Single Sentence Singles: August spotlights The Touchdowns, Shiner, and more local talent

Photo by Travis Young

We take a listen to the latest local singles to hit Soundcloud, Spotify, Bandcamp, et al, and sum them up in one sentence. Simple enough? Here we go.

Lee Walter Redding, “All My Text Messages Are Verification Codes” 

One of the singles from the new EP, Student Loan Forgiveness Program, this sees Redding once again work in lo-fi mode, with a weird guitar line, drum machine, and keyboards as he explores getting older and being on autopilot in a song which is as meditative as it is off-kilter and groovy.

The Touchdowns, “Paint the Roses” 

Ryan Magnuson brought back The Touchdowns last year with a pair of singles and in September, we’ll get a full-length entitled The Movie The Ride, wth “Paint the Roses” the first single from it and — as the the new lineup features Aaron Swenson (Podstar) on guitar and Nick Colby (Ultimate Fakebook) on bass — you can pretty much figure out what this sounds like before you even push play, but once you hear the power-pop come out of your speakers, you’re going to be so glad you did and that Magnuson is making music again.

The Touchdown’s The Movie The Ride is out digitally and on compact disc Wednesday, September 3, on Dumb Ghost Records.

Roger Ortega, “You Fit Like A Fantasy” 

When R&B/pop artist Roger Ortega returned to KC in 2022 after 23 years in New Jersey, it seemed like he was poised to do something big, but now he’s back after a three-year hiatus and the new track is catchy, even if it feels a little thin, meaning that you’ll want to play with your music player of choice’s bass and treble balances to get it really bumping.

joel vs joel, “gotta b in love” 

joel vs joel is the moniker of Joel Stratton, Kansas City-based multi-instrumentalist art rock/chamber pop/singer-songwriter, who also plays in Supermoto, Eggs on Mars, Daniel Gum, and other local acts, and this is the first single off his debut album, Smile in the Mirror—out August 19 as the first release from the new label Enigmatic Brunch Records—and goodness gracious while this is stellar, you are not prepared for how much you’re going to love the whole record.

joel vs joel’s Smile in the Mirror is out August 19 on limited-edition cassette or compact disc from Enigmatic Brunch Records.

The Casket Lottery, “Bell Penny” 

It’s been five years since the Casket Lottery’s last album, Short Songs For End Times, and if “Bell Penny” is any indication, Feel The Teeth will be worth the wait, because when you hear Nathan Ellis shout, “Fuck it!” and the band kicks in, you’re gonna lose your shit just as much as I did and get really impatient for the album’s August 29 release on Iodine Recordings, because this is perfect Midwest indie/post-hardcore/emo/whatever you wanna call it, it’s just good.

The Casket Lottery’s Feel the Teeth is out Tuesday, August 26 digitally and on vinyl from Iodine Recordings and the band plays recordBar with The Appleseed Cast and Flooding on Saturday, Agust 30. Details on that show here.

Chewy Soliloqui, “Allegations” 

Chew On This 2 arrived last month via Just Joking Art Records, and it’s four tracks of “raw, hypnotic alt-psych noise,” with “Allegations” being the first song and sees the band getting “louder, weirder, heavier” than before as this track goes from free-flowing psych-rock to big grungey vocals over the course of the nearl six-minute opening cut.

Chewy Soliloqui plays MiniBar on Wednesday, Agust 8, opening for Wonderlick and Doomgong. Details on that show here.

Paul Jesse, “Antenna” 

Singer and musician Paul Jesse was born and raised in Lawrence, and describes his upcoming sophomore album, Cycles, as “a personal musical journey built on cascading synths and soulful vocals” which “reflects the emotional terrain I’ve been navigating as a young artist growing into my voice and sound,” and the first single from that album, “Antenna,” indicates that this young man is a big fan of Frank Ocean and that is not a bad thing, as it’s a swirly, cyclical earworm of a track.

Paul Jesse plays the Bottleneck on Thursday, August 14, with Cooper, Jay P, and Kyler Stoneking. Details on that show here.

Stay the Course, “Post Traumatic” 

The second single from the Wichita emo band’s upcoming Red Flag LP evidently wasn’t even originally considered for inclusion on the record, and given its acoustic and sensitive sound, you can be forgiven for not recognizing it as the work of the same band who put out the punchy “Dreams” at the end of June, but the ballad falls directly in line with genre touchstones like Blink-182’s “I Miss You,” Paramore’s “The Only Exception,” or the Get Up Kid’s “I’ll Catch You” with heartfelt lyrics and stripped-down instrumentation.

The Sound and the Fury, “Alien” 

Back in 2023, KC rockers The Sound and the Fury reunited for a sold-out reunion show 20 years after they split, and this month, we’ll be getting their first full-length album since said reunion, entitled VI, of which “Alien” is the first single and if their slots opening for the likes of Seether, Chevelle, Puddle of Mudd, and Stone Sour back in their heyday doesn’t clue you in to what they sound like, the first massive riffs and crooned vocals ought to demonstrate that these guys know how it’s done.

Shiner, “Asleep in the Trunk” 

When Shiner returned with Schadenfreude in 2020, it was a gift we didn’t think would be repeated, but here we go with the first single from September’s BELIEVEYOUME, and goddamn if “Asleep in the Trunk” isn’t the kind of song you want to put in a movie trailer, because when that mid-song build finally opens up, you can just see it in your mind’s eye soundtracking a joyous escape from a small town, dust blowing away as a car speeds down a lonesome gravel road.

Shiner’s BELIEVEYOUME is out digitally and on vinyl or compact disc Friday, September 26, on Spartan Records.

The Daisy Cull, “Ash & Stone” 

The Daisy Cull formed in 2020 during Covid when a couple of high school friends started sharing song ideas via Zoom and their sophomore album was funded by playing massive cover song sets where the quartet would fit in their originals, and you can hear the gamut of country rock across Ash & Stone, from big bold rocker “Li’l More Time” to the “Chattahooche”-style party jam “Lake Life,” but the more introspective title track shows off the Daisy Cull’s more introspective side.

The Daisy Cull’s Ash & Stone is out digitally Friday, August 8, and the band plays a release show on Saturday, August 23, at Station 7. Details on that show here.

Are you a local artist with a new single to share? Email nicholas.spacek@gmail.com