Welcome to Listening Game, The Ruckus' weekly(ish) new music roundup. We take the good with the bad, but we much prefer the good. This week we have a slightly smaller offering from the world of music, with new tracks from Earth Girls and Shovels & Rope being the best things to hit the inbox this week.
Without further ado, let's get started...
Earth Girls - 'Wanderlust
Chicago trio Earth Girls have released one and a half minutes of power pop glory with new track 'Wanderlust'. The title track from their debut LP, the new single packs more into this minuscule running time than most bands manage to do in double the time. Awesome harmonies, a ridiculously catchy hook and excellent use of distortion on...erm...everything, 'Wanderlust' ticks all of the power pop boxes and then some. As simple as it sounds, this track is far from it and after a few listens the depth of this track slowly began to reveal itself. Thankfully it's worth playing over and over again because, frankly, there's not enough of it and I can't wait until the end of the week (August 12th) to hear the rest of the record.
Shovels & Rope - 'I Know'
Husband and wife country rock duo Shovels & Rope are known for their storytelling and what better way to do that than to draw from within. Little Seeds sees the band emphasising their own first hand experiences and telling their own dark and gritty stories as opposed to their usual works of beautifully crafted musical fiction. The ominous and brooding 'I Know' is our first taste of the new record, out October 7th via New West Records, and borders on Kubrick levels of menacing. Cerebral and steely, the mood of the track is pretty twisted making for a gripping listen. You can watch the darkly flamboyant video below.
