1. The Growlers – “Humdrum Blues”
If you haven’t been listening to The Growlers, you’re missing out on some cool ass surf rock. With their California roots, The Growlers can take you to an old cold forest river or a nice sunny day at a southern Cali beach. It was hard to choose just one song, but this one always gets me going with the drums and of course, Brooks Nielsen’s raspy yet smooth vocals. It’s the story of being on the road while having a girl back at home, and the struggles that come with it. This song is less surf compared to others, but is still has a subtle beach vibe to it with the riff at the end.
2. Melody’s Echo Chamber – “I Follow You”
The beginning of this song has a way of getting to you in its intro, where each individual chord transitions to compile with the drums and result in an ingestion of musical medicine. With the addition of Melody Prochet’s dreamy vocals, the entire song is a vision with a strong riff in the end that brings you back to reality from a psychedelic haze. You can hear the pain. Fun Fact: Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker helped produce this album. Fun Fact #2: Parker and Prochet had a thing.
3. MGMT – “All We Ever Wanted Was Everything”
It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything from MGMT, and I just wanted to bring them back for a moment. I love the buildup of this song in particular, because of its mellow beginning and evolution into its hectic sound. Different from their funky electric vibe, this song deserves some recognition.
4. Dream Koala – “We Can’t Be Friends”
All sound, no words. Dream Koala is a 19 year old artist who uses all electronics to produce flowing sound waves such as this song. This song in itself seems like a daydream, with some unrecognizable elements and some sounds of nature. The snaps and keys make me weak in the knees. This guy is definitely worth the research to check out more of his sounds.
5. Logic – “Buried Alive”
I know this isn’t alternative, but I wanted to bring Logic into light, since he just announced a tour for his sophomore album, The Incredible True Story. If you haven’t listened to his earlier works, this song can start you off. He preaches about life’s cruel reality and surpassing it, but in a way in which we can all relate with a tight and precise flow. Yes its rap, but we can also appreciate his brief singing (even if auto-tuned) and the sweet riff at the end.
6. Arctic Monkeys – “505”
Anything from the album Favourite Worst Nightmare is great, but “505” stands out with its eerie darkness and heaviness that bursts out with so much emotion and suspense. It’s simple, straightforward, and tragic in a sense. There’s nothing like the old Arctic Monkeys and Alex Turner before he discovered hair gel.
7. Alex Calder – “Someone”
I discovered Alex Calder back when he opened for Mac DeMarco about a month ago at the Metro. He is just as this song seems; laid back and spacey. Also he sounded great live, and that’s always something to appreciate. I chose this song specifically because it’s so carefree, which is what I’d like to pretend to be for a brief moment before finals week.
8. The Strokes – “Is This It”
Reminiscing on The Strokes and this is it. This song describes how I feel about this semester, and how finals need to just not exist.
