Local Music Singles Roundup: May 2026
Local Music Reviews
God, I’m fucking hungry…what should I get? Some iced-out emo rock to numb the heartache? Tempting, tempting… A good ol’ fashioned indie folk tune to let the good times go? Sounds appetizing. Well if worst comes to worst, I think I have some musical egg rock in here somewhere. Order up on this month’s edition of Local Music Singles Roundup! Still hungry?
Drive45
“Concerned About”
Self-Released
Street: 10.10.2025
Drive45 = Danny Elfman + Andrew Lloyd Webber x Lemon Demon
What in the waggish, chocolate factory bullshit is this! With a Vaudeville player piano being sucked into a black hole and reverberated grunts and screams unnaturally weed-whacked together, the musical trickery of Drive45 egg-dropped “Concerned About.” The upbeat, almost circus-y symphony is sugarly intoxicating (in the most funhouse sort). The track is somewhere between Cabaret’s Kit Kat Klub and the zany mouse marching band from Coraline, with its drastic melody of sudden turns, drops and stops. Every instrument and vocal queue sounds mechanical in a Rube Goldberg sense, where all its inner workings of found objects fit in the most unorthodox way. Regarding themes, however, “Concerned About” reflects the chaotic hyperfixation that contributes to anxiety attacks with lyrics like “No, I’m not concerned about the knobs and switches on the oven / I’ve got to be concerned about my body / Yes, of course I am concerned about my health.” I’m biting my nails just writing this review! —Alton Barnhart
Far From Salem
(ft. Letters for the Oddities)
“The Contortionist”
Self-Released
Street: 12.01.2025
Far From Salem = “The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You” by MCR – everything but the bridge
As an emo at heart, I am often disappointed by modern bands who claim to be emo, as their music often just doesn’t hit the right way. So I was delightfully surprised when Far From Salem pulled me back into the dark depths of my youth (it was 2015 in real life, but 2005 on my stereo) with “The Contortionist.” The angst is established in the first half of the song, with the chorus begging, “Bring me down in the dead of night / Paint the floors with my blood.” But the automatic headbanging doesn’t kick in until about 2:30 when, after lots of obligatory whoas, the electric guitar takes the stage. These angular, visceral riffs remind me of sirens wailing in the background, which is fitting because I feel like this track would be played at the end of a movie after something bad has happened and the villain is sneaking away. —Braxtyn Birrell
it foot, it ears
“it Sermonette”
Self-Released
Street: 03.18.2026
it foot, it ears = Michael Gira x Geordie Greep
In a world of algorithmically optimized melodies and homogenized musical formulas, the people are hungry for microtones and polyrhythms. The sudden virality of bands like Angine de Poitrine is proof that two-man avant-punk units are the next big thing. But Jason Rabb and Nick Foster have been cooking up explosive, irreverent sounds for over 10 years, with only a guitar, drums and four immaculate ears. “it Sermonette,” the single off their forthcoming album, Tip toe loops, is an excellent introduction to the duo’s meticulously composed dissonance. The percussion and vocals ping-pong into a staccato dance that delights the senses: “Redeem again, rejoice again, hella televangelical.” Halfway through the two-minute track, everything dissolves into fuzzy doom and anxious whisper shouting. Right before you’re sucked into their apocalypse (“poca” for short), it foot, it ears catapults back to the same plucky notes from the beginning, ending with a cheeky flourish. If you aren’t tickled by these whip-fast, freaky hijinks, I don’t know what to tell you. —Asha Pruitt
Jacob Merrithew
“988”
Self-Released
Street: 01.02.2026
Jacob Merrithew = MGK + Logic + David Archuleta
Where was this track during the height of COVID-19, when we were trapped inside and exclusively listening to sad boi rap? Or was that just me? “988” tells a compelling story of fighting the depths of depression and suicidal ideation. The song tells the story of a young man writing a suicide letter to his dad: “And I really think I needed to write you / ‘cause at the end of the day I’ll be gone too / this bullet in my brain / will free me from the pain.” The second verse shifts perspectives to his mother: “I know it’s hard for you now / but we’ll change the outcome / just come here close / I won’t let you go.” It’s a beautiful story of a son and mother battling the challenges of mental health together and eventually coming out on top — all with a clean blend of stripped-back piano and steady bass that never overpowers the story, letting the emotion sit right where it needs to. —Olivia Watts
Toni Sicola
“I Wasn’t Sure I Could”
Self-Released
Street: 04.18.25
Toni Sicola = Janis Joplin + Christine Sweeney
We’ve all either had or hoped for that moment where we stare in the mirror and decide it’s time to take life by the reins. “I Wasn’t Sure I Could” is a beautiful amalgamation of that feeling, finding your community of lost souls and seizing your independence. “Always searching for kindreds, the ones to call my own” is a statement that resonates deeply with me. People always seem to come and go, which makes it difficult to truly find your tribe. Toni and the Enablers blend the emotion of feeling lost and finding strength in yourself and the ones you love. Sicola does an impeccable job at highlighting the heart on your sleeve perspective — “I get my hopes up when I meet someone new, give them all the power to disappoint me through and through.” Don’t we all… This song is like a warm hug to the soul, reminding us that we can take our time to figure ourselves out. —Damien Poelman
crimberly
“THIS IS MY SHITPOST ACCOUNT”
Self-Released
Street: 02.06.2026
crimberly = Oneohtrix Point Never + Aphex Twin / NXCRE
If a painting hung in a dark room with just enough light to see holographic TV fuzz etched onto a canvas, you would get the visual experience of “THIS IS MY SHITPOST ACCOUNT” by crimberly. It is a two-dimensional plane of electro-mechanical bursts that leap at you as you enter their flat domain. When you compress into what you thought was a lower dimension, drowned electronic vocals cry out from the bass drum and other buzzing noises that act as percussion. The song is neatly separated into three segments and runs three minutes 30 seconds long, so listeners can buckle in and be numerically satisfied for the ride on this long abandoned roller coaster from a chrome country. While it doesn’t have the depth of sound and room to breathe as “usb3” from their saltsick mixtape, this track’s two-dimensionality is its greatest strength and weakness. —Jacob Kay
Read more Local Music Singles Roundups:
Local Music Singles Roundup: April 2026
Local Music Singles Roundup: March 2026
