Flavor Wave’s single, “The Optimist,” arrived less like a declaration and more like someone tentatively drawing back a dusty curtain on a grey afternoon. From West Chester, PA, these five lifelong friends – Kyle Loedel (vocals, lyrics), Matthew Stretch (lead guitar), Patrick Blair (rhythm guitar), Noah Montgomery (bass), and Joshua Speaker (performer/drums) – typically tread alternative rock paths nodding to influences like The Strokes....

Listening to Social Gravy and their latest single, "Rapture and Rupture," is an experience akin to watching a high-speed collision in reverse where the shrapnel defies gravity to form something whole, beautiful, and startlingly resilient. The Los Angeles duo, comprised of Brad Kohn and Vee Bordukov, constructs a sonic landscape here that feels less like a song and more like a fever breaking. https://open.spotify.com/album/72Lee0QmI1x2os3l6p96DP?si=KIJTBNpIRfiEqibCumvzoQ The track...