Today's Top Tune

Tonight we’ll experience the season finale of School Night at Bardot in Hollywood. School Night has long been LA’s premier music discovery showcase and tonight’s installment will feature four buzzy bands, among them, Sea Pipes. 

And, speaking of school nights, for this band, it’s literal because they are still in high school. Assembled just this past summer, and drawing inspiration from The Black Keys, these guys make it a habit to channel their problems through their music. They already issued a debut EP The Right Through, which features “Unnameable Loss.” 

After a couple grueling years touring around the country for their debut album Shadowglow,  powerhouse indie rock band flipturn will soon release their sophomore album Burnout Days (early reviews have been raves). Tucked away in a cabin in the North Carolina mountains, the band wrestled with exhaustion to gain their endurance and envisioned an immersive world only they could create. Visit that world now through this shiner of a song, “Rodeo Clown.”

It’s Monday and who doesn’t like starting their week with a banger?! That’s why we’re so happy to share the first new music in several years from singer, songwriter, and dang-good pianist Neal Francis. His latest is the dance-ready track “Back It Up.” Let’s get laced-up, friends. 

In 2020, Laura Marling released Song For Our Daughter, a collection of music dedicated to a daughter that didn’t yet exist. The album she’s released now, Patterns in Repeat, was written after her actual kiddo was born and it mirrors the patterns at play when it comes to family. Check out “Child of Mine.” 

And now a breath of fresh air from our friend Zach Condon, best known as the musical mind behind Beirut.  Addressing his concerns of preservation and impermanence, Condon wrote the song as part of a soundtrack composed for the Swedish contemporary circus company Kompani Giraff. Let the soothing sound of “Caspian Tiger” wash over you anytime by grabbing it as a free download. 

Slowly but surely, O & The Mo, are teasing out tracks from their forthcoming album, Make Way For The Sun (set to drop in late January, 2025). Recorded in their home studio in the pastoral valley of Wakapuaka, New Zealand,  “The High” captures their signature sounds as they emanate from a handmade nikau palm guitar. 

Let’s turn now to a band that you might not be aware of. Trupa Trupa is a post-punk band from Gdańsk, Poland, known for their unique blend of brooding alternative rock and psychedelic influences. Dark, dense, and full of mystery — “Sister Ray” recalls the beat of the 1980s in the best way possible. 

Australian indie-poppers Parcels know how to bang out hooks. ”Leaveyourlove” has all the ingredients you need to strike up your dopamine receptors and keep them flowing: retro grooves, catchy lyrics, and sweet sentiments. It’s the band’s first new song in a while and just the thing to tide us over as they return to the studio to record their third album. 

British-born, Stockholm-based poet and musician Joshua Idehen makes magic by intertwining both mediums. On “Mum Does The Washing,” Idehen dissects world theories via a simple-yet-meaningful analogy that will make you laugh (and think). And be sure to check out his cover of Talking Heads’ “Once In A Lifetime.”

As Japanese-Canadian musician Saya Gray gears up to release her (semi)self-titled debut album on February 21, 2025, we are told to expect an album that will delineate the past from what the future holds. Until then, enjoy “H.B.W.” (shorthand for heartbreak wave), the latest tease from the forthcoming lp.  It’s an undulating and delectable ditty.