The latest from Jacob and the Starry Eyed Shadows, “Racing on the Back Straight,” performs a fantastic trick: it dresses up a full-blown existential crisis in its summer best and sends it to the beach. This Glasgow solo architect, Jacob, has constructed a Trojan horse of a track, all propulsive indie rock guitars and a pop-punk chorus so immediate it feels like you’ve known...

Dust motes danced in the pre-dawn light, much like how my brain felt after hearing The Dinosaur’s Skin's “Meteor Shower.” Trex and Triceratops, that dynamic duo from, uh, the past, seem to have found the perfect blend of heart-thumping bass and wistful synth. It's not a typical love song; it's a love song told by asteroids, apparently, hurtling through space. Quite the cosmic heartbreak,...