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....

With Deptford Sound Collective dropping "Give Me . Give Me . Give Me, I want it all", I found myself suspended somewhere between a Studio 54 dancefloor and a gritty picket line. It’s a jarring, delightful confusion. You expect the somber acoustic strumming of 1960s activism given the collective’s mission but instead, you are slapped awake by a wall of 1980s synth-pop. https://open.spotify.com/album/6ULaYdVEhxN7eK0w9AmHtL?si=qiJmIM0oR2GlZ7uC8idmyw The track hits...