Welcome to the BroBible New Music Round-Up, where we see what new music has been released this week and think it’s criminal no one has at least talked about a Guns ‘N Roses biopic yet. For more follow me on Twitter:  @ryanoconnell79

For a glimpse into the not-so-distant future, check out our rundown of some of the music releases we are most looking forward to in 2019.

Foster the People “Style”

I feel like Foster the People should be a bigger deal than they are. Since they first came into our lives with “Pumped Up Kicks” all the way back in 2011, they have routinely churned out top of the line, head-bobbing tunes. Admit it, when “Pumped Up Kicks” comes on, you still listen to it all the way through. And “Sit Next to Me,’ from their last album Sacred Hearts Club, refuses to go away and in my opinion, was one of the front runners for Song of the Summer for 2018. It was everywhere, just like “Pumped Up Kicks” was/is. There’s something to be said for creating music that is able to played on a variety of different radio stations and that something is smart as hell.

On their latest song, “Style,” the band continues to bridge that gap between dance music and alternative rock, although “Style” is certainly one of the more dance-friendlier tracks they’ve ever released. The song’s beat is relentless as it remains steady beneath robotic-sounding synthesizers and crunchy guitars. Lead singer Mark Foster’s vocals always sound arena-ready and this song is no exception.

Maybe I’m out of touch (entirely possible,) but it really feels like as a country, we’re sleeping on this band.

Tame Impala “Patience”

If you woke up this morning, yearning for some new music that sounded like some sort of futuristic lounge lizard music, then you are in luck. “Patience,” the new track from Tame Impala, their first new music since Currents came out in 2015, feels custom made for dim lights, the wafting smoke of cigarettes, the taste of better than average vodka and olives. So many olives.

“Patience” comes out a little over a week before the Australian band makes their Saturday Night Live debut and about a month before they kick off a summer tour at Coachella. The tour also has them performing at Boston Calling, the Corona Capital Festival in Mexico, Shaky Knees Music Festival in Atlanta and Lollapalooza.

Presumably, “Patience” will be part of the band’s next album, although the group’s frontman, Kevin Parker, has yet to give us any hints about when that album might actually come out. In his defense, Parker has been busy. Over the past year or so he’s worked with Lady Gaga, Theophilus London, Travis Scott, among others.

Ryan’s Fun Idea of the Week: A co-headlining tour with Tame Impala and Foster the People.

Jamestown Revival “This Too Shall Pass”

I saw Jamestown Revival about a year or so ago, somewhat by accident actually, as I was there to see the opener. Usually when you’re at a show to see only one of the two bands performing, that second band is on a short leash in terms of how much you are seriously going to pay attention. However, on this wonderful night in the eclectic seaside community of Asbury Park, New Jersey, Jamestown Revival was the exception to the rule.

There’s something about Jamestown Revival, lead by Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance, that is immensely appealing. I think part of it is that their songs kind of sound like other songs and it’s songs you love. I’m not saying they are rip off artists. Instead, what I’m trying to say is their music somehow taps into that secret sauce of what makes certain classic songs so timeless and endlessly enjoyable. It’s like how Rivers Cuomo is always studying classic songs to try and understand why they’re so great. I imagine Jamestown Revival being able to do that without the endless binders and spreadsheets.

Case in point: “This Too Shall Pass” has a distinct Simon & Garfunkel vibe to it, but if the iconic duo was from Texas as opposed to New York. This isn’t by accident either. According to Chance, they were inspired by the duo, as well as a desire to strike a positive note during a time when things around us are becoming increasingly negative.

“It is the idea that hard times will find us all, but in order to endure them, we must sometimes seek the wisdom and encouragement of our loved ones and generations before us. It’s easy to think that the uncertain road in front of us is the worst to come, when the truth is, there have always been hardships and unsettling times.”

“This Too Shall Pass” is the second track that the band has released off of their upcoming album, San Isabel, which is set to be released this summer. “Crazy World” was released a few weeks ago.

Steel Pulse “Cry Cry Blood”

A lot of us know people who dig reggae. However, we also know a handful of people who are really into reggae and when we’re getting our reggae fix with Bob Marley or Jimmy Cliff, they’re down the hall pumping Steel Pulse.

So it would then go without saying that that person in all of our lives is especially pumped today as Steel Pulse have dropped the first single off of their new album, Mass Manipulation. The album will be their first studio release in 15 years. Their last release, African Holocaust, came out in 2004.

Wild Belle Everybody One of A Kind

Back in 2013 I was driving in Philadelphia and listening to the cities’ great radio station WXPN, when this song came on and I instantly couldn’t get enough of it. The song was “Keep You,” by Wild Belle, a group comprised of siblings, Eliot and Natalie Bergman. They sounded like Santigold, but with less hip hop and more of an island influence. The song was from their debut album, Isles, and the rest of the album had more great songs on it that ran with the vibe that “Keep You” had.

The group followed up Isles three years later with the album Dreamland. Now another three years later have passed and they’ve released their third album Everybody One of A Kind. The album has the same scents and sounds of the first two, with Natalie Bergman’s smoky and sultry vocals leading the way.

With summer inching it’s way onto the horizon, Wild Belle would go right up there with summer beers, flip flops and a good brand of sunscreen as necessary items in your summer tool box.

Catfish and the Bottlemen “2all”

“2all” is the latest single Catfish and the Bottlemen have released from their upcoming album, The Balance, which will be released on April 26. The song is more mature-sounding that we’ve come to expect from the band, as they’re eschewing some of the no-holds barred rock ‘n roll that the band has made a staple of theirs so far in their young career.

The tune also hints at a band swinging for the fences and looking to make a leap, which comes at a good time, as they are about the embark on their biggest tour to date. No pressure of anything dudes. You just don’t want to leave those folks in the cheap seats wanting more.

Jenny Lewis On The Line

On her latest album, Lewis goes large and lush with the music and deep and personal with the lyrics, focusing a lot of her attention on the death of her estranged mother, who died in 2017. That pain is coupled with the ending of a longtime relationship and Lewis leaves nothing to behind on her new album.

On The Line is Lewis’ first album since 2014’s Voyager and she brought in some serious ringers to help her out, including Benmont Tench of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and Ringo Starr. Beck helped out with production, as did Ryan Adams, who also put down some guitar tracks. Yet in light of recent allegations that have been made against Adams, Lewis has sought to minimize his contributions, telling The Washington Post that they “began the record together two years ago, and after five or six days in the studio we stopped working together.”

For more on Lewis, I’d recommend a recent interview she did with Rolling Stone.

Elsewhere in Music…

This Week in Yes, Take My Money Now

President Cardi B is now set to tackle movies. Earlier this week The Hollywood Reporter reported that the Grammy winner and Destroyer of Right Wing Trolls on Social Media is joining the cast of Hustlers. Cardi B will be teaming up with Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu of Crazy, Rich Asians in the movie, which is based on a New York magazine article, “Hustlers at Scores.” In the movie, former strip club employees concoct a plan to steal money from their wealthy Wall Street clients.

The movie was set to start filming this week, so don’t get too excited. But definitely get a little excited.

Beto Out Here Making Big Promises

Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke was recently asked that if he were elected, would The Mars Volta play at his inauguration.

“We would be honored to have The Mars Volta play anything along the campaign or in the presidency,” he replied.

Some context here. Back in the day, O’Rourke played in a band with Cedric Bixler-Zavala, who was the vocalist for The Mars Volta, as well as At the Drive-In. When asked about the band, O’Rourke added that “Cedric and Omar [Rodríguez-López] … That group is one of the most talented collections of individuals, and I’m really proud that they’re from El Paso.”

So like, that’s a definite then. If Beto O’Rourke wins in 2020, The Mars Volta are reuniting to perform at the inauguration.

Get On This!

The new album from Grupo Fantasma, American Music, Vol VII, is currently streaming over at NPR. Do yourself a solid and check it out. It’s chalk full of enormous sounding latin funk jams. I can almost guarantee you’ll be happy that you did.

This Week in Yeah, Obviously

https://twitter.com/mattwhitlockPM/status/1107703731251044352

Anything You’d Like to Add, Cardi?

Okay, then.

This Week’s Playlist

In honor on Foster the People returning with new music, here is a playlist of their 20 best tunes.

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See you next week!