Top8 - 06/09/25 - WTSQ 88.1 FM

June 09, 2025 - 12:50 AM

Welcome back to Top8. I want to wish all of our queer friends a very happy Pride. I have been out as at least one letter in LGBTQ for as long as I have been here, and I have always felt loved and seen and welcome at the radio station. I am so proud that, over the years, we have been one of many voices in Charleston that supports the LGBTQ community. Just in case some of the people in the back didn't quite catch it, I'll say it again. WTSQ stands with queer folk here in Charleston and everywhere.

And I want to say this part even more clearly – if you're a trans or nonbinary kid, you're seen, you're valid, and you're loved. If you got no one else on your side, you've got me. My generation and the one before have let the world get a lot uglier in the last few years. I wish I had better news for you all. There are a lot of shitty people out there, but not EVERYONE will hate you. Some people will embrace you and accept you as the beautiful, brilliant, people you are. We love you. I love you all. Keep your heads up. There are better days ahead.

How about everyone send their best Pride month peptalk to wtsq.org/contact.

Florry - Truck Flipped Over '19

Thank god someone is making music like this. The band is Florry (and yes, we did just have them in Top8 a couple months ago). I have been listening to these guys for a while. This is like an interesting version of The Black Crowes met High on Fire in the parking lot of a Taco Bell to buy drugs and ended up jamming instead (plus there's a fiddle which doesn't really fit into this metaphor as neatly). Press play on "Truck Flipped Over '19" and get greeted with a giant ugly slug of growly, glorious guitar, which eventually makes way for, of all things, that fiddle. Yeah, sign me up for cowgrunge or whatever the fuck we're calling it. I am kinda obsessed.

Goon - Patsy's Twin

You all know how much I love a plot twist. "Patsy's Twin" starts off seeming like it's going to be a pretty standard indie girl rock thing, think Snail Mail, or Soccer Mommy. Next thing you know, it's a full on headbanging hardcore breakdown. Goon is generally a cool band with a good vibe, but I think they've found another gear here.

Swanpalace - Airplane

I am a pretty basic bitch sometimes. It gets loud 12 seconds into this song and that's when I already knew I was going to add this to Top8. Swanpalace, from the great state of Ohio, comes through with the shoegaze sound I was needing a booster shot of. "Airplane" is the track I picked here, but the whole EP is solid.

Cicada Rhythm - Quick Buck

Cicada Rhythm is a Georgia band that sounds like a Georgia band. I don't know what that means, but it's what I typed, and I am sticking with it. "Quick Buck" is a sauntering, simmering americana country track that will get your head doing that kinda goosy movement where you're really grooving on something. Or, maybe I am the only one who does that.

Drugdealer & Weyes Blood - Real Thing

The moment I heard "Real Thing" from Drugdealer & Weyes Blood, I immediately texted it to like 15 people. Holy god, what a track. "Real Thing" perfectly channels that vintage early 70's Carly Simon/Joni Mitchell/Carole King vibe. First of all, the music and lyrics are sweet and sentimental with a bit of an early evening sway. This is territory that Drugdealer are comfortable in; someone in this band owns a pair of bellbottoms, not flairs, fuckin full on bellbottoms. But even the production is perfect here. The closeness of the vocal, the way you can almost feel Weyes Blood breath on your ears. The little flashes of doubled tracked harmony vocals. The strings just swirling around. This is a track that NEEDS to be listened to on the way to the beach at night, or on a Sunday at 9pm with the first glass of wine. This is a masterpiece.

Thee Sacred Souls - We Don't Have to be Alone

Speaking of retro sounds done perfect, sweet mercy, here's another amazing example. San Diego based Thee Sacred Souls are on Daptone (home to Sharon Jones & Charles Bradley), so you already know they are going to be good. The band have scored big hits with their brand of 60s soul mixed with just a bit of latin flavor. "We Don't Have to be Alone" is one of those songs that sounds like a deepcut you never heard from back in the day. Except it's from today, and I doubt if there's a grey hair in this whole band. Amazing stuff.

Teethe - Holy Water

Combine some noisy guitars with synths that kinda go WEEOOOOOO OOOOWEEEEEOOOOO and I am in really good shape. Like The Rentals, "Friends of P" or Weezer "Buddy Holly" (so, I guess, just stuff Matt Sharp was in). I think this is a Moog synth, but then again, I can't play a kazoo, so why would anyone listen to what I think? How did I even get this job? The point is, the band is called Teethe and the track is called "Holy Water" and I can't stop listening to it.

Water From Your Eyes - Life Signs

I got into Water From Your Eyes when they put out "Barley" a while back. The band is a Chicago based duo who combines noisy rock music with some electronics and probably a computer or something. I have it bad for bands like this and Feeble Little Horse. "Life Signs" is a big thrashy thing that reminds me of classic Nirvana tracks like "School" when they are throwing a fit. But then they make room for vocalist Rachel Brown to drop some too-cool-to-care monotone verses. The only correct way for this song to end is for you to skid across a sharp turn in the road and take out a lamppost. Maybe that's just me.