TRACKS OF THE WEEK – 2/27/20 Edition

If there’s a better metaphor for spring than a new Waxahatchee LP, we’ve yet to find it. “Lilacs” is the latest from Saint Cloud, Katie Crutchfield’s fifth full-length as Waxahatchee, out 3/27 on Merge. Keep an eye out for those tour dates, including Pappy & Harriet’s in Pioneertown on 5/7, First Congregational Church of Los Angeles on 5/8, The Castro Theatre (SF) on 5/9, and the Gundlach Bundschu Winery (Sonoma, CA) 5/10.

Wye Oak is back with another new single, “Fear Of Heights”, following up November’s “Fortune”. The Baltimore duo, Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack, will be hitting the road this spring. In the Bay Area, they’ll be at the Independent (SF) on 3/23, before holding court for two shows at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on March 24th and 25th.

New Zealand’s Yumi Zouma weigh in with “Cool For A Second”, their 2nd single off forthcoming LP Truth Or Consequences, out 3/13 on Polyvinyl. It’s shaping up to be a great spring for shows, and Yumi Zouma is holding up their end of the bargain. Catch them on 3/24 at the Rickshaw Stop (SF), and 3/26 at the Moroccan Lounge (LA). 

“Receptionist” from Brooklyn’s almighty Sharkmuffin gets the video treatment. Their Gamma Gardening EP came out last spring on Exploding In Sound, but with the band committing it to video, the bizarro sci-fi epic has a new lease on life. If your dream of the Muppets “Pigs In Space” was casting Miss Piggy as a dominatrix, then this is for you!

Closing up shop this week, we’ll observe recent tradition and go out on the noisy tip. Time Is Fire is from Washington DC, and “We Declare” is the anthem you just happened to be looking for. Their debut LP In Pieces is out this week on Electric Cowbell/Insect Fields.