From gritty alt-rock to theatrical anthems, these LITM Rock Picks span a wide emotional spectrum, each offering a distinct mood. Featuring The Thundercracks, A Farewell Device, Alex Wellkers and more!
1. The Thundercracks – Thundercracker
From its very first electric riffs, Thundercracker bursts into your ears with confidence and infectious energy that’s hard to ignore. The vocals are front-and-center for good reason: clear and expressive, they give the song its core, while still retaining artful restraint. Thundercracker’s chorus is the star of the show with an almost anthem-like quality, just begging to be sung along to. Supporting it all is a rock-solid rhythm, with the drums doing a great job of retaining momentum through the song, and the clarity in the mix allows every layer to breathe. All in all, the track feels effortless yet tight, easy yet intentional, and it’s this balance that makes it worth a listen.
2. A Farewell Device – Help to Lie
Help to Lie doesn’t hide behind layers of overproduction. It’s earnest, raw, and direct – you can easily envision yourself sitting on the floor as Justin Vanegas of A Farewell Device sings to an intimate gathering. The track builds slowly with a clear structure, and when it goes all out, the release is just all the more satisfying. Despite (or maybe due to) its sincerity, Vanegas knows when to hold back: around the 2-minute mark, the track is stripped down to its bare bones. A whisper, quiet strumming, where the lyrics speak directly to you, immediately followed by a grand, almost flamboyant swell in energy. It’s the kind of song you’d listen to on an evening commute while the sun sets – comforting and cathartic, its quiet vulnerability earning every bit of your attention.
3. Alex Wellkers – The Key
Alex Wellkers’ The Key is a gritty, rough alt-rock track that wears its heart on its sleeve. The first 20 seconds or so of strumming almost lull you into calm before the lively drums and guitar barge in, demanding your attention and damn well holding it. Raw and authentic, Wellkers’ charged and impactful vocal delivery drives the point home: there is no polish for the sake of it here. “Moderation is the key,” he belts out, and stays true to it – each layer of the track is powerful enough to overtake the rest, but the production cleverly places them such that they’re constantly pushing and pulling with each other. The Key strips alt-rock to its core, peeling and tearing the filters back until only unpretentious emotion remains.
4. Wired Euphoria – Laughter in The Dark
There’s an echo, a grain to the production of Laughter in The Dark that makes it feel less like a polished studio cut and more like a bootleg recording from an underground concert. Which makes sense, because this is a track you’d want to keep around. Wired Euphoria here is uninterested in refinement – Laughter in The Dark begins with what sounds like the band setting up, doing their soundchecks, uncaring of who’s listening. It has guts, command: the aggressive guitar-drum combo forces you to pay attention, demanding to be felt, yanking you from passive listening to complete focus; you’ll be glad you complied.
5. The Blake Robinson Synthetic Orchestra – And I Kill
And I Kill has all the makings of watching a villain’s entrance – shiny leather shoes making their way down a dimly lit road, a well-tailored suit, ominously happy humming… and then you notice the blood dripping from the knife in their hand. Blake Robinson of the eponymous Synthetic Orchestra has produced a track that’s theatrical, maniacal, and oh-so wickedly charming. The rasp in the vocal delivery gives And I Kill a twisted edge, like a psychotic grin after a gruesome murder. It’s not all darkness: there’s tenderness woven through the lyrics, if you look for it. You could be forgiven for thinking it’s sincere. But the drama soars again, and you’re reminded that the track wouldn’t be out of place in a murder mystery musical where you almost – just almost – start rooting for the bad guy. The track stages an entire scene in the suspension between comic and mad, and it knows you can’t look away.
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