Cory Graves
New Music From T.Y.E., Sudie, Ashley Myrick And More.
Welcome to Songs of the Week, where we hip you to all the new local releases you should be caring about. By putting them all together here in one place, our hope is that you can spend less time searching for relevant new releases and more time giving each one of these jams the proper shine they so deserve. OK? OK.
In addition to all this week's new tunes, which we'll get to momentarily, we'd also like to remind you of this post from earlier in the week, where we posted several other new songs from local rappers that were written in response to the recent tragedies. Each of those is well worth your time. As are the ones below.
T.Y.E. — “La La Land.”
RIYL: Describing how good songs are with just the fire emoji.
What else you should know: I know we don't usually post videos in this column, but damn this is a good one. This song's a journey, as is the clip. As one YouTuber commented, “The camera work is as fire as the bars.” T.Y.E. spends the first two minutes really developing a sung hook. It's like the darkest Barry Manilow shit ever. And if the song ended there, I'd have been perfectly content. Thankfully, though, it does not. Instead, it continues to improve with each new add portion. The rapped verses are more than on point — and, fuck, that last one's aggressive as hell. This is one of those songs I instantly know will make an appearance on our annual year-end count down, even after just the first listen.
Party Static — “Wasted Waster.”
RIYL: Things that your cat doesn't like.
What else you should know: This is the title track from Party Static's forthcoming third EP. It actually premiered earlier this week via Brooklyn Vegan. That's pretty cool. Those multi-layered guitars and dual vocals sound better than ever, thanks to the sonic clarity achieved, in part, by producer Britt Robisheaux at Fort Worth's Cloudland Recording Studio. Oh shit, EP3 is gonna be good!
Clayton Smith — livin.
RIYL: Living in Texas.
What else you should know: Holy balls, does Clayton Smith have a way with words. The Rye Boys frontman sprinkles some wonderful turns of phrases — not to mention his penchant for wordplay and copious alliteration — all throughout this surprise LP that he put out earlier today. It's enough to make you forget you're listening to just a guy and an acoustic guitar.
New Science Projects — “Reunion.”
RIYL: Breakups.
What else you should know: There's 15 seconds of full-band at the end of this otherwise solo acoustic track, and I can't help but wish there was a whole lot more of it. But I get it; it's a sad little number about parting ways with a lover not as into the DINK concept as yourself. It's as forlorn as it sounds.
Sudie — “Schitzo.”
RIYL: People and/or things that are awesome.
What else you should know: Understandably, people can't get enough of Sudie. I tend to agree, she is pretty darn awesome. Anyway, those people have long bought up all the physical copies of her 2015 debut EP, as well as both shirt designs and stickers she was selling online. People literally can't get enough Sudie! So it's a good thing there's finally a little bit more Sudie to latch onto. Predictably, this new single is also pretty darn awesome.
Grayson James — Shag Dissatisfaction.
RIYL: Unhappy police officers.
What else you should know: In a nutshell, this is the kid from Sad Cops. On top of the debut LP that he put under that band name back in April, he's also got this debut batch of solo cuts in which he manages to work in more electronic elements. Apparently, onetime Central Track contributor Blake Panter offered up some guidance on the project, which makes sense, as Panter put out a really killer LP in this same vein back in 2012.
Ashley Myrick — “Stay For a While.”
RIYL: Listening to pop music without feeling guilty.
What else you should know: As opposed to the cute piano-pop she used to put out under the name lalagray, Ashley Myrick's new solo material is dark pop music at its finest. It's real good. There's apparently a whole batch of this stuff on the way too, which is more good news.
Salvation Egg — s/t.
RIYL: Uncharted waters.
What else you should know: At one of the last Rubber Gloves shows, Tera Melos drummer John Clardy did his first solo set — an improvised drum jam thing. Here with Michael Briggs, he's offering up more improvised experimental jamming, this time while a mic just so happened to be running.