When Los Angeles's Love Ghost made their new song "Dopeman," they mixed the raw energy of alternative rock with the pounding beats of Afrobeat in a way that is both bold and surprising. Ghanaian musician Camidoh and DJ Switch Ghana, who is also from Ghana and has great turntable skills, work together on this international project. It has a rhythm that is both creative and...

Lessons in Crime’s new single, "Reply ASAP," bounces along with the kind of infectious energy you’d want for a summer road trip, but it’s a smokescreen for a uniquely modern state of inertia. It feels less like a rock song and more like one of those old pneumatic message tubes from a 1940s department store—all zip and kinetic energy on the outside, but inside,...