Gritty and assertive, these LITM Rock Picks feature Tony Lio, Plain Drifter, Cael Anton, and more!
1. Tony Lio – Imperfect
Tony Lio carries you through crests and falls in tension and pace on Imperfect, a song that surprises you at every turn. Soft, breathy vocals form the core of the track, surrounded by drums that drive momentum forward and backing vocals that act like echoes, a reverberation of the main layer, adding a spectral, expansive mood to the whole track. Every element interacts with the others in a unique way that makes the song hard to box into a genre; it’s alternative, yes, but it also borrows so much of what makes grunge and dream-pop the genres they are. Rounding it all off toward the end is a gorgeous solo that’ll have you looping the track again and again – listen here!
2. Plain Drifter – Canine Reputation
Australia-based Plain Drifter’s Canine Reputation opens with gnarly guitar and relentless drums reminiscent of the best era of classic rock – the kind that makes you want to put your best headphones on and headbang along. At its core, this is a song about refusing to let your identity be constrained and influenced by anyone’s opinion; the idea of needing to stay true to yourself, even as people constantly try to box you into an ideal, is only reinforced by the excellent songwriting (with lines like “I’ve got a canine reputation / You’re guilty in their eyes once they catch your scent” serving as simultaneously warning and freeing). Listen here!
3. Cael Anton – This Is How My Story Goes
From its title alone, Cael Anton’s This Is How My Story Goes is assertive and unapologetic, and the rest of the song follows suit. It’s easy for songs with themes like this to become dark and heavy, but Cael Anton keeps things light with glossy synths and a beat that makes you want to dance under the golden sun, instead leaning into the idea of letting go, finding your way back home, and holding onto the light even when you’re walking down a lonely road. This Is How My Story Goes fuses beautiful retro touches with a contemporary feel, making this a song worth checking out!
4. Kodiak Bears – Come on England
Right in the midst of football season comes Kodiak Bears’ Come on England, a gritty anthem that channels the energy of supporting England through its ups and downs in the sport. It’s a song that sounds ready-made for chanting along to in a packed stadium – loud and proud about staying a fan even if it’s been “60 long years since we’ve won a World Cup”, with the conviction that “we can do it again if we want it enough.” Full of punk energy and urgency, Come on England is about the love of the game that comes with the team, and the love of the team regardless of the game. Check it out here!
5. Fake Perfection – Smile for the Algorithm
Social media is ever-evolving – from once being something people loved being on, to something we couldn’t get ourselves off of no matter how hard we tried, and now a villain in our stories of trying to be present and grounded in the real world, we’ve seen it all in just a span of a few years. A bold project, Fake Perfection aims to explore this: the outcome of two experienced songwriters who are releasing a song every month of 2026 with AI to see how the algorithm rewards them (or not). Their Smile for the Algorithm sits in this tension: what happens when you write a song denouncing the algorithm rewarding fakeness, then put it back into the same algorithm? Give it a listen here!
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