The single from Syracuse’s ORWAX, “Everything's Addictive,” doesn’t so much ask a question as it does state a grim, unblinking diagnosis for the modern soul. From its first notes, the track establishes itself not as a party anthem for self-destruction, but as the sound of the machine humming underneath our choices. The trio—a self-contained unit of Ryan and Jim Moran, with Jason Randall on...

Some love songs sit politely in the corner. "When I'm With You" walks in with bright guitars, a racing heart, and that slightly ridiculous confidence people get when a crush rewires their whole day. Nick Pappalardo's new single, takes its spark from his early gigging days in Brooklyn and NYC, where one meeting with a Brooklyn girl gave him the emotional fuel for a full-on...