Soul Glo fuse hardcore and footwork on "February Theory" in weekly songs roundup

Soul Glo land among the highlights of Stereogum's weekly best new songs list with "February Theory," a track that welds hardcore to footwork. It opens with a wail of "Surrounded by death" and pushes forward through Pierce Jordan's increasingly corrosive delivery, a punchy chorus and laments about loss, before an unexpected breakdown drops thrashing guitars and gnawing bass into a bouncing rhythm.

Also featured are Heavy Lifter, the Oakland band behind "Backyard." They belong to the roster of Cherub Dreams, the Bay Area label that has spent the past year releasing scrappy indie rock projects including Tricky FM, starbelliedbug, towhead, Welcome Strawberry and Strawberry Panic. None are household names even underground, but the label's hit rate is high, and Heavy Lifter's take on '90s revival with a Gen Z sensibility lands like a basement show.

American Motors bring studied '90s noise-rock to the list, built on nasty riffs, silences that arrive when least expected and guitar stabs that ring out like sirens. Frontman Dustin White sings about a former one-horse town, delivering dry one-liners about decay over the band's lurching pace.

Rounding out the five are Sophia Stel, whose "I Do" balances club energy with melancholy and detachment, and The War On Drugs, back with their first song in four years. The track opens on synths and piano played by Spoon's Alex Fischel, with Adam Granduciel's voice craggier than before as guitars, keyboards and backing vocals swell in slow motion around him.