It seems like this week's Top8 is mostly revivals of this or that genre. This really didn't occur to me until I had finished writing it. If you're not completely satisfied, I will give you double your click back. That's the WTSQ guarantee. Please direct all abuse to https://wtsq.org/contact.

Sarah Shook & The Disarmers - Revelations
Sarah Shook and the Disarmers is a band fronted by River Shook. For those who may have missed it, Shook came out as nonbinary and changed their personal name a couple years ago. The band is carrying on under their old name. While Shook may have changed some of their presentation, the band is as solid as ever. Revelations is the second single from the forthcoming album of the same name. While the first single, Backsliders, is a bit stronger to me, Revelations does not disappoint. Especially compared to 2022's Nightroamer. While that album experimented with some modern vocal effects and production choices, Revelations seems to be more in the band's neo-traditional style. While I am really not against anyone taking some musical chances, I felt that Nightroamer somewhat missed the mark and ended up sounding like a lesser evocation of contemporary artists. Revelations nails the landing. The song leaves a lot of the band's earlier honky-tonk vibe behind, but still retains that genre's basic instrumentation. The result is a track that feels specifically modern while retaining the DNA of its roots. 

Hurrah for the Riff Raff - Colossus of Roads
Speaking of evolutions, Alynda Segarra's Hurrah for the Riff Raff has been a moving target from the jump. It makes sense that it would be – Segarra has been all over. Colossus of Roads is a single off the new album The Past Is Still Alive. The track is a wistful reflection on the lost past, but also, as suggested by the album's title, that it is still alive, still with us. Rather than only being enslaved to the past though, Segarra declares their independence from our broken history  – "Say goodbye to America / I wanna see it dissolve / I can be your poster boy for the great American fall." Pretty brassy to call for the end of the American empire in an americana song. 

Wisp - See You Soon
It's possible that the shoegaze revival peaked last year. Regardless, Wisp is off to a strong start in 2024. See You Soon looks like it's a one off single from the TikTok sensation. I get a strong Slowdive feeling from this song. It's gossamer soft at times but still bursts with classic gazy guitars in others. I really hope that Wisp comes up with a full length album this year. I could use a lot more of this.

Title Wave - APartOfIt
When I saw Title Wave for the first time, it was at the urging of WTSQ's Mya Ross. The Charleston based outfit is right up my alley, and Mya knew it. The moment the show was over, I walked up to the band and asked if they were actually big Chromatics fans or if I was just insane. While I might very be insane after all, the influence of that band is hard to miss with Title Wave. Thankfully they are not overly committed to that bit. The song flirts with the vintage Miami Vice synth and guitar aesthetic, but ultimately leaves it behind with a swaggery riff and powerful vocals. While this track is fantastic, don't sleep on checking out Title Wave live. 

Packs - HFCS
The past few years have seen an explosion of crunchy guitar bands fronted by people some of us would call kids who weren't even born yet when we watched Alice in Chains Unplugged goddammit. Thankfully, this group of grunge enthusiasts are not nearly as precious about the specifics of the execution as their musical progenitors were. Bands like Packs are obviously having a blast rummaging through the aural fleamarket of the previous generation, and good on them for it. HFCS was actually released as a single in late 2023, but the full album is now out. As a whole, Melt the Honey is a fine album that is much more adventurous and sonically diverse than a lot of 90s bands ever were. Both the album and the single are well worth a spin.

Golden - River City Runaway (rerelease)
Sometimes the genre revivalists are just dudes who were around the first time also. That's the case with Charleston, WV's Golden and the band's co-vocalist/guitarist Greg McGowan. It's hard to miss the echoes of McGowan's legendary Time and Distance in this project. Golden feels like a more carefully produced affair while still retaining all the joy and exuberance of classic pop punk acts. River City Runaway is itself a remake of an earlier version of the song. While the original was fine, this new version does seem more satisfying. Fun Story – a couple weeks ago, my partner told me that they hated Yellowcard. I responded to this personal attack by listening to Ocean Avenue 23 times in a row. When I realized my attempt to time travel back to 2004 had failed, I listened to River City Runaway. Most of the time 2024 is a better year to live in than 2004. That's certainly the case when we have bands like Golden.

Telehealth - Mindtrap
There's no reason to beat around the bush here. Mindtrap from Telehealth sounds a lot like Devo. Rather than just aping the former's style, Telehealth have created a jagged but frothy synthpunk confection stuffed with bits of everything from X-Ray Spex to Wire (and, yes, Devo). This might be the catchiest track I have heard this year. If Mindtrap does it for you, check out the b-side, Bitter Melody, as well as last year's full length, Content Oscillator. 

Shannon and the Clams - The Moon is in the Wrong Place
If you have never heard of Shannon and the Clams and I asked you to guess what they sounded like, you'd probably say 60's style garage-psych. And you'd be right. On The Moon is in the Wrong Place, the band channels a lot of Heart Full of Soul by the Yardbirds or Valleri by The Monkees. As a huge fan of the so-called garage sound of that era, this is absolutely not a creative decision I take issue with. Shannon and the Clams are always a good time. 

Extra Innings

Other stuff I've been listening to a lot. 

Otis Redding - I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now) (Live at the Monterey Pop Festival)

Feeble Little Horse - Steamroller

Flowerbomb - 1998

Wombo - Dreamsicle

Billie Eilish - TV

Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue

And here is a playlist with everthing! Top8 - 01/29/24