Quick Note: Next week, John’s Music Blog will be going on summer vacation. All that really means is that there will be no blog post on Tuesday. The Report returns next Friday. 7/11/25.
The crunch of easycore. The twang of contemporary pop-country. The visual sensibility of a Zoomer YouTuber. Yes, that’s right… Bilmuri truly has it all. He is a rocker we can believe in. In the video for “More Than Hate,” he’s shirtless in the woods, zoomed-in and distorted, running from some ragers in camo.
Kiya The New Idea “In Da Mood”
It might’ve come out in March, but this phased and snappy digi-rap tune from under-the-radar Milwaukeean Kiya The New Idea has been getting me in the mood to hit a waterpark and maybe eat a hot dog or three. I will not be in attendance at the 2025 Nathan’s Famous event. If you want my report from the grounds of the 2024 hot dog slam, that is available to read whenever you are ready for it.
Tek lintowe, thumpeezy_713 “Come Down To The City”
Here, internet music hero Tek lintowe connects with an unknown, at least to me, middle-aged Houston rapper named thumpeezy_713. The track sounds like a classic Swishahouse freestyle with a few extra layers of sonic smudge. It samples another hero of the underground: Bug Bus Piano. I’m going to be honest, I wouldn’t have known that last detail if it weren’t for the comments below the song’s video. Shout out to Bug Bus Piano, though. I follow him on Twitter.
Slater “A Party in Devin’s Room”
A few years ago, I accidentally saw Slater perform live. I was at the gig for the openers—it doesn’t get much more “John’s Music Blog Approved” than the one-two punch of Macula Dog and LUCY—but I stuck around and caught some of his set, which was confusing and delightful in equal measure, true So-Cal culture, a post-ironic musical version of a Kyle Mooney sketch. His new one would make for an ideal “needle drop” in that middling A24 rave movie I’ve been writing in my head for years.
Bruce Springsteen “Don’t Back Down”
It’s interesting but not all that surprising that two of the best songs on the first disc of the new Springsteen box set both have “Don’t Back Down” in the title. The LA Garage Sessions ‘85 features music made between Nebraska and Born in the U.S.A.; I’m not the first person to point it out, and it’s a pretty obvious observation, but the music on the disc exists in the wide middle between those two records. “Don’t Back Down” is tough and triumphant highway rock supreme.
JOHN’S MUSIC BLOG PRESENTS… THE BONUS THREE
John Says: “Philly purveyors of perfect basement buzzsaw pop punk come strong on their new EP. When I hear this music, I picture a sweaty 40-ouncer of Mickey’s gripped by a middle-aged man with a Descendents tattoo.”
John Says: “The number one blown-out Atlanta rapper continues down the damaged path. The line from Occasional Detroit to LAZER DIM 700 must be studied by academics.”
John Says: “I loved the first Underscores full-length, but I didn’t really connect with the second one. Now that I’ve heard ‘Music,’ though, I’ve gone back and re-listened to LP2. Guess what? It’s good, too.”
AND… FINALLY… JOHN’S FIVE FAVORITE NIRVANA SONGS
“Sliver”
“Aneurysm”
“Negative Creep”
“About A Girl”
“All Apologies”