GOOD LISTENER

Five ways to rock out this weekend.

Ronnie Spector - "Ode to L.A."
In the ’60s, female pop singers generally had sugary voices. But Spector always stood apart from the pack with her smokey, loud-and-proud croon, which bounced effortlessly off the Wall of Sound that threatened to envelope it. Now, 45 (or so) years after the Ronette's "Be My Baby," the former frontwoman—collaborating on this throwback with the Raveonette's Sune Rose Wagner—reminds us just how singular her aural power remains.

Sunset - "Sunshine Hair"
Whisper-quiet vocals. Rolling, folkie guitars. Lyrics about nature. The Austin-based band manages to summon the filmic calm of Simon & Garfunkel, minus the white-man ’fro.

Thomas Function - "Ew Way Ew"
Back in the day, before the gloom and doom, punk rock was about channeling your angst into positivity—or, in some cases, balls-out bliss. Such is the mission of Alabama's Thomas Function, whose jangly singalongs evoke the Buzzcocks in particular. Intones Josh Macero, a dead-ringer for Buzzcock's vocalist Pete Shelley: "Take me out of the dark and back into the light." Yup, this'll do the trick.

Yura Yura Teikoku - "Ohayo Mada Yaro"
Based on this song, these Japanese psych-rockers like gentle reverb and ethereal harmonies—you know, pretty much all things chill. Plus, they manage to work in a smooth-jazz saxophone without going all Kenny G on our asses. Respect.

Sherlock's Daughter - "Song for Old People"
There's not much out there on Sherlock's Daughter, but this we do know: They are from Sydney; their pop-inflected tribal chant clearly owes a debt to the MGMT/Animal Collective oeuvre; and as such, you shouldn't hold that (or their unfortunate name) against them.
NISHA GOPALAN



This story was published on November 13, 2009.