Sleep really is the cousin of death, turns out. Jeshua is the auntie, watching them bicker and trying to reign them both in before they ruin the function for everyone.  Contrary to the moribund titles of these singles, the versatile, luxuriant-haired L.A. born-and-bred vocalist and songwriter is thriving, blessed and booked during these trying times. These songs, however, highlight a malaise simmering beneath the surface threatening to swallow them whole. ►

This is the insomniac national anthem. Gianna Gianna’s latest ‘Suffer’ is a skittering, frenetic passion play in many acts, except you’re the one hung up in the end. It’s so intense listening to this during quarantine—its propulsive tempo and fortissimo power shake you out of your unwashed PJs. This is free-punk, rousing and potent and a sonic hookworm, pulling you close for a bite just before snatching itself away. ►

Yung Student Loans is K-Town’s most enigmatic rapper, making music entirely in a vacuum—trap-meets-emo-meets-Sleepy Brown. I Stay Lonely (A True Romance) is a very sad album about scorned love, delivered through a veneer of soft-sarcasm. The project practically screams ‘You can’t hurt me! I already hurt myself!’ Those words aren’t used at any point in this album, but they so easily could be.  ►

Jupiter Black and the enigmatic Tre Seoul team up here on a song and visual that’s spook-blime. Jupiter is either cursing or blessing a wayward youth, played by the stoic Sistergrass. Tre exists in a visual vacuum, a man apart observing and reporting but never retorting, letting Jupiter do the work of possessing folk. Their verses are pure syrup, delivered like sorbet melting in the sun—drip drip. ►

When 2016 happened, the innocence of skimming Jezebel turned into the self-flagellation of reading Reductress, and the non-stop queer boogaloo was interrupted by the draconian plans of a sentient sunburn. As other bands wrote protest songs, Dream Machines just got super slutty, celebrating the bacchanal joy of fucking right in Mitch McConnell's wilting face. Their new EP Trust / Desire drops today, and it's a juicy lucy. We talked about being 18 again, why their live show is better than yours and LaCroix. That bit is right at the top. This interview by Tolliver. ►