Listening to “Panic Buttons,” the new single from the resurrected rave act Joe Average, feels like finding a party invitation tucked inside a government-issued emergency broadcast. It arrives with a grin, not a grimace. Thirty-four years is a long time to be quiet, and the Brighton trio of Rich, Mad Mick, and Prof have clearly spent their time away pondering the best way to...

Bad Valentines offer up their new EP, "Memory Tattoos," and these four songs arrived like a bundle of stubbornly persistent wildflowers pushing through cracked pavement. This Helsinki quintet, veterans of the Finnish indie scene, isn't peddling easy comforts; they’re dragging the raw, beautiful mess of existence into the flickering neon glow of their glam-punk-pop leanings. https://open.spotify.com/album/225MfCZIbTNTA5m9tOollK?si=CeZ8sF8qTwWuZ1dLciMy-g The EP itself feels like being buttonholed by someone with...