March 13, 2026 — Weekly Bullet Reviews
As always, some ground rules:
- These songs are listed in no particular order.
- Basically these blurbs are our rough first impressions of these tracks, so our reviews will be a lot more relaxed!
- Anything released from the past 3 weeks/month is eligible for a bullet review.
- Songs with new, recent music video releases will also be considered for a weekly bullet review.
Justin: Garage gargled indie rock equal parts off-kilter riffs and bright melodies with a splash of shoegaze. The intro is so grubby and cool sounding. FFO Jay Som, Soccer Mommy, Snail Mail.
Mya: Would kill to hear this live. I like the plinking notes that come in towards the end.
Li-Wei: Wonderfully jangly dream pop, the kind of sound that I’ve come to expect and love from Ruru. Mumbly and warm like a nostalgic reverie.
Justin: Heavy with a leaned back gravity. “sunbeam” has a soft, unforced affect that makes it extremely listenable and playlist compatible with a lot of tones. That bass undergirding bass synth is so playful and has so much personality. Realllllly stickyyyyy.
Mya: Fragrant, like perfume. The vocals are almost…ticklish to my ear? Not quite ASMR but something like it.
Li-Wei: I’m a big fan of Toronto-based vocalist Estyr’s work (one half of the newly formed duo LUCKY VARIETY), and “sunbeam” delivers with slick, lowkey R&B that feels perfect for a minute of solitude. TLO, the other half of the duo, delivers on making “sunbeam” a vibey song about growth.
Justin: An analog message in a bottle. A song that feels like a secret you’re just about to find out about. Delicate and intentional production allows this song to float around your ears like a little butterfly. The track dances to its own little heartbeat. Some of the falling off echo effects remind me of “Moonside” in Earthbound. Also, what a great performance from the kid in the music video. Love that spirit.
Mya: I really like those clicks. Has the feel of a claymation children’s program. The MV is very charming.
Li-Wei: Trance-like psych folk is the name of the game here, and doesn’t skimp on the trippy feeling. For just a few minutes, I’m able to enter a portal to a strange fantastical world, and I kind of wish I could stay there.
Justin: Somber, heart-shaking, piano ballad that makes me think about disappearing forever at the misted beach. Harrowingly stark lyrics in “It can never grow, if it’s never born. It can never escape, if it’s always been free.” My track of the week.
Mya: Mournful. Cold and crisp. I like the room tone here. It feels warm in contrast to the vocals.
Li-Wei: I just want to swim in the slowness of Ana Roxanne’s “Keepsake.” Dance music has kind of been the theme recently whenever I’m on the aux at the retail store I’m working at, and “Keepsake” is a gorgeous shelter from that chaos that keeps me grounded. I can’t wait for the upcoming album.
Underscores – “Tell Me (U Want It)”
Justin: underscores plays emotional cat and mouse on “Tell Me (U Want It) with effects coated vocals and dubstep crimped right onto your speakers. This poppy song lives on several digital wavelengths and filters, and totally metastasizes into something darker toward the end. Fascinating ideas presented.
Mya: Oh I want to dance to this….flighty and fragmented. A little manic. Scary towards the end there. Glitching out fades into a dying radio transmission.
Li-Wei: Underscores is making a bid for pop-girl status with their recent songs and collabs, and “Tell Me (U Want It)” follows that trajectory. The glitchy rumblings and the rapid unspooling at the end of the song really makes this an Underscores twist, but she seems like she’s ready for world domination. Expect to hear this blasting out at your favorite local cafe soon.
Justin: Yeek’s blowing up one of my favorite hidden gems in LA with this visualizer, so I wish there was a lot more guitar going on “Felt a Spark”. Didn’t quite feel it, but hearing Yeek embody a late summer vibe is very familiar and he’s still good at it.
Mya: On a second listen it’s kind of sultry…a good song for the heat wave.
Li-Wei: For some reason the first few notes reminded me of Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated” before I got hit Yeek’s raspy cascading flow. The lyrics are rife with TMZ-level drama, but it’s easy to overlook with the way Yeek raps “Miu Miu shades with the Cartier bracelet, in the Range Rover” with such authority.
Justin: Whoa there. This is a clock out and head to the club song for real. What a fucking chorus. A totally magnetic, reviving club banger. What do you mean “I need a rental for crying”??? I’m going to repeat “FILIPINOS ON THE GROUND” all year now.
Mya: That chorus!!! Enjoying ena mori’s signature frenetic sound.
Li-Wei: I don’t know who dressed Ena Mori up as Tanjiro in the music video for this, but maybe it’s at least partially due to a new era that brings in more club/dance influences into her music. I’ve never heard Ena Mori perform like this before, and it’s euphoric. Can I say that I’m already loving it? Hi 19 Underground, it’s nice to meet you!
Justin: I hear the Quiet Light profile is rising expeditiously. On “Berlin” I’m definitely swept in on the excitement for Riya Mahesh. It’s a little crazy how the electronics and the country crooning and the autotune and singing about trains fits so well together. How can you not be absorbed once those drums come in? Straight to the playlists, cool kids. FFO of Oklou and Romy.
Mya: Wavy. Up and down. The outro is so good, with Henry Solomon on the sax.
Li-Wei: No one quite puts music together quite like Quiet Light, and “Berlin” is a shining example of that. I don’t know many people who can pull off a gorgeous song with crazy pitch shifting, a pulsing note, and murmury lyrics with a Smerz aesthetic, but hey she’s done it. Longing has never sounded as beautiful as this.
Sabrina Song – “Moving Target”
Justin: Awwh I love a da rabbits. A glowering, evening sunset bop. Sabrina Song’s crispy vocals singing about never getting to catharsis feels perfect for bonfire hangs. If you really liked NIKI’s last album, you’ll love this one. I don’t like the imagery of flies in the AC though. Yuck.
Mya: “Moving Target” took me off guard. The lyrics are incredibly moving. “the only thing worse than trying is not getting better / the only thing worse than hope is where you are still.” For all of us treading water, I’m looking forward to the EP.
Li-Wei: “The only thing worse than time is wasted potential.” I didn’t expect to get personally attacked this early in the morning, Sabrina Song! As always, Song is an adept songwriter, and “Moving Target” is an indie pop kick in the butt for getting your shit together. As someone who is about to exit their late 20s and kind of floating around, I needed this. Thanks, Sabrina.
Justin: Incredible. Cumbia led by La Coreañera firing away on the accordion. Fits right in with the traditional cumbia staples. Catchy as hell. The adlibs of “La Coreañera” are hilarious. Great stage presence, concept, and humor. Totally in love.
Mya: So good. Blast it out of your car speakers good.
Li-Wei: We’re skipping out on SXSW this year due to some budgetary constraints, but if we were there, La Coreañera would’ve been one of the first acts that I would catch. I don’t know much about cumbia, but I do know that “Mariposas” makes me want to dance. Abigail Pak’s stage name is kind of tongue-in-cheek and presents her artistry like a novelty, but she’s much more than that. I’m interested to see where this goes.
Header photo taken from Go Kurosawa – “moon, please”.
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