Flavor Wave’s single, “The Optimist,” arrived less like a declaration and more like someone tentatively drawing back a dusty curtain on a grey afternoon. From West Chester, PA, these five lifelong friends – Kyle Loedel (vocals, lyrics), Matthew Stretch (lead guitar), Patrick Blair (rhythm guitar), Noah Montgomery (bass), and Joshua Speaker (performer/drums) – typically tread alternative rock paths nodding to influences like The Strokes....

Inochka’s new single, "Intertwined," is the auditory equivalent of noticing the dust motes dancing in a single ray of late-afternoon sun, realizing an entire day has passed you by. This is music that occupies a space, filling the quiet corners of a room with a kind of beautiful, bruised resignation. The track drifts in on a bed of lo-fi atmosphere and gentle guitar, carrying...