Column by Sam Cohen

Hey! Sam here, dropping in with the summer volume of College Radio Roundup. Although most student shows are off the air over the summer, new music keeps rolling in, and it’s my duty to keep everyone looped in. So, let me catch you up on all the crisp records charting at college radio. 

Before the summer slate steals our attention, let’s celebrate some of spring’s finest. Spring welcomed debuts from WRSU’s freshest fixations: Touch Girl Apple Blossom, Quiet Light, and Friko. The last is featured on my favorite spring release, Red Xerox, a compilation of Chicago’s ballooning indie rock scene. Compiled by Eli Schmitt of TV Buddha, the collection includes Horsegirl, Sharp Pins, and Post Office Winter, among others. Red Xerox captures the spirit of Chicago’s youth in 10 songs and is an essential record in the splintering lineage of all things indie.

I spun tracks from Red Xerox on my show Slanted and Enchanted Radio throughout the bulk of the spring semester. I let the New Jersey weather dictate the set’s mood, but since NJ couldn’t decide on a consistent spring day, I played something for everyone. Albums that push the boundaries set by traditional college radio expectations find a home during the spring. Arthur Russell, Thee Hypnotics, Spacemen 3, and Donnie & Joe Emerson packed my setlists on both scalding and multi-layer days. As Sufjan Stevens said, and reinterpreted by MJ Lenderman, “All things go.”

Today, let’s dip into some jangle pop from Austin, Texas, ‘80s Detroit garage, and look forward to new summer albums. Enjoy the discovery, and give this playlist a listen!

New Music We Can’t Get Enough Of

The first time I heard the name “Touch Girl Apple Blossom,” I was a bit overwhelmed. My first thought was, “How do you fit this on a t-shirt?” My next was, “With a name that zany, the music must be good.” Now that the Austin band’s debut is out, it’s clear the latter presupposition is true, [and yes, the name looks great on a tee as well]. Austin’s Touch Girl Apple Blossom’s Graceful is the summer after senior year of high school – not lacking in breezy drives to the record store, but overdosing from the anxiety of the real world. “Vacation” captures the group’s sound best; however, “The Springtime Reminds Me Of…” is the track to remember. Graceful is a true spring album, but I won’t let it out of my rotation this summer.

Staying in the booming Austin indie scene, another album WRSU is loving is Quiet Light’s Blue Angel Sparkling Silver 2. Since 2023, Riya Mahesh has churned out six albums, and the newest venture transcends the elevated expectations she’s set for herself. Ecstatic and punchy, Mahesh blends ambient and euphoric rock for a cohesive run of college radio bangers. Whenever in need of a track to heighten my indie segment, I turn to Quiet Light. On BASS 2, Mahesh deepens her production expertise, allowing her vocals to conquer, meshing into a serene summer mix.

Of all spring’s new releases, none I anticipated more than Friko’s Something Worth Waiting For. “Get Numb To It!” off their 2024 debut was a true high school anthem for me, and the new record matures in ways some sophomore releases don’t. Produced by John Congelton (Alvvays, Courtney Barnett), Friko is still angsty and defiant, but a bit neater around the edges. Their grit is at the forefront; however, it doesn’t burden the frenetic playing by guitarists Korgan Robb and Niko Kapetan. Friko was one of the first bands to establish this new Chicago scene, and SWWF is another triumph in the Red Xerox-christened Chicago Youth Beat empire.

Diggin’ The Library For College Radio Classics

I love it when a cover tells me the music is good. Plenty of classic records do this, like The Dark Side Of The Moon and Blood On The Tracks, but it’s a special feeling to get sucked in by a cover before the music. Occasionally, I’ll pull a jarring and intriguing cover with awful music or an album whose cover disguises its direction, but usually, ball doesn’t lie. The more music you filter through, the easier it becomes to identify these records. This can be done to some extent on streaming services, but the practice is best performed on vinyl. To me, it’s the only way. 

Records that tie their visuals back to their sound thrive. The Gories’ Houserockin’ is one of those albums. Detroit garage in its most murky form, the Gories’ debut LP mixes the skittishness of The Cramps with the ferocity of early Iggy Pop. A dark, Sonics-like riff breaks the seal on track one, “Feral,” as Mick Collins (lead vocals) rasps through semi-coherent verses, punctuated by occasional growls. While garage rock never received the mainstream flowers it deserved, The Gories embrace the ‘60s garage chronicles for a savage collection of blistered tracks. 

A lighter, purer form of the Gories, looks like Mod Fun and their record Dorothy’s Dream. Mod Fun’s brand of garage, persuaded by psychedelia and power pop, is a perfect fit for mixes with Big Star, The Zombies, Badfinger, and the Jam. The opening track “I Fell” is as 60s as an 80s cut gets. If George Martin heard “I Fell” in the early Beatles years, he would have pitched it to the Fab Four, promising it’d be their next hit. Dorothy’s Dream arrived a decade after power pop’s initial hold on rock & roll and serves as a celebration of the awkward phase in 80s rock when bands didn’t know what subgenre to venture into next.

Wrap Up & Rewind

School’s out for summer, and so is my radio show, but that means more time to find new music. Recent releases on my radar include Kurt Vile’s Philadelphia’s been good to me, ear’s rumspringa, and Greg Mendez’s Beauty Land. This summer, I’ll be tuned in for The Strokes’ first album in six years, the new Channel Beads record, and new music from Steve Lacy.

During summer, it’s easy to fall back on nostalgic tunes; however, challenge yourself to listen to something new every day. Pick an unfamiliar album and listen to it all the way through without distraction. Go to your local independent record store and ask a clerk for a recommendation. Go to a concert simply for the opener. There’s too much new music to only pay attention to what you already know.