When I pressed play on the latest release from Shelita, titled "Sailors", I wasn't expecting the floor to drop out from under me. You see, "pop" is often a safe word, a designation for the palatable. But this? This is something else entirely. It’s as if someone took a tender ballad and threw it into a particle accelerator to see what sub-atomic emotions would...

Lincoln’s Future Theory have distilled a uniquely modern affliction into their new single, "Reality Buzz." It’s the specific sound of a cheap energy drink fizzing next to an overdue bill. A nervous, propulsive energy runs through the track, a driving alt-rock current that feels like trying to walk in a straight line while the world tilts on its axis. The guitars, steeped in a...