The latest edition of Fresh Tracks includes new singles, albums and videos from artists and bands we’re digging are featured in the playlist below as well in their own sections of this post below.
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Corusco – College Station, Texas
Pacific Radio – Los Angeles, California
Joseph Eid – West Hollywood, California
Jack Kotz – Wilmington, North Carolina
Aux House – Grand Rapids, Michigan
Kingsley Flood – Washington, DC
Corusco – “Twin Ghosts”
South Texas songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Aaron Gonzalez and his band, Corusco, have spent the past year recording and touring from Texas to New Hampshire, stopping in many cities along the way.
Based in College Station, Corusco started as an acoustic solo side project of Gonzalez’s in 2015. Soon after, it “accidentally grew into a full band,” Gonzalez says, bringing on Ryan Corb on guitar, Phillip Baugh on bass and Carlos Garza on drums.
The inspiration for the band’s latest single, “Twin Ghosts,” Gonzalez? says, “is the story of the weekend one of my friends passed away…he was one of the kindest, smartest guys I’d ever met. I wrote it from the perspective of his roommate and his best friend, and what I think they would have told him if they could see him again.”
It’s a hauntingly beautiful song, and together with their tantalizing August release, Don’t Give Up, puts Corusco on indie map.
“We’re a band that wants to write music that is meaningful and though a lot of the material we deal with is somber or heavy, we always want there to be that glimmer of hope through it all,” Gonzalez says.
Via Bandcamp: “Twin Ghosts” – Corusco from Don’t Give Up
Pacific Radio – “Katie”
Based in the city of Los Angeles, the indie rock quartet, Pacific Radio, deliver a sound that “ranges from rock n roll to West coast ballad,” according to band member Kyle Biane.
Pacific Radio’s new single, “Katie,” is a bright, uplifting romp, highlighted by singer Joe Robinson’s well-honed vocals and the awesome talents of his band members. The second half of the track blossoms into a full blown, infectious celebration.
But Pacific Radio (not to be confused with Pacific Radio radio) is not simply an indie band that creates musical magic in the studio. In fact, the band has been very busy performing shows and touring.
Earlier this year, the band performed four shows at South By Southwest, including for showcases Red Gorilla Fest and the Midcoast Takeover.
Via Soundcloud: “Katie” – Pacific Radio
Joseph Eid -“One and Only” – Exclusive Premiere!
Southern California musician, singer and songwriter Joseph Eid‘s engaging new video, “One and Only,” was filmed on West Hollywood‘s famed Sunset Strip, giving the smooth, alt. folk rock ballad a nice touch against the backdrop of the city in his new video for the track.
Eid says the song itself “is about finding and longing for true love in a place where instant gratification and temporary thrills are the norm,” referring to Hollywood. He adds that the song could also be interpreted as a story about a common experience adults face in life – longing for a special relationship and holding on to it while fighting the temptations of the future.
“It’s the realization and confession that the short term fulfillment of a new thrill or adventure cannot compare to the true and everlasting fulfillment of a love that goes beyond the surface,” he says.
When making the video, Eid and director William Sanford set out to convey use the night lights of the Sunset Strip to convey the emotions and sense of loneliness in the middle of one of the largest cities in the western hemisphere. Brian Soucy co-produced the single.
His influences, not surprisingly, include Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, Billy Joel, Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, Prince and many others. Eid has been performing around the Pacific Northwest for much of the year. He is working on completing the new EP, Watch It Fall.
Jack Kotz – “Orange Neon Nectar Juice”
Last spring we featured some exciting new tracks from Wilmington, North Carolina musician and ‘one man band’ Jack Kotz‘s debut album, What’s All The Fuss About?.
Kotz has just released his followup to Fuss with his sophomore album, Neon Orange Nectar Juice. For fans of guitar rock, funk inspired beats and rhythms, and psych pop, Neon is a tour de force of high order.
Here is the tantalizing title track, followed by an electrified cover of Jack Johnson, one of Kotz’s musical influences.
Via Soundcloud – “Orange Neon Nectar Juice” – Jack Kotz from Neon Orange Nectar Juice
Via Bandcamp: “Taylor” (Jack Johnson) – Jack Kotz from Neon Orange Nectar Juice
Aux House – “Antique Radio”
Based out of Grand Rapids, the DIY alternative rock trio, Aux House, offers listeners something more than the regular fare. And yet they manage to appeal to a larger audience with their fun and eclectic brand of alternative rock.
Perhaps founder, guitarist and vocalist of Aux House, Tristan Rudolph, explains it best as a revival of the “Bowian idea of the space-alien rock star.”
The Michigan trio’s debut self titled DIY album release contains a mix of rock and pop punk angst with sci-fi elements, and alt. rock overtones, creating a larger than life sound and stories about girls, cars love and troubles, which are no better demonstrated than on the irresistible “Antique Radio” and the delightful and unusual track, “Aliens Can’t Dance.”
Rudolph said the band’s top musical influences include Sufjan Stevens, Bruce Springsteen, Pavement, Wilco, and Bright Eyes. There’s a nicely suited eclecticism about that selection of artists and bands.
Kingsley Flood – “To The Wolves”
The Washington DC band Kingsley Flood, sports a gritty, and yet at times, sassy, sound on their new music video for the edgy track, “To The Wolves,” from the new album, Another Other.
The band was founded by Palestinian-American born singer and songwriter Naseem Khuri in 2009, and has won praise for his work from the press, including NPR, Rolling Stone, Esquire, Paste and American Songwriter.
The band has toured nationally, opening for artists like Grace Potter, Lucius, Langhorne Slim, Angus and Julia Stone, and Brett Dennen. They were also invited to perform at the 2011 Newport Folk Festival.
Khuri tackles a number of issues in his music, including the lingering – stoked by presidential candidate Trump – bias against Arab born Americans, who he says, don’t deserve to be treated as “one” – Khuri reminds people that the vast majority of Arabs, or Muslims, are peace-loving, law abiding hard-working members of society.
“At the end of the day, I’m American,” he asserts. “The only Arabic words I know are foods and swears. It’s just that more jarring to somehow always be labeled ‘an other’ when you don’t even see yourself that way.”
Via YouTube: “To The Wolves” – Kingsley Flood from Another Other