On the Griddle is a monthly A&R column offering a buffet-style spread of sapid tracks discovered through the music platform, Groover. Every 30 days, expect an array of songs, diverse and delicious, served hot off the flat-top and waiting to be wolfed down.
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Molon Labe – “Let It Out”
What it feels like: London-based Molon Labe’s “Let It Out” offers more than rhythmically crafted garage-punk riffs and rebellious bellows (though it does both, very well). The chorus – desperate, throaty, astray – is a seething plea, anxious and on the edge. Then, suddenly, you’re alone with Mickey: he’s whispering derangedly in your ear, possibly from a padded room. Cold sweats. A call to arms. “Let It Out” sounds much like The Murder City Devils – asylum style. And though the four-piece is still fleshing out their chime, for now “Let It Out” is a refreshing and haunting divergence from hipster rock – a return to punk roots that feels fucking raw.
Tell us about your band name…
Our band name came from our guitarist who’s a big nerd for classics and history. The phrase “Molon Labe” is attributed to King Leonidas in reply to Xerxes’ demand that the Spartans surrender their weapons at the battle of Thermopylae. “Molon Labe” translates to “come and take them,” and we felt it held a particular determination and resilience that we wanted to reflect in our music.
The Regime & Pro Uno – “Sunny Days”
What it feels like: There is little mystery behind The Regime & Pro Uno’s “Sunny Days.” The song is exactly what it claims to be – a sun-soaked melodic track that inspires peace and relaxation, unbridled respite if only for two minutes and thirty-two seconds. What is unexpected about the track is its heavy Motown influence; it’s romantic, funky-fresh presentation. The tune isn’t at all just a sleepy beach bop, it’s blue-eyed soul and a culmination of some bitchin’ influence: The Beatles, P-funk, The Gorillaz, and “the sonic attitude of ‘90s hip-hop.” All makes sense in the end, however, when you discover that The Regime & Pro Uno are a collective of over 45 musicians. That is, they are less a band and more a bevy of varying good vibes.
Which other artists/bands would appear on a playlist with you? What would that playlist be called?
Every artist from the Starsky and Hutch Soundtrack. All the Daptone Records crew! Mothers Cake! The Parliaments. Badbadnotgood & Turnstile collab. ESG. Papa bear and his cubs. Drug Dealer. Babe Rainbow. Smokey Robinson. Khruangbin. Every Artist that made a Christmas album, ever! Playlist name: Last Day on Earth.
Yaz Tarelo – “Amor Sincero”
What it feels like: If you don’t speak Spanish, don’t worry too much – at least as far as Yaz Tarelo’s “Amor Sincero” goes. The track – namely, Tarelo’s locution – is alive with emotion deeper than syntax, a knack Norah Jones too holds. The hip-pop song is simultaneously ethereal and aggressive as Tarelo oscillates seamlessly between diaphragmic vocal bursts and nimble verse. And while “Amor Sincero” is primarily about self-love, it’s hard to ignore Tarelo’s distinctive vocal style, placid yet glamorous. The track has spell-like qualities (as does Tarelo’s aesthetic) – deliciously hypnotic – much like being lured down a winding path between the trees by una bruja del bosque.
Would you rather have the ability to talk to animals or talk to the dead?
I would prefer talking to animals; they are very loyal beings who need our care, it would be a beautiful thing to understand them better.
Strawberry Launch – “Bad Luck”
What it feels like: James & The Giant Peach meets vapor wave. The cast of That ‘70s Show on the set of 1995’s Clueless. The Cranberries performing under a talking apple tree. Catch my drift? “Bad Luck” – the last of five tracks on their 2024 EP of the same name – is summer heartbreak with a popsicle in hand. Though Strawberry Launch say their sound is dreamy, bubbly, and glittery – Polly Pocket, baby – it’s also tightly-constructed, retro-fresh, and credit-roll worthy. The female-led five-piece doesn’t pump out airhead pop. Instead, they produce narratives centered around the mundane – the shit we all go through – made alluring by the sheer dichotomy: dance music about daily struggles.
What’s the most exciting thing happening in music right now?
The world of music is being taken over by women like Charli XCX and Chappell Roan, and it’s really refreshing that there’s more representation of femmes in music.
Unknown Vagabond “Wake Me Up”
What it feels like: That sensation you get when you wake from a crazy dream but can’t quite recall what happened or who was there. All that lingers clearly are residual feelings nestled beneath your skin, behind your eyes, in your bones. Haunting, strange, heroic, scary, sad, slow motion yet high-octane. That’s Unknown Vagabond’s “Wake Me Up,” an eight-and-a-half minute feverish phantasm that combines classical music and alternative rock to produce a piano-heavy track akin to Thom Yorke covering “Mad World.” Aptly, Unknown Vagabond has dubbed his catalog “the soundtrack to peculiar dreams,” reiterating his purposeful travels away from reality – destination: nowhere – pausing only to make quick pitstops in the subconscious.
Would you rather have the ability to talk to animals or talk to the dead?
To the dead! How incredible would it be to learn from the wisdom of the deceased? I believe this ability would completely transform our perspective on life, putting many everyday fears into perspective. Of course, I’d also love to talk to animals, but I’d also be afraid of their feedback. I’d probably hear how unpopular we humans are and how limited our perception and logic truly is.
Tonight’s Sunshine – “W.Y.R. (Would You Rather)”
What it feels like: Let me start by saying perhaps the only thing you need to know about Tonight’s Sunshine: they’re on the cusp of recording a new EP set to be stacked with gay country and electric ukelele metal. What that means is yet to be revealed, but if it sounds anything like their single “W.Y.R,” the album is primed to be rhythmic, dark, and carnal. “Would You Rather” sees female lead Firekid employing an intentional and powerful vocal wobble that pairs perfectly with the tinny ukelele and tight instrumentation, calling back indisputably to early Gwen Stefani circa Tragic Kingdom (see: “Don’t Speak” meets “Sunday Morning”). If the members are anarchists, then “W.Y.R.” is a molotov cocktail packed with smart lyricism, blistering rhythm, and petroleum jelly.
Which other artists/bands would appear on a playlist with you? What would that playlist be called?
It’d probably be one of those playlists that are a bit all over the place but filled with bangers nonetheless. Call it, How Long Does a Quarter Life Crisis Last, Again? featuring: Paramore, DeathbyRomy, Emei, KiNG MALA, Chase Petra, FEA, Halsey, and Hey Monday.
BACKHOUSE – “Sycamore Trees”
What it feels like: Ah, the late ‘90s. That dreamy kaleidoscope of jewel-toned hues, baggy cargo pants, and a Sixpence None the Richer CD popped in your Sony Walkman on a warm afternoon. Those days are but a bucket-hat memory, but the sounds? They remain if you can find just the right band. BACKHOUSE, baby – melodic, hook-driven, airy. Arguably, this five-piece also sounds a lot like the early 2000s (similar feelings permeate those six some-odd years), and “Sycamore Trees” could have served as the theme music for The OC (see: Phantom Planet’s “California”). That’s to say, the track – poetic, intimate, pining – transports you back to life’s early romances: carefree and all-consuming, pregnant with the unspoken absence of forever. The one you still think about to this day.
Tell us about your band name…
We started while living in a back house in the small town of Bradley Beach. We had our first show booked by a close friend before we had our band name, so it came on naturally and out of necessity. The house was a common hang spot with a feeling of refugee for artist types. Our landlord once told us Jeff Bezos rented it during a summer off from Princeton University, and it was later an FBI hideout with wiretapping devices and all that. So there’s maybe some kind of vortex there.
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