Photo courtesy Trick Gum

L.A. duo Trick Gum is the work of producer Justin Raisen (Charlie XCX, Angel Olsen, Yves Tumor) and Jordan Benik of cult LA band Sweaters, and their debut single, “Hot Rifle,” sends out a strong current of left-field 90s indie pop quirk.

The new track marries tasty acoustic drums to a loping, charmingly clumsy fuzz bass, jaunty rhythm guitar touches, and gravely bass vocals. They show some real muscle in the chorus, with lines like “I am cheap perfume/I’m your prince of doom/Come get and eyeful/Of my hot rifle,” but overall the vibe is of two buddies horsing around, while still showing off their considerable skills in the studio.

The band says “‘Hot Rifle’ is about being pushed to the edge and losing your faith in societal norms, the moment you give up on the rules and consider stealing a very large amount of money, and the peace that dwells within you in this moment, freed from the constraints of principle… in other words, a summer jam.”

If only pondering grand larceny had a soundtrack a catchy as this. Gabe Hernandez

Photo: Joseph McMurray

LA artist Jonny Kosmo has built a dedicated following fusing immaculately-produced 70’s-vintage funk/soul tunes with an at-times truly surreal visual sense that evokes contemporaries Unknown Mortal Orchestra, albeit with a seemingly more playful and innocent heart. But with his latest video, “Fool,” which also serves as a preview for his upcoming album, “Pastry” (out June 4th on Feeding Tube Records in the States), he’s upped his game on both fronts. 

The track itself is a warm, pleasantly viscous slab of gently psychedelic slow-funk steeped in 70s Stevie Wonder-era synths, shimmering tremoloed guitars with occasional wah-wah lead flourishes, a bass line as thick as hash oil, and soulfully gauzy close-mic’d vocals.  

The accompanying video, however, left us questioning our sanity in the best way. Set in a hilly beige meadow that could’ve served as a Windows ’95 desktop background, Kosmo sings the title track while intently at work with a metal detector. He ends up crossing paths with an unusual new friend, and the dance party ensues. It’s simultaneously hilarious and unsettling, another example of the David Lynch-lite vibe that is quickly becoming a Jonny Kosmo signature. Gabe Hernandez

Photo Credit: Basil Vargas 

Lionel Deguzman, the singer/songwriter mastermind behind Lionel Boy, hails from Hawaii, one of the chillest places on Earth. Clearly the laid-back island vibe stuck with him, even after his move to his current home base of Long Beach several years back, as the first single from his self-titled debut album (Out May 14th on Innovative Leisure) demonstrates. 

“Mango Michelada” delivers a satisfyingly chilled-out, mildly psychedelic downtempo groove, with a minimal but assured beat draped by gauzy synth pads, while the breezy male/female “call and response” vocals amp up the sense of absolute cool. Overall, the impression is of a track that falls somewhere with within rap, RnB, ambient and psychedelic music all at once. 

Lyrically, the track is a softly stream-of-consciousness recollection of a past love that ended in betrayal. “All my life I’m fuckin’ with savages/looking for love in the wrong places,” sings the female vocalist, at first by herself with only the synths framing her. When Lionel Boy joins in to double her, just as the full arrangement returns, it’s a genuinely relatable moment of emotion that make us eager to hear what Lionel Boy has in store for us with his coming debut. Gabe Hernandez

More signs the light is at the end of the tunnel for the pandemic comes in the form of “Barbara Ann,” the sprightly, confident, but also wistful lead-off track from LA indie rock artist Rosie Tucker. 

Beginning tentatively with crystalline guitar arpeggios over a bed of soft static and guitar line noise, the track quickly blooms into a melodic brew of pleasingly crunchy rhythm guitars, sweetly endearing alto lead vocals, and breezy but half-jaded “oohs” and “ahhs,” joined later by a subtly humming, retro monosynth line. 

It’s a proper “75 and sunny” highway driving track, but its energetic sound puts a polished sheen to an simultaneously earnest and jaded lyric, with the narrator addressing the titular Barbara Ann with lines like “the life you chose that sent you reeling/How did it go? How was it,” while also reassuring Barbara by mentioning that “with a Louisville Slugger/Under your side of the bed/No one’s gonna hurt you now.” It’s a delicate balancing act, mixing hurt with hope, but Rosie Tucker pulls it off nimbly. Gabe Hernandez

RIYL: Soccer Mommy, Phoebe Bridgers, Alvvays

BONUS: Check out the lyric video for “Barbara Ann” on YouTube below (courtesy Rosie Tucker)

“Dazed by the simple things,” sings Shahana Jaffer towards the end of “Dazed,” the buoyant and shimmery new single by Los Angeles indie duo Junaco. We’re inclined to agree.

Junaco (consisting of both Jaffer and Joey LaRosa) embody the philosophy of “less is more” on the new track. It’s hard not to indulge in the atmospheric bed of chorused guitar strums; the warm, punchy percussion; the buttery, muted fuzz guitar lines that flit in and out of the mix like June bugs and, lilting above it all, Jaffer’s breathy and confident vocals, offering a measured dose of melancholy to softly patina the otherwise glittering sounds on display. Gabe Hernandez

BONUS: Enjoy a live performance of "Dazed" below (via the Junaco YouTube page)