Listen to these songs and more on The A.V. Club’s Spotify playlist, updated weekly with what we’re listening to.
GRLwood, “Bisexual”
GRLwood is scratching a riot-grrrl itch I didn’t realize I still had. The Louisville duo call their style “scream-pop,” but “Bisexual,” the lead single off of GRLwood’s upcoming debut full-length, Daddy, is giving me some real “’90s feminist zinester conference” vibes, and I’m loving every second of it. There’s guitarist Rej Forester’s impassioned vocals, building from choked sobs to a full-throated scream; the queer longing of the lyrics, about a girl Rej is really hoping will dump her boyfriend and go out with her instead; and the spare, Bratmobile-esque, surf-influenced groove, which explodes into power chords as Rej’s frustration reaches its peak. [Katie Rife]
Gang Gang Dance, “Lotus”
I thought Gang Gang Dance had just evaporated, the way good bands sometimes do. Their ’08 record, Saint Dymphna, was a neutron bomb, at least in the corners of the internet I hung out on then, a snaking electronic odyssey of itchy rhythms and ancient atmosphere. I will not lie: I slept on 2011’s Eye Contact, their well-enough-liked follow-up, and so when the band disappeared for the intervening (quickly does the math) seven years, I did not really blink. Sometimes bands do a good thing, then stop existing, and you never pause to wonder what happened to that band that did that good thing once.
Well, I still do not know what Gang Gang Dance was doing for the majority of the Obama administration, but the four-piece is suddenly back, lighting up dormant portions of my brain. The new single “Lotus” announced a new album, called Kazuashita, and it’s definitely still Gang Gang Dance, defined by Lizzi Bougatsos’ otherworldly voice, with dance drums staggering through washes of guitar like an android through a sandstorm. Eventually, all of those swarming elements build into a rousing house-music synthesizer line that’s gone as soon as you’ve noticed it, which is one of those things Gang Gang Dance did really well, always finding something that works and then moving right on to the next adventure. It’s good to have them back—if only because it finally got me to revisit those older albums, which are every bit as good as I remembered. It’s everything time again. [Clayton Purdom]