Spencer Griffin's New Music Mondays

 here they are: "Arizona" by Palmyra:  Named after a song by fellow indie-country-rock group, Houndmouth, Palmyra's "Arizona" has a similar vibe to the band whose song they were named after! Arizona itself often gives one images of dry desert land and vast canyon mountains, and the song "Arizona"'s traveling-down-the-highway country-rock vibes go right in line with the state it's named after. The town of Sedona, Arizona, is mentioned in the song's first verse, and that might be a subtle nod to the title of Houndmouth's most popular song. What separates Palmyra from Houndmouth is how Palmyra has an openly neurodivergent member. Guitarist and mandolinist Sasha Landon is bipolar, and they have written about it in at least one song of theirs. I look forward to reviewing that song if I ever get the chance to! "Back to Friends" by sombr:  New Yorker Shane Boose, better known as Sombr, might only be 19 years old, but he has the wisdo...

 here they are: "Ankles" by Lucy Dacus:  Lucy Dacus has tried her hand at all sorts of areas of indie, ranging from indie-pop to indie-folk to some power pop, but I've never heard her attempt the "chamber pop" sound until now, and she's good at it! There are orchestral instruments in this song such as cello and what sounds like a harpsichord that can't be easily found in her other material, which makes it stand out from her other stuff. Equally remarkable is her video for the song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcW_-uxy6dQ) which takes place at a museum (with Lucy as the painting) and stars another LGTBQ Lucy, Lucy Liu, as the curator. Anything to help out diverse communities during a time when the world just doesn't seem as open-minded as it used to be! "Bovine Excision" by Samia:  For a song with such a weird title, Samia's "Bovine Excision" has a surprisingly chill indie-folk sound (with gradual electro-pop elements added...