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....

Listening to Weston Day release "Storms" feels a bit like opening a window during a gale just to see if the glass will hold. It’s a rush of air, sudden and brisk. While his style is often bookmarked as "Elvis Costello meets Paul Simon," I hear a man frantically trying to explain a complicated heartbreak before the bar closes. https://open.spotify.com/track/1YxtWM0OIRR0ShlLMhxKmc?si=d5BvDBy8Qdib-_4WhMb-kA Armed with an 8-string baritone acoustic...