alt J - Fitzpleasure

This song is consistently inconsistent. The lazy tra la la's in the beginning lead into True-Blood-theme-song sexytime bass, and then into silence right before it takes a shot of espresso and amps up again. It's like a moving rubex cube that never matches up, but it sounds hella good.

Glitter Pox rating: 96% rating

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Au Revoir Simone - Fallen Snow

Au Revoir Simone has a similar sound to Laura Veirs or Rilo Kiley, but with a lonely holiday vibe. Even though the three part harmony has a diamond-pure tone to match the bell-like music, there's something to the soft singing that's less than uplifting. Fallen Snow evolves from major to minor and back to major with grace, as effortlessly pretty as it is sad.

Glitter Pox rating: 85% contagious

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The Glitter Pox

Pop Etc - Keep It For Your Own

This song is subtly folk-styled on top of its more obvious night vibe, with the soft vocal melody in the verses and the upbeat backbeat stringed through the whole song. The piano bits sound like wind chimes, but the bass and later chorus keys contrast it into a song with a pop pulse. The music is darker than the vocals, so it gives this edge of confusion which somehow works for it.

Glitter Pox rating: 83% contagious

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The Glitter Pox

PVT - Nightfall

This song has a kind of Gotye 'Heart's a Mess' feel, but with deeper vocals and a darker fantasy. It's 90's throwback with video game love; dark and dangerous, but adventurous and anxious. The background vocals sound like voice samples being played on a keyboard, even though they don't sound synthetic - there's just an undeniable instrument quality in the way they're looped, sometimes even sounding like strings. It's one of those fuzzy dreamstate songs you can put on repeat for hours, with static echoes and distorted music.

Glitter Pox rating: 71% contagious

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The Glitter Pox

The Mynabirds - Disarm

Disarm is percussion on percussion on percussion on your heels through the whole song. The guitar has a melody that strings the vocals together, but it's the drumming that creates something solid to combat. It's like the music is making a wall the vocalist is singing against, until they both come up with a compromise and sync.

Glitter Pox rating: 86% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Peter Wolf Crier - Beach

Beach has a rain stick background and a completely organic vibe, the drumming sounding like it's done on a tin can under storm clouds. The double vocals throughout the song are layered and overlapped in a way that's natural, even though they sound like schizophrenic thought. The song goes quiet in the drained out static of the last few seconds, contrasting the sticky-sweet layers of frosted notes that made this song into a musical confection right before its sugar-high drop.

Glitter Pox rating: 84% contagious

Hope you catch it,

The Glitter Pox

Sleeper Agent - Get It Daddy

Favorite lyrics: I'm not a baby no more.

The lead singer chick in this song really sounds like she could kick your ass, and it's great. It's consistently solid, but it's the breakdown that makes it gold. From upbeat to slow hard rocker bass with a Jack White inlay, it makes for the best downplay to the freedom of this song. And it's followed up by a vocalist switch that's very Jamie Hince-ish, so the reminiscent references this band has are top-notch. But this song has its own incomparable vibe to it, a roguish complex that brings a Skins-like naughty teenage road trip to mind.

Glitter Pox rating: 90% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Dan Croll - From Nowhere

This song starts like a garden breeze, with keyboard and drumpad taking place of songbirds, and then the bass comes in and slams the windows. It's a little like Miike Snow's 'Animal,' an artist that can similarly blend synth and grit. And instead of just fading out, the song echoes out, a repeat of verses and background vocals mixing together to bounce around cave walls all night.

Glitter Pox rating: 74% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox