Staff Picks

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  Exclaim!'s Staff Picks: illuminati hotties' "Truck" Is a Sugar-Sweet Road Song

  PUBLISHED Jul 26, 2023

  My favourite illuminati hotties mode is freaky, when singer Sarah Tudzin cuts loose with unhinged yelps and skronky riffs. The new single "...

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  Exclaim!'s Staff Picks: Lost Girls Leave Their Bodies Behind on "Ruins"

  PUBLISHED Jul 25, 2023

  "Bodies are stupid / Bodies are dumb," Jenny Hval sings at the climax of "Ruins," the first new song since 2021 from Lost Girls, her collab...

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  Exclaim!'s Staff Picks: Teo and WESTSIDE BOOGIE Take Flight on "Wings"

  PUBLISHED Jul 24, 2023

  Sacramento up-and-comer Teo and L.A. heavyweight WESTSIDE BOOGIE have been drinking their Red Bull. The duo take flight on their new single...

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  Exclaim!'s Staff Picks: Will Butler + Sister Squares' "Long Grass" Is a Summery Nostalgia Bomb

  PUBLISHED Jul 21, 2023

  It's been just over a year since Will Butler announced his leaving Arcade Fire. Since that, Butler's teamed up with Sister Squares — sister...

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  ​Exclaim!'s Staff Picks: emmersonHALL's Self-titled Debut Finds Him Smack Dab in the Middle of the Mess

  PUBLISHED Jul 21, 2023

  There's a creaking, buzzing sense of homespun familiarity to the debut from emmersonHALL, the alt-folk project from Ottawa (by way of Linds...

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  Exclaim!'s Staff Picks: ​Laurence Guy's 'Living Like There's No Tomorrow, But Killing Yourself in the Process' Captures the Sound of Experience

  PUBLISHED Jul 19, 2023

  Laurence Guy's productions have long tread the line between electronic ecstasy and the post-club comedown, and that dichotomy of feeling is...

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  Exclaim!'s Staff Picks: the Drums Continue to Outstrip Their Peers on "Better"

  PUBLISHED Jul 18, 2023

  Of all the blog buzz bands that I loved in 2009, the Drums have remained far more successful than nearly any of their peers, with monthly S...

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  Exclaim!'s Staff Picks:​ Jahkoy Swaggers Through the Flame on "Man on Fire"

  PUBLISHED Jul 17, 2023

  After dabbling in Caribbean grooves and melodies on his February album Healing Phase, Jahkoy settles firmly back into the R&B swagger that...