What does it mean to make contemporary twee music? The NYC duo lol lol connect the dots between the bubblegum rap of the 2010s and the kind of madness that was burning up North Brooklyn warehouses around the time of the first Obama campaign. It’s freaked out and silly. Back in the day, Jonathan Richman sang about dinosaurs and worshiped Lou Reed. Now, in 2025, lol lol wear shirts in primary colors and make music that somehow reminds me of both early Lil Yachty and early Animal Collective. (And what do you know? Jonathan Richman put out some new music this week, too.)
The Reducers “Things Go Wrong”
When I’m in the right mood, nothing hits harder than washing the dishes and listening to record collector rock and roll on WFMU. Last week, I was checking Burn It Down! with Nate K; the DJ was playing belter after belter, including a late-’70s UK punk tune called “Things Go Wrong” by The Reducers. I had never heard the song before, but has a nice little bounce, a bit of a “Living After Midnight” by Judas Priest type beat.
Mike Mike (Feat. Yonaa) “Shake It”
Here is a very good back-and-forth Milwaukee party rap song that Alphonse Pierre brought to my attention earlier in the week. In the pantheon of Milwaukee party rap songs that have the title “Shake It,” I would say that it is about on par with the Munch Lauren and Mula Mar track that came out around a year ago; if you want to hear that song “mashed-up” with Chapterhouse’s breakbeat shoegaze classic “Falling Down,” please check out the mix I did earlier in the year for Miley Serious on Rinse France. A lot of links this week.
Show Me The Body (Feat. Princess Nokia) “Spit”
Four years ago, Show Me The Body went full Portishead mode with Princess Nokia. Now, perhaps sensing a major interest in all things Bristol, they surfaced the song and gave it a new music video. I’m ready for that hardcore trip-hop fusion. I can picture a screamo band playing a little Massive Attack while they tune.
On a similar tip, crushed are a band whose first release was a gauzy breakbeat pop blast good enough to get reissued by Ghostly, who are also putting out this new song, which I am writing about right now, as I walk down the sidewalk after midnight in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Now we are really music blogging!
Bruno Tonisi and Sensational “Yo, We Had an Earthquake Over Here Today Too”
Sensational: true New York City avant-rap legend. He was once on the cover of The Wire. He was featured on the “lost” Bill Laswell-produced Jungle Brothers record that, I guess, sampled Stockhausen and got shelved for being too weird. Teaming up with a Brazilian sound artist, he delivers some of the wildest almost-rap of 2025. Here I’m supposed to say something like, “This tune will turn your dome to Silly Putty!” And look, I don’t know—it just might.
HARDCORE SHOW CLIP OF THE WEEK: GAG “Come to Daddy (Live in Denver 5/11/25)”
There are some ideas that are out there for the taking. One of them: a hardcore punk cover of “Come to Daddy” by Aphex Twin. Just your classic layup, really. Pacific Northwest vets GAG covered it on their newest EP, which came out last year, but I’m only hearing it now, and watching this clip of the band playing it at a decent-not-great-looking show somehow makes it better. Why do I spend so much time watching live shows on YouTube? Why does my brain work the way it does?
Of course there can be two, but I can't help but compare Gag's effort to Dillinger Escape Plan + Mike Patton's cover off their Irony is a Dead Scene EP (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlKN6h6eOoU&list=RDKlKN6h6eOoU&start_radio=1)