Modern Skirts - Jane Child

Favorite lyrics: I won't tear your heart out like those other men

'Jane Child' isn't exactly in tune or evenly paced, but it's definitely well crafted. It's like being in the mind of obsession, a song that is partly enchanting and completely creepy. It goes from lyrics sung with determination and without music, steadily seeping into singsong - like the song is gaining momentum in insanity. You start to feel like you're becoming obsessed with Jane Child, too, as much as her name floats through your head after listening.

Glitter Pox rating: 90%

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Wildlife - Sea Dreamer

We saw Wildlife at Daytrotter's Barnstormer tour, which was a fantastic line-up of bands playing in the middle of nowhere, in barns that you find on back roads. It was a lot of fun, and Wildlife is a band we discovered through that - they were the first act that night, and even though the rest of the bands were all fantastic, it was hard to follow their performance (even with the lead singer in a cast.) Each of their songs has a melody that shakes you up and makes you grind your teeth, choruses of anger and Manchester Orchestra-equivalent passion. Check out their new video Sea Dreamer and find out for yourself.

Elizaveta - Meant

Favorite lyrics: If silence can kill, I know it can heal.

There's a Florence and Pierces combination in Elizaveta's voice that makes a sultry, bittersweet song out of Meant. Elizaveta actually studied opera; her music style doesn't suggest it strongly, but you can hear a hint of soft power in her vocals that's fitting, as if her musical studies were only unconsciously included. That makes it both theatrical and modern, like something you could listen to either on a movie score or through your car speakers. Each of her songs has a different contradiction, between soft vocals and loud bass or high notes and hand claps, her album Beatrix Runs is a varied mix of both bold singing and hurried whispers.

GP rating: 71% contagious

If you want to listen to the whole album, you can find it streaming on soundcloud here.

Console Warriors - Vicious Fishus

This song is contained chaos. If you poked a hole in it, it would be full Cage the Elephant crazy, but it has a more organized sound amid the disorganization, like someone that's barely being held back from a fight. And the breakdown is much more mellow, like the melody is pacing itself for another round of bruises. It's rough with a sexy bass line, memorable vocals, and good vibrations.

Rating: 65% contagious

Hey Rosetta! - Red Song

There couldn't be a more appropriate music video for Red Song, because watching it is just as captivating as listening to it; the combination of both music and visual is stunning. So, watch it. And listen.

Favorite lyrics: In the black I feel you
In the black I sense
Somewhere in the red, the colours end

You can feel this song on your spine, those warming chills that only happen when something rare hits you. It's an infinite melody of a sound that's both loving and mournful, something with complete resigned passion in it. It's like a numbing acceptance, but with a long history of intensity behind it that's only to be settled to burning coals. The song cuts off just at the right time, so that the loss of the guitar is as haunting as the loss in the lyrics. It makes your lungs unconsciously stop breathing in anticipation and hope of more music that isn't there, causing the ghost of the song to still play in your head.

Glitter Pox rating: 92% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

San Cisco - Awkward

Favorite lyrics: I wouldn't have gone to dinner if I knew that you'd agree with everything I say.

This song is a mix of humor and hormones. It's light and comical, but at the same time completely spot on and passionate in both annoyance and obsession. The two voices are really different in style, but having two perspectives in this song is what makes it so catchy. It's not a duet, but more of a vocal version of a dance-off, with a simple melody as the backdrop. It's a fast song, like a good piece of candy that melts on your tongue with immediate short-lingering flavor.

Glitter Pox rating: 70% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Okkervil River - The Valley

Listen here: The Valley

Favorite lyrics: It's just a busted up body in the dust of the last road out of the city, when the city explodes.

Listening to The Valley is kind of like sitting in the sun too long and having sand caught in your throat. It sounds a little bit like desire, like wanting a drop of water and not getting it until the last note. It has a continuous loop of music and hand claps that sounds like you're pushing through something that's barely giving. The end is really intense, when the lyrics overlap in a rush, words about death being sung over others. That overlapping ending is when you finally get your water, right before you pass out from exhaustion. It all has a kind of Middle Class Rut sound, nonstop gravel-voice and continuous music that doesn't let up until the very end.

Glitter Pox rating: 73% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox