SubmitHub – Page 7 – Queen City Sounds and Art

Your Tired Friend’s Sultry Downtempo Single “Angel” Evokes a Yearning For What Brings a Colorful Spark to One’s Life

Your Tired Friend seems to have delved into some deep and dark corners of musical inspirations and of the psyche in the writing and refining of “Angel.” The song was born as an improvisation and shaped by live performances to land upon a deeply moody downtempo track about yearning for something you lost that can be idealized in your heart because of distance from how whatever and whoever it was would cause you some distress as exemplified by the line “Pull me apart like you used to.” The languid jazz guitar, the pulsing percussion and ghostly synths tracing the soulful vocal line speak to the ache for the romanticized presence the way chaos and drama can seem exciting from a distance for many people, something better than what might be perceived as the tedium of “normal” life. The music video in black and white seems to parallel what might be called the lack of color in one’s life minus what one felt like to be the spark that gave life more of a thrill. Watch the video for “Angel” on YouTube and follow Your Tired Friend at the links below.

Your Tired Friend

Poor Bambi’s Triumphant “Skyscrapers Soaring, Yet We’re Drowning” Celebrates the Inevitable Collapse of Late Capitalism

The title of Poor Bambi’s “Skyscrapers Soaring, Yet We’re Drowning” is a statement in itself. The menacing tone of the song has an element of triumph in it as well. The caustic yet melodic guitar and commanding vocals give weight to the lyrics that seem to spell out the unsustainability of an egregiously unequal economic system and society. When most people are crushed under by the prevailing order what can support the elites? It is a systemic failure waiting to happen and the song almost seems to celebrate that inevitability. Stylistically the song seems to draw some sonic inspiration from symphonic metal but channeled through a more punk sensibility for a unique post-punk sound. Listen to “Skyscrapers Soaring, Yet We’re Drowing” on YouTube and follow Norwegian rock band Poor Bambi at the links provided below. Look for the band’s debut album out February 6, 2026.

Poor Bambi on Facebook

Poor Bambi on TikTok

Poor Bambi on Instagram

Arts Fishing Club Rebels Against the Mechanization of Our Humanity on Rock and Roll Single “Some Kind of Dangerous”

Arts Fishing Club, photo courtesy the artists

“Some Kind of Dangerous” finds Arts Fishing Club in a more boogie rock mode but not in the way that feels like a retro 70s rock mode so much as embracing a visceral aspect of the band’s songwriting. It’s a song about humans now basically evolving toward becoming one with the machines that were supposed to make our lives easier but which in many ways have made them more complicated and which are marketed to us as an essential part of our identities. And in this increasingly techbro dominated economic reality with monetized everything with algorithms driving too much the alienation more than crept up on everyone. But there’s something that feels vital about being connected to one’s humanity and analog uniqueness and the song with its rough edges, emotive vocal flourishes and occasional asymmetrical structure seems to not be in line with what an AI music engine would produce. In the music video the band performs in what looks like a garage with the tools for yard work in place as a symbol to getting back to roots as a path to rebelling against being channeled into pathways that the leech the humanity out of creativity. Watch the video for “Some Kind of Dangerous” on YouTube and follow Arts Fishing Club at the links provided.

Arts Fishing Club on Facebook

Arts Fishing Club on TikTok

Arts Fishing Club on Instagram

MAKEUP Breathes Otherworldly and Fantastical Melodies Into the Ethereal Synthpop of “Finger Driver”

The swirls of ethereal harmonics and melodies in the hazy synths of MAKEUP’s “Finger Driver” pair well with a background of icy tones and a spare electronic beat. The artist’s processed vocals offer an emotional uplift in a song that could otherwise be melancholic. The mood is reminiscent of lightly fogged DIY skate parties in the late 2010s and like a soundtrack for a more hopeful indie science fiction thriller. Fans of Chromatics and Electric Youth will find some strong resonance in MAKEUP’s mastery of tone and organic yet otherworldly and fantastical melodies. Listen to “Finger Driver” on Spotify.

The Notwist Brings a Fragile Jangle Pop Delicacy to Lovers’ Heartbreaking “How the Story Ends”

The Notwist’s new album News From Planet Zombie is out March 13, 2026 via Morr Music on LP, CD and digitally. But now you can hear a bit of what’s on offer with the group’s delicate but confident cover of “How the Story Ends” by Lovers from its 2008 album I Am The West. The latter was an indie pop band that made a splash in the underground before going on hiatus in 2014. Rather than synths, The Notwist employs a kind of repeated jangle guitar riff but keeps in place the vocals that sound a little raw and fragile in conveying words about a deep heartbreak and lingering heartache of the kind that comes back to you when you remember an intense relationship that ended a little messily and without the kind of closure you might want from a connection that can still unsettle your heart to think back on it because not all stories end neatly in the way of myths or fiction with a satisfying denouement. Listen to “How the Story Ends” on YouTube and follow The Notwist at the links below.

The Notwist on Twitter

The Notwist on Facebook

The Notwist on Instagram

The Notwist on Bandcamp

The Notwist on Apple Music

New Wolves Reconciles the Contradiction of Being Comfortable in Ones Restlessness in the Downtempo Psychedelic Pop of “Sleep It Back”

New Wolves return with the more downtempo pop of “Sleep It Back.” Its languid pace and the subdued but slightly haunting tone of the vocals seem to be set back into the mix slightly yet always forward in arrangement of sounds from the band’s signature almost sound design approach with noises coming in and out of the song to give it a cinematic quality like special effects in a movie to convey a deep sense of place. But the sounds here aren’t random so much as idiosyncratic bits of music like horns, crystalline synth glimmering in the background, whooshes of harmonic white noise, ethereal string lines and the ever present bass line and clipped guitar like something from a Bossa Nova band guesting on a jazz record. It all adds up to contribute to this ever so slightly psychedelic song about being caught between contradictory impulses and not knowing how to reconciling them and settling into not making that choice and being comfortable in being a little restless. Listen to “Sleep It Back” on YouTube and follow New Wolves at the links provided. Look for the debut New Wolves album out Summer 2026.

New Wolves on Twitter

New Wolves on Facebook

New Wolves on TikTok

New Wolves on Instagram

Dream Pop Single “moonlight” by sydastry and Its Warmly Ethereal Melodies Brings Clarity to Uncomfortable Thoughts

An early morning, dreamlike energy courses through sydastry’s “moonlight.” The songwriter’s vocal style shifts easily from singing to more spoken word passages to suit the moment as the song progresses. It seems as though the more spoken sections represent reflecting in expository fashion and the singing more in the moment and being in the present tense. The music is melodic and ethereal, breezy, luminous and gentle whether in forward motion or lingering on a feeling. It’s the kind of pop song without standard arrangement or structure that has a seemingly intuitive flow of rhythm and tonal flourishes that invites one into its own entrancing logic. It’s like a song that should have been in a Satoshi Kon film that was never made, imbued with a comforting mood as it lays out uncomfortable subjects in a manner that make them seem more explicable. Listen to “moonlight” on Bandcamp and follow Dallas-Fort Worth/based artist sydastry at the link below.

sydastry.com

Pullman’s “Bray” is a Cinematic, Uplifting and Gently Urgent Flow of Invigorating Tonal Textures

Pullman released its new album III via Western Vinyl on January 9, 2026 (vinyl, digital download, streaming). The group comprised of Ken Brown (Tortoise/Directions in Music), Curtis Harvey (Rex), Chris Brokaw (Come/Codeine), Doug McCombs (Tortoise/Eleventh Dream Day) and Tim Barnes released albums in the late 90s and early 2000s before going on extended hiatus. The new record is the result of a collaboration that ran from 2016-2023 continuing after Barnes’ public announcement of his Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2021. The completed album is a development of the group’s signature cinematic sound. The single “Bray” and its collage of footage from nature including plants and geological formations has a hazy and uplifting aesthetic that is visceral in its washing through your brain with its rapid and distorted shimmer. Rhythmic lines linger and outline where the higher pitch tones flow freely and with an energetic inner urgency for a mixed dynamic that generates a sense of well-being. Watch the video for “Bray” on YouTube and follow Pullman at the links below.

Pullman on Bandcamp

Western Vinyl on Facebook

Western Vinyl on Instagram

Silver Liz’s Trip-Hop Glitch Pop Single “Trixie’s Crying” is an Affectionate and Playful Song About Helping to Uplift a Struggling Friend

Silver Liz’s third album appropriate titled III comes out January 30, 2026 (very limited edition vinyl, digital download and streaming) and its string of singles so far point toward an entrancing and genre-blurring listen. “Trixie’s Crying” has a melodic bass line akin to something from The Cure but forward is a panoply of bright tones, shimmering and warping guitar washes and Carrie Wagner’s vocals processed slightly to enhance an ethereal and effervescent quality to suit a song about someone trying her best to help a friend struggling with whatever existential and persistent emotional woes that plague her. The music video with the flickering, almost stop-motion 16-bit visuals of a cat frolicking behind the lyrics captures the affectionate, playful and uplifting mood of the song. Stylistically it traverses trip-hop, dream pop and glitch and for those tuned in might hit a little like later era Curve with a touch of Cocteau Twins circa Heaven or Las Vegas. Watch the video for “Trixie’s Crying” on YouTube and connect with Silver Liz at the links below.

Silver Liz on Facebook

Silver Liz on Instagram

Silver Liz on Bandcamp

La LEURENTOP’s Percussion-Driven Avant-Pop Single “The Darkness” is a Song About Embracing the Shadow Side of Ourselves to Come Into Our True Bloom

La LEURENTOP uses a spare, tribal drum pattern to establish a rooted rhythm for “The Darkness.” The song feels and sounds like a personal ritual, a repeating yet generative narrative exploring the parts of our lives that may seem like a mystery, elusive to us when we’re caught up in what we have come to accept as our lives and perhaps our identities yet knowing there’s more possible to us if we’re willing to connect with the parts of ourselves we’ve been denying. When the doubled vocals come in and the acoustic guitar and other percussion the song almost seems to remind us that we’re not alone in trying to expand our personal horizons and that we’re not the only ones. What genre is this? That seems irrelevant to enjoying and garnering benefit from taking in this song that also expands what a pop song can be, what a folk song can be, what an “indie” song can sound like. Listen to “The Darkness” on Spotify and follow La LEURENTOP at the links below.