A rubber band ball, meticulously constructed and then unceremoniously dropped, that's what Outside Pedestrian's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" feels like. Not the ball itself, mind you, but the brief, elastic snap of unexpected order being momentarily... let go. We know the Bach tune. It’s a holiday staple, often served up with a side of polite reverence. But here, Anthony Fesmire’s guitar, David Lockeretz’s...

Mad Morning have released a new single titled "Painkiller," and it’s less a piece of music and more a prescription filled with ferocious velocity. This isn't your gentle, over-the-counter remedy. This is the stuff you keep behind lock and key, a bitter pill of distorted guitar and adrenalized rhythm that vocalist and guitarist Rob Jarvis delivers with unflinching conviction. The song’s central idea—sound as...