The Mantles – “Memory”: Releasing a 7″ next week, and the below video might be good incentive to make an investment. The feel good garage – psych vibes are sure to bring cheer any time of the year. I’m enjoying a revisit of this song on Black Friday inside a suburban Starbucks. I feel like this song would be equally suitable for listening in front of a fireplace, sipping on a hot drink or whilst dancing in a dive bar – PBR in hand. The organ is a nice subtle addition to the groove that rounds out the track.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryxh8S5jORA[/youtube]

Gnarwhal – “Scooter Park”: Lofi math rock at its best. That’s what “Scooter Park” is. Not any old math rock band – a two piece math rock band. The drum work will make your head spin, and the vocals in and of themselves are jarring. Frantic. That’s a good word to describe what I’m hearing. I want to hear this in someone’s basement. Anyway – this song is on a 4 way split that also features Ovlov, Ex-Breathers, and Woozy.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/164133872″ /]

T.O.L.D. – “Lucifer’s Eyes.”: It’s been said that Lucifer, aka the devil, masquerades as an angel of light. Because people don’t look at what’s underneath their temptations, they are sucked into things that have the outward appearance of being good. This is a metaphor for how this song sounds – feel good steel drums create quite the ear pleasing hook. Underneath it all, though, the track is kind of hypnotic and the vocals sound a tad sinister.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MoBaopn6fc[/youtube]

The Neighbourhood – “#icanteven”: A dark track which carries themes of incredulity. Sensual beats. Some slick verses from French Montana, who I haven’t heard of before the release of this track. Suffice to say that this track will tide over those who got hooked on “Sweater Weather” until the next record from this band.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/177666513″ /]

New Hands – “Strange Attractor”: Glitchy downtempo pop is the name of the game with this track. New wave type vocals appear too – is it weird that the first thing that comes to mind is the Men Without Hats guy who sings in the “Safety Dance”? Needless to say (or maybe we need to say it anyway), the cheese is much less present in “Strange Attractor”

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/176286671″ /]