(Picture by Sam Bramble ) In July 2020, songwriter and Twin Cities staple Natalie Fideler was the first artist to record a live session with Ear Coffee. "Caffeine Headache" was one of the five songs she performed; now, the song is finally being released as the lead single for her forthcoming sophomore record Three Man Army , which will be out next month. This is the first of four singles. According to Fideler, "Caffeine Headache" was written while her partner was trying to quit smoking. It digs into the desire to control a situation that is out of her hands and understanding previous trauma stemming from a loved one's addiction.  The track plays into the increasing anxiety felt with each passing lyric. Verses build from a melodic guitar and bass riff to restless palm-muted power chords before exploding into each raucous chorus. It gives the single this sinking feeling that doesn't have any sort of resolution.  The music video for "Caffeine Headache...

(Picture by Chelsea Oxborough ) Minneapolis "chill bop" quartet Getting By is back with their first new music in nearly three years with their brand new single and video, "Anybody."  Building off of the band's debut 2019 EP ... And Through It , "Anybody" showcases the full creative range of the band. A disco drum beat locks in with the guitars and bass to create a lively bounce that juxtaposes the track's themes of relational loss and closure. Bassist Aaron Frederick layers in screamed vocals during the choruses to drive home the track's raw energy and add weight as the band builds to "Anybody's" explosive ending.  The video itself depicts the main character, portrayed by Sequoia Hauck, trying to trace the moment that led to the end of their relationship only to come up empty. The literal string of memories Hauck's character follows is broken up by shots of the band performing "Anybody."  The premise for the video w...

The pandemic may have put a wrench in the production of Another Heaven's debut record, but it didn't keep the band away from us for too long. As a stop-gap, the sludgegaze act put out a single series in the middle of last year while they worked on the follow-up to their second EP,  For Ever.  The band has returned with the first single "Over It" off their forthcoming record.  For those familiar with Another Heaven, their music is a dark cloud that permeates everything. "Over It" is no different. Sonically, the trio moves between billowing fuzzed-out guitars and ethereal atmospherics, making the single a perfect soundtrack for society on the brink of collapse. They tap into the existential horror and subsequent apathy found when those in power do everything they can to maintain the status quo.  Thematically, "Over It" embodies the bystander effect of living in a world that wants to burn itself alive. The band comes from a place of wanting to someone...

(Cover art by the band) Kitchen Knife Blood Pact have been on quite a hot streak. After releasing six EPs in the spring, the label brainchild of Alien Book Club  settled into a steady schedule. The rip-roaring debut from Sockhop Massacre followed in June; now, we're finally hearing from Shush . The Minneapolis quartet has existed for nearly a year, providing occasional updates on new music but otherwise staying mostly quiet. At the end of July, word of a debut album and a forthcoming single finally hit the internet — "Staring Contests" would be released one week later. With familiar elements, Shush creates an incredibly potent form of indie rock. They effortlessly crescendo from chiming verses to ragged choruses, showing a careful consideration of the song's structure. "Staring Contests" is an unpretentious and beautiful gem; it establishes a framework for how Shush approaches their songwriting. Second single "School Nurse," which we're stoke...

Cover art by Keegan Burckhard Anyone who has ever been to a gathering in someone's house has probably found themselves with a small group of people chilling in the kitchen. Hidden away from everyone, those conversations always feel more intimate and honest as you can turn off your public persona and connect with the handful of people gathered with you.  Hannah Morton, most notably known for work with LASKA, is trying to tap into this feeling of honesty and rawness with her new project Kitchen Congregation . In early June, Morton released the first single for the project, "Can't Find Sleep." The single draw you in with a synthy drone and vocalizations from Hannah. For those with backgrounds in the church (like myself), the opening few seconds feels almost like a call to worship or a call to gather. "Can't Find Sleep" deals with struggling to trust yourself and your surroundings. Hannah spends the first verse painting a picture of life's changes and fi...

(Cover art by Lydia Williams) Keep for Cheap are entering a new era. They've finished recording their debut album and are leaving the prairie behind. They have left us with one last gift — their new single "Losing." Intended as a spiritual sequel/B-side to last fall's excellent "Forgive Me," it finds the band indulging in themselves and their influences to create their most expansive song yet. My eyes lit up when I saw that "Losing" has a near-six-minute runtime. On paper alone, I am extremely on board. It's essentially two songs in one: a strong core idea augmented by a fractured and grandiose outro. Keep for Cheap's ability to sew the two together and confidently deliver on such an ambitious structure is a testament to their grow as songwriters since 2019's Get Along . Leisurely wandering from the start, "Losing" matches the gentle vocals of Kate Malanaphy and Autumn Vagle with a frayed 70's riff and a straw-in-the-mout...

Before the pandemic, a majority of bands could rely on shows as their primary (if not only) means of self-promo. Maybe they had some Bandcamp demos to send to the people running different house venues. Maybe not. As long as they could rip a gig every week or so, it didn't necessarily matter if they had an EP or album out. Despite their lack of recorded material,  Sockhop Massacre  held a sterling reputation as a go-to injection of noise for any bill, whether it was a prime weekend spot at Rowhouse (RIP) or a Tuesday at the Kitty Cat Klub. Almost a year-and-a-half later (and just in time for shows to start coming back), the Minneapolis quartet is making their triumphant re-entry with their new song "The Revolutionary." If we temporarily disregard their May 2020 single " Enhanced Interrogation Technique ," then "The Revolutionary" is their first officially released single. The group is working with Ear Coffee favorites Kitchen Knife Blood Pact to final...

(Cover art by Nina Katz) Back in late summer 2019, Minneapolis quintet Delilah Fang released their only EP, Lonely Once Too . Their song "Impostor Syndrome" caught my ear with its lovely groove and playful take on traditional dream pop sounds; I was immediately looking forward to what the band would do next. Much to my disappointment, the band dissolved shortly after the EP's release, with members moving away and pursuing other ventures. Approximately a year-and-a-half later, I have found myself back within the Delilah Fang Cinematic Universe (or DFCU for short). Guitarist and vocalist Betty Taylor relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico and in the ensuing months has launched her solo project under the Velvet Vision moniker. She released a self-titled EP in March and has quickly followed it up with an understated and wonderful new single. "Garden Apartment" rests easily on a shuffling drumbeat and chopped samples of Taylor's bright vocals. Downtempo electronic pr...

Minneapolis quartet GOWNS is back with one last single before their forthcoming debut album. The synth-rock group has steadily been building anticipation over the past 6 months with increasingly catchy songs, and "Left Behind" brings them to a new high. GOWNS has never been a band to waste your time. Their primary missions always seems to be getting a scattershot of earworm melodies stuck in your head as quickly as possible. "Left Behind" pops instantly, bridging the gap between Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" and The Killers' Hot Fuss . Bleeping keyboard lines, in-your-face vocals, and cheesy drum fills reel you in and hold you tight, until the song breaks into an extremely processed sax solo. GOWNS clearly know what works for them at this point, and it's a pleasure to hear them revel in their own composition for a bit. Listen to "Left Behind" below. Stay tuned for news about their new album.

(Artwork by Brick ) The Eau Claire punk act Gash has returned! After releasing their debut record haha in 2018 (partnering with the sorely missed Heavy Meadow Records) and releasing a split in 2019, the band took a breather between releases before returning last week with their roaring new single " Life of Dan ." Gash will be releasing their follow-up to haha on Friday, May 7, Leftern , but instead of having to wait for the full thing, Ear Coffee gets a chance to premiere the follow-up single, "My Head Hurts." For anyone who has had a migraine, you know that they are more than just a gnarly headache. It's completely debilitating, which is what vocalist and guitarist Logan Nyberg said they were trying to capture when writing this single. Throughout the entirety of "My Head Hurts," the band is on the verge of total collapse. With rickety, borderline discordant instrumentation, Gash piles forward with a scream while they look for moments of respite. Ny...

(Cover art by RiGBY) "This is cool, i just was looking for a video of mordecai and rigby xd" is one of the top comments on the YouTube page for RiGBY 's debut single "Daisy." I'm unsure if the band's name is a genius marketing tactic aimed at unassuming fans of Regular Show , but it hardly matters. The Twin Cities quartet comes roaring out the gates with a song that will draw you in, regardless of whether you're into slacker cartoons or not. "Daisy" has been a long time coming. For the past two years, the only ways to experience RiGBY's music was to catch one of their many live shows or to download their free demos off of Bandcamp. Their murder-fantasy of a lead single finally came crashing into existence earlier this month.  Drawing equally from the annals of punk history and from contemporary bands you might find on Epitaph, "Daisy" is a song best played at ear-splitting volumes. It's gloriously feral music that would i...

Longtime followers of Ear Coffee would be familiar with Bex Morton's work alongside her sisters in the band LASKA ; however, following a move to Los Angeles, Morton is branching out and released her first single, "forgiver," as a solo artist earlier this month.  "forgiver" is sparsely orchestrated with an acoustic guitar accompanying Morton's voice as she lays out the scene of feeling heavy with the weight of being hurt. The track blooms as it moves into the first line of the chorus, "Don't burn the bridge." The narrative swaps to letting go and moving on instead of reveling in the pain. Morton says this is in line with her nature to not cut people out of her life, despite them maybe deserving it from time to time.  As someone who has been a major fan of LASKA for a while now, this first release from Morton feels like a perfect gateway into something new for the singer-songwriter. "forgiver's" bedroom folk is a fantastic springboa...

  (Cover design by Anita Velveeta) Anita Bauer has her eyes set on the future. No matter what, her songcraft unfolds to depict what the next few years might sound like. With her main project Alien Book Club , the band shifts around as a unit, but it is often bound to Bauer's determined exploration of the nooks and crannies of rock's history (doo-wop, no wave, jazz, punk). Under her pseudonym Anita Velveeta , she pushes the boundaries of electronic pop. Previous single " Jet Set Radio Futureless " went all in on flamenco-indebted trip hop; now, her latest track "Face Pix," premiering exclusively here on Ear Coffee, takes off for Rainbow Road hyperpop.  "Face Pix" fluctuates in tempo, timbre, and tone. Bauer is spinning a musical roulette faster than a pink-haired Tasmanian devil. At times, I can't help but hear what Newgrounds electronica circa 2007 would sound like if Laura Les got her hands on it. The winkingly retro cover art certainly adds t...

  (Cover art by Kate Malanaphy) An academic mindset tends to deflate all but the most technical music (i.e. some jazz, math rock). It negates the passion that fuels virtually every musician, especially when it's actually an assignment for school. The fear of a letter grade at the end of it all is an overwhelming barrier to creativity. On their latest EP, Taste , Minneapolis songwriter Kate Malanaphy shrugs off scholastic pretension and makes four songs that simultaneously fulfill the requirements of a syllabus and push their art forward in exciting, soul-stirring ways. The Bandcamp-exclusive release might strike a curious listener as a minor release. Maybe our streaming-poisoned minds tend to assume as much about anything that isn't uploaded to Spotify. Perhaps it's the fact that Taste is deliberately styled as a low-key release, serving more as an opportunity to "learn how to record and produce music by simply going for it," in Malanaphy's own words. The d...

    (Photo by Lisa Persson ) It hasn't been too long since we've heard from Lucid VanGuard , the project of Minneapolis' Karl Remus. Last fall, he put out Golden Eye Empyrean , an EP of sepia-drenched pop songs; on new single "Snow White," melancholy rules over every note. While Lucid VanGuard has primarily been a solo project, "Snow White" hones in on sparse sounds and loneliness. Acoustic plucks and windswept lap steel welcome you into the song's world. Overwhelming emptiness draws new focus to Remus' pleading vocals, augmented only by harmonies from Bailey Cogan of 26 BATS! There is inescapable beauty in the somberness. "Snow White" ebbs and flows with Remus' instrumentation, never overwhelming the simple sentiments at its core. Listen to and/or buy "Snow White" below. Snow White by Lucid VanGuard

Cover art by Noah Lawrence-Holder It's been a minute since we've heard from Smellkin Ernesto . The songwriter last released music back in early 2019 with his EP, Cambios . The release featured lyrics in both English and Spanish, which were blended together as Ernesto reckoned with his identity as a Colombian adoptee in Minnesota. Earlier this month, he released "Solo Dimelo" and followed it up with a new track "How Much Longer," released on March 15.  In a forthcoming interview on the Ear Coffee Podcast, Ernesto said that the single was written in response to the events of the last year. "How Much Longer" is a sobering track to listen through - he smoothly delivers line after line detailing the frustration and resentment built up by generations of oppression. The message is underscored by his blend of lofi soft rock and soul to create an eerie dichotomy between rage and exasperation.  Without sounding too cliché, Smellkin Ernesto is an artist that ...

Long-running Twin Cities pop punk band the 99ers has nothing to prove at this point. They've existed in some capacity for over 10 years. Yet they've consistently released new music (an album if not at least a single every few years) throughout that entire period. They're continuing on strong with latest single "Kissing Johnny Ramone." Upon first listen, I was overwhelmed by how well the quartet captures the snot-nosed 70s sound embodied by the titular Ramone. There aren't any frills, but that's because "Kissing Johnny Ramone" doesn't need any. It's satisfying to hear something so straightforward and sweet every once and a while. The mix sounds like it was ripped directly from the soundboard in some dinky dive bar; the lived-in buzz adds a gritty layer of authenticity. Bands like the 99ers prove something in their constancy: the most important reason to play music is because you love doing it. There is joy to be found in making music in a...

  (Cover art by Noah Topliff) It's been about a year since we've heard from Dad Bod in a full-band capacity. The waning days of winter 2020 saw the release of "Spirits," the band's second single, and the final shows any of us would play or attend for the foreseeable future. Fortunately, the band managed to have a productive summer — July saw the release of Precursor , a stripped-back EP of songs reconstructed by Callie Marino and Wilson Zellar. The EP combined songs familiar from Dad Bod's live set and newer material. One of those new songs was opener "4/9." Eight months later, we're finally hearing that song in its new, fleshed-out form. Dad Bod is leaning wholeheartedly into their holy melancholy on "4/9." The sonic differences are what will likely first catch your ear, but the similarities are where the band shines. Rather than be completely reinvented, the spectral beauty of the original is filtered through a prism; it is transform...

Late last year, Minneapolis songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Eve Speers released their debut EP as EVV , Homebody . At a brisk nine minutes in length, it left listeners wanting more while still providing three great songs. Today, we're premiering the video for lead single and standout track "Dead to Me." One of the most immediately striking things about the video is the colorful, hazing lighting. Speers said, "My inspiration was to incorporate this idea of anger and sadness that we feel within our relationships, typically romantic ones. I wanted to mix the colors, showing the phases we can experience. The video was shot by Emily Schoonover, and Speers edited and put it together. Watch the "Dead to Me" video below. Listen to Homebody here .

Credit: August Schultz Despite the world dragging by amidst the pandemic, it hasn't been too long since we last heard from Minneapolis' Double Grave. The band released their second full-length album Goodbye, Nowhere! in August of last year, which gave them some of the national attention they deserve. While continuing to work on new music, Double Grave is putting out a few shorter, quieter releases as a stop-gap between albums. Today, we're premiering the title track to the first EP, "Chrysanthemum." You've already heard "Chrysanthemum" if you were among the lucky few who snagged one of the first 50 vinyl copies of  Goodbye, Nowhere! — the entire EP was included on CD with a cardboard sleeve and handwritten tracklist. The songs themselves originated from guitarist/vocalist Jeremy Warden's now-defunct Animal Actor  solo project, which featured Warden singing with a four-string bass. There were plans to put out a full-length Animal Actor record, bu...