This week’s selection features fresh faces and seasoned veterans alike. Be it longstanding acts proving once again that they can go solo (Jenny Lewis), a reunited duo not missing a beat after nine years of no new music (Death from Above 1979), or even an experienced rapper like DOOM passing the torch to an untested newbie 17-year-old Bishop Nehru, this is a world where music is first, not age or experience. From rap to rock and dance, these 10 artists brought a refreshing vitality to a sweltering week.
10. So Cow – “Barry Richardson”
Ireland’s So Cow are a hyper-literate indie rock band in the vein of Camper Van Beethoven and early Television Personalities, cramming stories and anecdotes into quirky pop songs that stick with you post-outro. Such is the case with “Barry Richardson” and its earworm chorus (“Ba-rry! Ba-rry! Ba-rry!”). A tale of drunken youth is told over dinky riffs and awkward chords, all working for the sake of whimsy rather than forced strangeness. The band come off as earnestly as their loveable lout of a subject. “Barry Richardson” comes from So Cow’s upcoming LP, The Long Con, due September 16th via Goner Records. –Jon Hadusek
