While the music industry slowly emerges from its holiday slumber–it’ll be a week or so yet–let’s take a listen to five songs that may have slipped under your radar while you were lying on the couch, bingeing TV, eating little cubes of cheese, and blissfully unaware of what day it was.
1. The Tragically Hip & Feist, It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken
Single (Universal)
Recommended If You Like: Well, it’s The Hip, innit?
Here’s one that slipped out just before Christmas. If you haven’t seen the Amazon documentary No Dress Rehearsal yet, shame on you. It’s required viewing for all Canadians. Once you do see it, you’ll recognize this version of a single from the 2002 Hip album, In Violet Light. This version and performance is taken from the 2021 Juno Awards broadcast and also shows up in part four of the doc. This was the first time The Hip performed without Gord.
2. Amyl and The Sniffers, Doing in Me Head
Cartoon Darkness (Rough Trade)
RIYL: Intense Australian pub rock
Amy Taylor and her crew finished off 2024 strong and 2025 also lookis very promising. This is the latest single (number five!) from their amazing third album, Cartoon Darkness, which first appeared back in October and was one of my favourite rock records of the year. If you’re late to the party, there’s still plenty of time to jump on board. I just LOVE these guys.
3. Hollow Core, Reaper
Single (Independent)
RIYL: Late 90s alt-metal
Once upon a time in the middle and late 90s, alt-rock radio was filled with songs from bands like Nine Inch Nails, Filter, Stabbing Westward, and other powerful bands. Hollow Corer, a band out of Hamilton like the sobriquet “the children of Iron Maiden,” has been around since the COVID days of 2020 and have two EPs to their name. If you like circular riffing (that’s what I call it anyway; you’ll hear it immediately), I think you’ll be pleased with this. I just wish it was longer.
4. DIIV, Raining on Your Pillow (Daniel Avery Remix)
Frog in Boiling Water (Fantasy)
RIYL: Shoegazey goodness
This album has been around for a while—since May, as a matter of fact—and this single was originally released on the album day as the album. This, however, is a new remix which adds a gnarly bassline and more soaring guitars, making it quite a bit different (and, in my opinion, better) than the original. If you’re disenchanted with the failed promises of capitalism, then you should give the whole album a listen. You’ll find your validation.
5. Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory, Southern Life (What It Must Be Like)
Single (Jagjaguar)
RIYL: Space jams!
Sharon, the New Jersey singer, got tired of rehearsing material over and over again, so when it came to this new album (due in February), she and her group spent more time just jamming to see what sort of magic might manifest itself. Given what I’ve heard from this record, the experiment worked just fine. Check out this driving synth-rock jam and tell me you didn’t bob your head the whole time.
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