Spencer Griffin's New Music Mondays

 here they are: "Downstairs" by Matt Maeson:  Matt Maeson's work is usually guitar-oriented, but it often goes more towards folk-rock than it does electric guitar-based material. This is what makes his latest song, "Downstairs," stand out from his other material! The song starts out with just Matt's vocals and the electric guitar by themselves before it crescendoes to full-band instrumentation during the chorus. The title seems to be metaphorical, too, suggesting an escape from the world when everything goes wrong. Although clearly rooted in an indie-pop sound, there's something almost post-grunge-y about how "Downstairs" is set up with its soft-but-about-to-break verses and more explosive (but still relatively calm) chorus. "Enough" by Jeff Tweedy (Wilco):  In this midtempo folk/country-rock tune, Wilco's lead singer poses a tough question at the very start of this song: "Has it ever been enough? Has it ever been OK?" T...

 here they are: "Catch These Fists" by Wet Leg:  One of the most uniquely catchy songs of the 2020's so far has been Wet Leg's "Chaise Longue," which combined the dry, monotone delivery of Cake with buzzing post-punk inspired guitar and bass riffs! This formula for success is replicated in Wet Leg's latest song, "Catch These Fists," though there's more apparent edginess there than there was in "Chaise Longue." The title alone of "Catch These Fists" makes it sound somewhat aggressive, and its delivery comes off as such, though not without melodic undertones and catchy hooks to balance it out.  "Get it at Home" by Saint Motel:  Saint Motel are another band who seems to have a specific formula to their success. Their upbeat disco-meets-alt-pop vibes worked twice in the mid 2010's with "My Type" and "Move." Now, into the mid 2020's, we get "Get it at Home," which also puts disc...

 here they are: "Angelica" by Wet Leg: Anyone who grew up during the '90s like I did probably thinks of the manipulative, pint-sized villainess from Rugrats  when they hear the name "Angelica," but I assure you that Nickelodeon was not on Wet Leg's mind when they did this song! The song is instead about an old friend of the lead singer. The song's Angelica is a villainess in her own right, but not one who picks on babies. This Angelica, instead, is one who wants to party all the time. Why is that bad, you may ask? Well, in this case, it's because the lead singer of Wet Leg didn't really want to be around someone like that. The song is basically a "diss track," but its bright, sunny, catchy sound hides that pretty well. "Character Development" by Allison Ponthier: "Character Development" sounds more like the name of a college course than it does a song title, yet here it is! The title refers to Allison herself and how...