Some Early-in-the-Year Stuff from The Double Negatives, Toy Cars, and Hot Blood

Kiley croons the bad news.

NJ Pals

It's been kinda slow going around here lately. January 19th seems to be the big 2018 kick-off for releases; and the bitter cold we've been experiencing locally (along with two snow days for the cooldaughters) has sent me into a kind of stasis, I think. That's all ok because we've got a big week ahead.

Here are some new things coming out of the frozen Garden State for you to check out as we start kicking things into high gear around here.

The Double Negatives, "My Sun Is Setting" / "Commas"

This Belmar-based five-piece kicked off 2018 with the release of "My Sun Is Setting" / "Commas." The singles showcase The Double Negatives' hard to pin down style. "My Sun Is Setting" is a pretty straightforward, indie / garage rocker in the vein of something like Arctic Monkeys; while "Commas" veers off into some jammier, spacier directions.

You can see The Double Negatives this Thursday, January 11th, at The Saint when they kick off the annual Light of Day festival. They'll be on a bill that includes a host of Asbury-area bands including our good friends, Dentist.



Toy Cars, "Iron Me Out"

Toy Cars will be bucking this year's trend. They'll be coming in a week ahead of everyone else when they release Paint Brain this Friday, January 12th. Last week, the band shared "Iron Me Out" off of that record.

I've always had a hard time classifying Toy Cars' sound. There are elements of NJ-bred emo or pop-punk, I guess. Mostly, though, the sound serves the subject matter at hand. "Iron Me Out" effectively builds tension throughout as it deals with the consequences of keeping thoughts and feelings bottled up inside.

Toy Cars celebrate the release of Paint Brain on Friday, January 19th, at Asbury Park's House of Independents. Joining them for that one will be Halogens, Well Wisher, DRMCTHR, and latewaves.



Hot Blood, "Nuclear Summer"

We've got a loose cannon in the White House engaging in a Twitter war with the head of a rogue state who happens to be in possession of nuclear weapons. What could possibly go wrong?

Leave it to our friends in Hot Blood to tackle the issues of the day head-on. Today, the band released the first single off of their upcoming Fear of a Unified Public LP in the form of a video for "Nuclear Summer." The song is to-the-point as Kiley tells it like it is, gently breaking the news that, "We're all going to die," as is his way.