Finding My Religion #10: 12 New Songs Curated By the Priest - 'Three Mixes in Seven Days, Part 2'
- 8 hours ago
- 7 min read
When it gets hot we stay in the sweet caress of our AC and listen to music. (We do the same when it's cold, but with heat and hoodies). For Part 2 of our Summer New Music Spectacular we go potpourri on Side A, but substantially heavier on Side B. Are you up to the challenge?
Pickled Priest Summer New Music Spectacular, Part 2
SIDE A
Intro: "Malvada" | Nuevos Rios
We kick off with a cut from Colombian collaborative Nuevos Rios (New Rivers) that includes an almost sarcastic amount of marimba, which is something we respond to in kind. Is there a better way to get in the mood for some new music? You have to even ask?
01 "Kentucky Too Long" | Charley Crockett
Charley Crockett is the Robert Pollard of country music, releasing multiple albums every year, some hot on the heels of a previous release. It's either a brilliant marketing strategy or a dumb one, I can't decide. I haven't kept up with each and every, but I've gotta say I've yet to hear a Crockett song I don't appreciate for one reason or another. "Kentucky Too Long" is particularly up my alley because it lands right on the axis of country and funk where Tony Joe White, Mac Davis, Jim Ford, and Bobby Charles hang out. That's a great hang if there ever was one!
02 "White Flag" | Vince Staples
Really digging the new Vince Staples record, Cry Baby, so far. Top-tier flow is a given, but I'm mostly down with the boldness of the sound, which almost seems to be on the attack at times. In other words, it's a loud, in-your-face, impossible-to-ignore record with something to say and an innovative way of delivering the message. Nearly every song kicks hard, but there's always a hook in store to keep you listening. My personal favorite at the moment is "White Flag," which surrenders to both love and discrimination depending on the verse. Hence, the white flag. You really can't blame the guy. Sometimes you just don't feel like fighting anymore even if you know you're going to have to do so tomorrow when the sun rises.
03 "Billy Says" | Graham Coxon
As a founding member of Blur, Graham Coxon is already British rock royalty. His solo work doesn't get as much attention as Damon Albarn's—which is understandable—but disregard him and you're gonna miss out of some pleasingly unpretentious pop music. He's now on his ninth solo jag and Castle Park, a record that's been gestating since 2011 but just released this July (he switched his focus to the Blur reunion), ranks with his best ever. As with much of Blur's catalog, Coxon's solo work is decidedly Kinksian in its Britishness, which is a good thing. Think of Castle Park as Coxon's own parallel to Strawberry Fields or Penny Lane—a nostalgic place where Graham spent much of his youth goofing off with his mates. "Billy Says" is a 60's-styled mod-rocker with a wordless hook and a tasty guitar lick that's an earworm from the first listen. The whole album is refreshingly unadorned and playful, which seems fitting considering its inspiration.
04 "Hot Wheels" | The Wedding Present
David Gedge, leader of Brit indie-pop legends the Wedding Present, has a way of bringing things full circle. In 2022, he released a compilation of individually released singles called 24 Songs; he did basically the same thing thirty years earlier (1992) with the essential singles comps Hit Parade 1 and 2. Fast forward to 2026, where he's released an EP titled Maxi which includes six automotive-themed pop songs, all of which are great. Again, thirty years ago, he released an EP titled Mini which was built on the exact same chassis. It's a clever way to revisit ideas he originally hatched in a much younger body. Although you might expect, at his advanced age, the quality of the music to be of lesser quality, but every song on Maxi ranks with Gedge's best, with "Hot Wheels" in particular standing out among a strong lot. It's already on my year-end short list of the best songs of 2026.
05 "Aset" | Ibeyi
I'm going to the wrong parties. I want to go to the one featured in the video above. One of those gatherings that starts on a low simmer and slowly heats up to a sweaty soup of humanity—people dancing spontaneously, bongo drums dragged out of storage, spicy food cooking on the stovetop—thriving on an infectious joyfulness supplied by the sense of community and family in the room from both old and young. I don't want to sit around talking about the weather, school board elections, or whether or not we're getting our lead pipes replaced soon. I want to go where the Ibeyi action is. I want to go where a song with such a slow, seductive groove like "Aset" can suddenly be the catalyst for a lively evening of good fun and great music.
SIDE B
06 "Lily of the Valley" | Poison Ruin
Yes, the band name indicates some barking metal may be in store. The umlaut only reinforces that expectation. Song titles like "Guts (Lay Yourself Aside)," "Serpent's Curse," and "Howls from the Citadel" hint that some medieval shit is about to go down and soon. The album cover looks like a still from an episode of Game of Thrones with a potential decapitation imminent. There's an interlude called "Sleeping Giant" which promises fierce riffage in your future. All these observations may be true to some extent, but to label Poison Ruïn as just another headbanging, fire-breathing monster would miss the point. These guys are more of a rock & roll band at their core than they are purveyors of heavy metal. "Lily of the Valley" is all the proof I need to demonstrate. When I first heard Mac Kennedy's vocal on the track, I immediately thought he sounds a little like Eddie Money. It just popped in there and now I can't get it out of my head every time I play the song. But who cares when the song is as great as this one? My recommendation: Put aside all your preconceived notions and let this band win you over.
07 "Deep Blue" | Chat Pile
I love the 'Strobe Warning' affixed to the video for this song, like that's your biggest problem if you're routinely blasting Chat Pile songs. This stuff is awesome indeed, but it's not for the weak. "Deep Blue" brings the almighty Oklahoma swamp-monsters back for a Ted Talk on the dangers of staring into a screen all day everyday for hours on end. It's a pretty bleak and horrifyingly accurate assessment, especially when funneled through the band's gloriously dark and sludgy torrent of sound. Oh, by all means, be careful with that strobe light if you need to, but be sure to heed the other warnings as well. Your life and sanity may depend on it.
08 "Through Zero" | Elder
Time to expand your mind with Elder, a Massachusetts-formed band with a propensity for long-form, prog-metal excursions into the netherworld(s). Once again, put your tendency for snap judgements aside and let these guys melt your mind for 9-minutes or so on a trial basis (that's the average track length from their new record, Through Zero). I guarantee you the time will be well spent. Every once in awhile I like to lose myself in the sheer audacity of some band's ambitious vision and Elder have been one of several bands filling that bill for me. I got on board when I impulse bought Reflections of a Floating World almost ten years ago. They were amazing then and they are even more amazing now. They bring the high-minded, technical crunch, but they now incorporate all kinds of other sound tricks both real and manufactured into their music. Immersion and total dedication required.
09 "We Are Torn Wide Open" | Neurosis
The intro to Neurosis's ominously-titled new album, An Undying Love for a Burning World, is this 54-second tone-setter for the rest of the band's brutally powerful new record. "We Are Torn Wide Open" delivers an urgent message during its short duration, so much so that I'm content to let you hear it as is without comment. Be careful all who enter these gates, but I think you will find there's a hard truth here worth considering. Do these lyrics apply to you? The new Neurosis LP is significant because it is the legendary metal band's first album without singer Scott Kelly, who was rightfully booted from the band due to spousal and child abuse, but in a genius move he's been replaced with the lead singer of Isis, Aaron Turner, a guy who can howl with the best of them, proven repeatedly throughout this intense record. And when I say intense, I mean intense:
The separation that burns our hearts (We are torn wide open)
Is the root of all our disease (We are torn wide open)
We've forgotten how to live so we suffer (We are torn wide open)
We've forgotten how to struggle so we suffer (We are torn wide open)
We've forgotten how to die so we suffer (We are torn wide open)
We've forgotten we are wild so we suffer (We are torn wide open)
We exist in isolation so we suffer (We are torn wide open)
Look no further, the song of Summer 2026 has arrived!
10 "Love is Not Enough" | Converge
Do not play this song on Valentine's Day unless your special love interest responds to overtures like "Love is not enough to fight off the scavengers!!" Otherwise, you're all good—hold on to that person with all your strength. I admit I don't have much use for much of what Converge has to offer, and that is more a statement about my musical tastes at this point in my life than it is about the quality of the band's album, Love Is Not Enough. It's an absolute terror of an album in all the best ways. What cracks me up is that the band released a second LP after this one called Hum of Hurt, that was billed as "much heavier" than this one. All I could think upon hearing that claim was, "Is that even possible?" I soon realized there's no way my old ears can withstand one, let alone two, Converge records in the same year. It's just not a good decision for me right now. So just a taste of the hard stuff for my friends. You do the rest.
Outro: "Baltimore" | Cactus Lee
Let's calm things down a bit and spend some quality time with a real Austin character, Cactus Lee. With all this doom and gloom on Side B, "Baltimore" is just the song we all need to cool our jets. Lee is one of those quintessential ambling troubadours, much like Todd Snider, and his songs are feel-good in a very wholesome and humorous way. "Baltimore" implores us to "take a chance on life" and that's a message I leave you with today. Keep your heart wide open and undying love will be more than enough in most cases. You just gotta find your way to the music that fits a more positive worldview.
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In Part 3 of our Summer New Music Spectacular we're going to do the same thing one more time, but with new songs.
Cheers,
The Priest