearted exploration than “Pretzel Drunk.” From the first goofy swing of the bass line to last sincere utterance of displacement, the duo’s solid footing is established in a song that understands travel, both emotional and physical. Molly Hastings, the band’s singer/guitarist/supreme-mumbler, issues saccharine notes about being alone, crying, and being away from home. It’s the strongest composition on the small record, an exciting clash of Hastings’ soft voice and the agile, nervous guitar work that’s scattered across the album’s six songs.

Maybe it’s confessional, and maybe it’s not. It feels vulnerable, self-aware, and a little playful. That might be all you need while on the road. 

- Kyle Minton

“was the worst thing that ever happened to me” - The Mineral Girls

Charlotte’s The Mineral Girls brandished a new record last month, Cozy Body, which transplants the production fuzz from the guitars to Brett Green’s vocals while still spouting emotional maxims from their sad-boy cores. The songs are more tightly wound, even professionally arranged, but this is still break-up music. “I don’t lie to you like you think I do, and I don’t know you anymore” is not particularly new or subtle given the improvements Cozy Body makes in every other area for the trio, but it’s still worth blasting on summer evenings. 

If you’re looking for more sentimental sing-a-longs, I can only recommend the opener “Sunshine Biscuit Club,” which is the other example of The Mineral Girls doing what every other band clamoring for a Topshelf Records sign does, but with twice the refinement and enthusiasm. There’s a moment to relent and move on, but The Mineral Girls haven’t figured it out, and we’re luckier for it. 

Order Cozy Body via Self Aware Records. 

- Kyle Minton

“Lethal Dose” - Daddy Issues

Surf-pop outfit Daddy Issues are celebrating Valentine’s Day the only way fiercely romantic musicians can: by releasing their music all over the garish pinkness of February 14th. Their debut EP Double Loser is available today, and so we get “Lethal Dose,” the perfect addition to any last minute sickly sweet mixtape you had cooking in your iTunes library. 

It’s thirty seconds shy of the three-minute burst of raging sexual tension “So Hard,” but the slow, sultry yearning of “Lethal Dose” lingers for longer. Lo Davy proves to be capable of far more than the standard pop anthem and ventures into nostalgic territory that ought to net her more than few favorable comparisons to Zooey Deschanel’s work in She & Him.

Daddy Issues eschews modern cynicism about love and relationships for a brief moment, just long enough to engage with their audience with lines like “I wanna hold you close, but baby you’re a lethal dose.” It’s not the perfect love story, but it’s something we can nod along to while deep in a bowl of terrible candy hearts. Hell, break out the chocolate for this one.

Double Loser is available today through Negative Fun Records. 

- Kyle Minton