On Fridays, a staff member at the ugly hug curates a list of their five favorite new(ish) releases to share with us all. This week, our writer and guitar phenom, Chris, shares with us a list of distorted dancers, apocalyptic stunners and heartfelt folk tunes to take into the weekend.

“Ginger Peachy” by Cheap City 

“Ginger Peachy” is one of the tracks off of the Holyoke, MA band’s latest record, Blue Dancers, released in March. Cheap City has played a lot of shows with my band The Leafies You Gave Me over the years, so I’ve had the chance to see how they’ve grown as a band. 

This album is by far my personal favorite and showcases them at their best as they blend catchy punk melodies and lush arrangements with experimental noise rock. 

This song really captures the live performance spirit of Cheap City – a post-hardcore punk band with dancey riffs that throws you headfirst into the mosh pit with equal parts anxiety and blissful catharsis. 

“Your busted heart just spent all night screaming at the moon/ In her reflection against the water against an overcast sky/ In the disappearing memory of the twinkling of an eye,” keyboardist and singer Clover Nahabedian belts with emotional energy that conveys a feeling of heartache mixed with longing. It never fails to draw me back to similar feelings I’ve had over the years.

“Devotion” by Daniel Ouellette

Daniel Ouellette is another artist that I’ve shared a bill with in the past. His music draws from a myriad of sounds – electro/ techno pop, gothy new wave, and new age/ world music. What immediately stands out about him is his iconically deep, intimate and resonant voice paired with synth pop beats that are absolute bops. 

Ouellette is a multi-linguistic tour de force and sings in English, French, and Spanish on “Devotion” off his July release Otherworld (When the wolfbane blooms). This song encapsulates all the best of his 80s new wave and electro-pop influences; with shimmering synths parts and a groove-based beat that’s pure pop joy. 

“Would you like to have a candlelight supper?/ Would you like a bottle of champagne?/ Is there a devil kind enough to bring you apples?/ Shan’t you learn when it’s time to scream?” 

There’s a romantic sensibility that’s paired with a tongue in cheek fey-like playfulness to Ouellette’s music. You can find that among the many classic horror movie references in his songs that shows his love for all things campy and cult.

“Radiate a Smile” by David Keenan

David Keenan is an Irish singer-songwriter that I’ve been following over the years and his latest July release “Radiate a Smile” is a song that cuts through cynicism and annihilates nihilistic thoughts.

Keenan is an indie folk songwriter with a clear vision – a poet who speaks about the world around him. Characters are drawn from everyday life; it’s the people next door or who you meet by chance walking down the street. There’s a clear line that traces Keenan’s work back to literary giants such as James Joyce or Dylan Thomas. 

On “Radiate a Smile,” Keenan presents a sprawling narrative on the song’s verses, capturing stream of consciousness, thoughts and imagery of the here and now: “Larry is heavy handed and gets in your space/ A space invader who’s deaf in one ear/ Scudders is still skulling bags Galahad/ oh, I wish I Galahadn’t last night.” 

This song is all about living in the moment; all our thoughts, emotions, the people around us (for good or ill) are never static and always fleeting. It’s a good reminder that we’re all going to die someday, so it’s best to find the love and reason for being.

“Radiate a smile cuz we’re only here for a short while and I don’t want to miss a day because I’m missing you.”

“Runaway” by Hannah Mohan

Hannah Mohan (And the Kids) has always had a brilliant mind for melody and capturing emotions in her songs that resonate with listeners. That was clear when I first heard her more than a decade ago at underground venues such as a Western Massachusetts VFW hall and a pop-up DIY festival in the woods in Ithaca, NY called Sweater Vest Sweater Fest. 

She’s come a long way since then – releasing three albums as the front person with indie pop band And the Kids. But in 2020, And the Kids ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while Mohan also started picking up the pieces from a breakup the year prior. 

What emerged from this tumultuous period in her life is Mohan’s debut album as a solo artist “Time Is A Walnut,” which was produced by Alex Toth (Rubblebucket and Tōth). 

“Runaway” exemplifies the core of Mohan’s songwriting: an emotionally complex breakup song that’s uplifting as it examines the contradictions of loving and hating someone in the same breath. “You screwed my world/ And then you put it back together/ Now I have to thank you.” 

With its lush production, droney synths, breathy backing vocals, punchy percussion, soaring lead vocals, and even a penny whistle, “Runaway” strikes me as a song that cares as much about its pop hooks as it does about its lyrical/emotional impact.

“The Feminine Urge” by The Last Dinner Party

A lot has already been said about The Last Dinner Party – by music writers far more eloquent than I – after the band took the music world by storm earlier this year with their debut album “Prelude to Ecstasy.” 

For myself, the UK-based musical ensemble The Last Dinner Party is where all the right elements come together perfectly. There’s expressive and emotional lead vocals and harmonies, a tightly-knit and creative attention to detail in their production/ arrangements, brilliant pop hooks, and lyrics that linger in the mind; begging for repeated listens. 

With “The Feminine Urge,” the band’s blend of glam rock, progressive/ baroque pop, and post-punk take the song to grandiose heights. This is a rock anthem on par with the likes of Kate Bush or David Bowie. 

“I am the dark red liver stretched out on a rock/ All the poison I convert it and turn it to love/ Here comes the feminine urge I know it so well/ To nurture the wounds my mother held.” Those are lyrics that cut through the bone, driving right to the heart of the band’s ethos of empowering femininity.

Written by Chris Goudreau