Near Death Experience's single, "Shake," arrived not so much as music, but as a sudden, urgent insistence. It’s London psych-rock-soul alright, but brewed with something fiercely immediate, demanding attention like a ringing telephone in an empty room. The core quartet – Ian Whiteling guiding the trip with vocals and guitar fuzz, Joshua Van Ness laying down a heartbeat that feels both frantic and locked-in,...

Trick Shooter Social Club's "Television," isn't some shiny, manufactured anthem. It's a scratched-up record, the kind you pull out after a long day where everything tasted like cardboard and feels the same kind of worn in and comfortable. This Chicago outfit, led by Larry Liss and Steve Simoncic, they’ve bottled that feeling into a song about quiet corners and the kind of love that...