Daily Yinz – Short Fictions – To Leave Forever or Die Alone in South Oakland

Short Fictions recently released their Lauren Records debut, Every Moment of Every Day. Where the group's last album wended its way toward climate catastrophe, this one takes a direct route to depressed pop euphoria. When I first moved to Pittsburgh, I lived in an overpriced one-bedroom in South Oakland, a few blocks off Forbes Ave. … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Short Fictions – To Leave Forever or Die Alone in South Oakland →

Daily Yinz – Short Fictions – Don’t Start A Band

Newly signed to SoCal's Lauren Records, Short Fictions return with a tale about the perils of being Short Fictions. "Don't Start A Band" forgoes the twinkling complexity and climate doomsaying of 2019's Fates Worse Than Death in favor of chunky power chords, self-deprecation, and hooks, glorious hooks. Not content to simply lasso the ears with … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Short Fictions – Don’t Start A Band →

Daily Yinz – Scratchy Blanket – Bloom

Scratchy Blanket, a quintet that specializes in emotive indie rock, recently released an affecting single and video called "Bloom." The song, which guitarist Harrison Thurman describes as "taking inspiration from punk stalwarts Tigers Jaw and local heroes Adventures," is a clear-eyed look at a relationship that seems to have run its course. Singer Shannon Keating, … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Scratchy Blanket – Bloom →

Daily Yinz – A Kid Called Gauwd – She Loves Me Not

The hip-hop duo returns with "She Loves Me Not," a track that adopts the signature sounds of mid-2000s pop-punk. The first thing you'll notice about "She Loves Me Not" is Ase Snefru's pitch-perfect mock British accent, the sneering dialect popularized 15-20 years ago by every Cali dude with a guitar and skinny jeans. Each "I" … Continue reading Daily Yinz – A Kid Called Gauwd – She Loves Me Not →

The Mr. Roboto Project Benefit Compilation Vol. 3

The Don't Let The Scene Go Down On Me! collective has organized another benefit album to support the one and only Mr. Roboto Project, one of Pittsburgh's most indispensable DIY venues. COVID-19 is still happening even if some people ignore it, and who knows when we'll be able to have the full live music experience … Continue reading The Mr. Roboto Project Benefit Compilation Vol. 3 →

Daily Yinz – Portrait People – Hallow

Portrait People, an emo act affiliated with the Pittsburgh-area Earthwalk Collective (which also includes String Machine and Lem), follows 2017's Hollow EP with a full-length called Hallow. The album is chock full of the type of ambling guitar arpeggios and winding rhythms that you might hear in a midwest emo ballad, but Portrait People separate … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Portrait People – Hallow →

Daily Yinz – The Hazel Effect – White Gold Trim

The Hazel Effect is a Pittsburgh-based solo project that blends trap's rattling low end with pop-punk's scorched-earth angst. "White Gold Trim," a single that The Hazel Effect dropped a few weeks back, is a worthy entry in a doleful cannon known for zonked-out, digitized melodrama expressed by various dudes named Lil (Peep, Uzi Vert, Lotus), … Continue reading Daily Yinz – The Hazel Effect – White Gold Trim →

Daily Yinz – Scratchy Blanket – On Top

Scratchy Blanket is a Pittsburgh emo-adjacent band that describes its "kind and polite indie rock" as "the musical equivalent of the phrase 'If it's ok with you'." The group's upcoming debut album, Something For Everyone, is due out on Leap Day, which makes its release a true once-in-a-quadrennial event, as the common phrase goes. "On … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Scratchy Blanket – On Top →

Daily Yinz-Short Fictions-Really Like You

Short Fictions are a Pittsburgh band whose sound draws from Midwest emo's signature blend of musical complexity and heart-on-the-sleeve sensitivity. "Really Like You" is the first single released from Short Fictions' upcoming album, Fates Worse Than Death, due out in mid-December. The track brims with feelings both wholesome and anguished; schoolboy crush sentiments like, "I … Continue reading Daily Yinz-Short Fictions-Really Like You →

Daily Yinz-Frame and Mantle-Empty

Frame and Mantle are a Pittsburgh quintet whose music fuses the raw, heart-on-the-sleeve sensibility of emo with the cinematic peaks and valleys of post-rock. "Empty," the first single released from Frame and Mantle's upcoming album Lost Under Nighttime Sky, opens with churning guitar and stately drums before building to a skyscraping crescendo of arpeggiated chords … Continue reading Daily Yinz-Frame and Mantle-Empty →