Atlanta music

Girlpuppy: “I Just Do”

Atlanta indie rocker Becca Harvey AKA Girlpuppy has been through it, y’all. After getting off the break-up rollercoaster following a four-year relationship, she lays out her journey is an almost epistolary way, intimately detailing her process in a way that feels like she’s soundtracked her diary.

But there’s plenty of resilience in her album Sweetness as well, creating a tone of growth and power instead of anger and self-destruction. The track “I Just Do” chronicles a tumultuous relationship, emoting on the double-edged sword of lovesickness and allowing yourself to be repeatedly hurt by the person attached to that love. Better yet, it fits perfectly in the fold of Blondshell, Soccer Mommy, and Snail Mail.

Sweetness is out now.

CDSM: “Not Another Bleeder”

They say the SXSW trifecta is free food and drinks, seeing one of your favorite bands (current or past) and discovering your next beloved band. I hit that trifecta this year, and it is my absolute pleasure to bring you my new obsession.

Atlanta’s CDSM (short for Celebrity Death Slot Machine) are a rag tag collective possessed by the ghost of Alan Vega and the living spirit of Can, fusing freakish synth-heavy post-punk with dance punk and a touch of goth in a refreshingly atypical manner. Many of their songs sound they fall down a wormhole into a different dimension partway through, while the guitars take a backseat to the crazed, workhorse synths. To top it off, a well-placed growling saxophone makes many a guest appearance.

All the members of CDSM are kinetic on their instruments, rotating duties between every song, but it seems the one constant rule is at least three people need to be on synths at any given time. It’s brilliantly executed controlled chaos. Being part of the CDSM chaos while packed in the small front room of Tweedy’s on a Sunday afternoon, you look around and think, “this is why I leave the house.”

Convertible Hearse is out May 23^rd.

Sloppy Scales: “Sweet Baby Jesus”

After spending twelve straight hours in an international airport, I can authoritatively say that we could use a few more new Christmas originals to give all those timeless classics a much needed rest. Seriously. You can rework “Holly Jolly Christmas” into reggae, Western swing, or house, but it doesn’t change the fact that at some point in the repetition, those melodies cross the threshold from charming familiarity to mentally degrading.

And who better to help tip the scales than Sloppy Scales? Tomorrow the Atlanta-based satirist shares his debut full-length This Machine Mocks Fascists: The Sloppy Scales Songbook, a nine-tune collection that clowns the nation’s far-right. Through infusions of Latin, blues rock, and countrypolitan formulas (on top of the obvious Woody Guthrie folk influence both lyrically and sonically) this society-scathing LP is better suited for Arthur Fleck than for Paggliacci.

So if you need some satire to spike your Yuletide spirit and spruce up your seasonal playlist, brings gifts of gospel, calypso, and soul to the manger with “Sweet Baby Jesus” – a brassy, percussion-driven, and hook-heavy slice of vapid midcentury spirituality.

Rest in Power, Takeoff

In this relatively somber episode of The Breaks, Fresh and Confucius reflect on the untimely passing of Migos co-founder Takeoff. But a bigger, two-part discussion lies behind all the fond memories. What does this mean for the longevity of hip-hop artists and why are white people so quick to scapegoat the genre when tragedy strikes?

Hip Hop Facts fills you in on plenty of Migos trivia plus Paul Mooney’s role on In Living Color.

Just in time for Election Day, Fresh’s Unpopular Opinion pleads rappers to stay directly out of partisan politics…lookin’ at you, Killer Mike.

Lastly, Confucius Reads the News about Elon Musk’s Twitter changes, Drake & 21 Savage’s new collaboration, and the latest punches from Clarence Thomas and Chief Justice Roberts.

Mamalarky: “Meadow”

After spending time in Los Angeles, Austin-born quartet Mamalarky has settled into more southern pastures, and now calls Atlanta their metropolitan headquarters. Regardless of their location, these Studio 1A veterans have continued to make their off-kilter indie rock more and more accessible to the masses, though they’ve never shed what makes them great: non-traditional lyrical matters, inventive chord structures, and psych-pop flourishes that favor the ethereal, countercultural aspects of psychedelia rather than cater to simplistic pop formulas.

Just this past Monday Mamalarky shared a new double A-side that taps into a bucolic theme with naturalistic song titles (“Meadow” and “Moss“) and pastoral music videos. Both are outstanding additions to Mamalarky’s roster of originals, guaranteed to transport you out of the office mindset, so block out the workplace hurdles this Hump Day and soak up some rays with “Meadow”!