Welcome back to Top8. I hope everyone has had a good holiday weekend and that none of you were killed by a speeding bike. There have been some really lovely days in the last fortnight. Still, the horrors, as they say, persist. But we have each other. And we have music. 

Before I get into that, I am thinking a lot about hypernormalisation. I will just drop a paragraph from the wiki about it here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HyperNormalisation

The word hypernormalisation was coined by Alexei Yurchak, a professor of anthropology who was born in Leningrad and later went to teach at the University of California, Berkeley. He introduced the word in his book Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More: The Last Soviet Generation (2006), which describes paradoxes of Soviet life during the 1970s and 1980s. He says everyone in the Soviet Union knew the system was failing, but no one could imagine any alternative to the status quo, and politicians and citizens alike were resigned to maintaining the pretense of a functioning society. Over time, the mass delusion became a self-fulfilling prophecy, with everyone accepting it as the new norm rather than pretend, an effect Yurchak termed hypernormalisation. It has since gained further resonance in the social media era in 2025 in the U.S.

It makes me think of "That Funny Feeling" by Bo Burnham. Our world has become absurd beyond our ability to even comprehend, yet it does feel like we are careening to the edge of an abyss. What happens next? Do we bounce into a new world or just hold hands and watch it burn? I don't know. I am just so sorry to all the kids. You deserved better. You deserved at least a decade of normal bullshit, like we had in the 2000's. "20,000 years of this, seven more to go."

Anyway, I'll leave you with the Phoebe Bridgers cover.

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Babymetal - From Me To U (ft. Poppy)

I love this so much. So so so much. Babymetal are veterans of the Japanese Idol music world. I'd say they more or less created the "kawaii metal" genre – an unholy blend of cuteness and hyper-compressed nu-metal. This is kind of impossible to describe. You just have to listen to this. It's impossibly catchy and surprisingly heavy. Babymetal perfectly dial in the J-pop cuteness which creates an incongruous juxtaposition with the crunchy riffs. Then add in some help from a screamy Poppy and you have "From Me To U". I have listened to this about 7000 times since it came out. You are not too cool to listen to this. I promise. 

Snooper - Crash Out

Snooper is weird as hell and thank god for that.  The Nashville band is more or less in the egg punk genre, but they are pulling a lot of Devo energy into the mix while they are at it. The result is tracks like "Crash Out". I have no idea what's going on here, but I love it. 

Wombo - Danger in Fives

From just over in Louisville comes Wombo. "Danger in Fives" is their first single in a while. This is a post punk shuffle with simmering vocals from bassist / vocalist Sydney Chadwick. Wombo excels at vibes.  They leave me feeling off-kilter but still dancing. 

Toner - Raja Ali

A minute and twenty of howly guitar noise and upbeat slacker fuzz. Pass the bowl. I am in. Oakland's Toner is one of the coolest bands going right now. "Raja Ali" is apparently a one off single. Not like they told me or anything. We aren't homies like that. Or at all. Anyway, keep your ears open for an EP or something later on this year. Just my guess. 

Wednesday - Elderberry Wine

Wednesday is a NC band that blends country music with shoegaze and fuzzy rock. Their albums "Rat Saw God" and "Twin Plagues" are required listening. The red hot MJ Lenderman is a part of this band, (although he has taken a break from touring with them). To be honest, Lenderman kinda overshadowed Wednesday there for a bit. And that's fair, his solo stuff is awesome. But Wednesday is where it's at. The new one is a wistful, swaying track with just the right amount of pedal steel. I always say, if you put pedal steel on a track, you have my attention for at least 30 seconds. Wednesday will do that and bring you back for more. 

Woodbine - Pine Warbler

When you know people it can be weird to write about their art. That's less so if the work is good. And Woodbine is pretty damn good. Having seen the band play live, I know they have several originals (and some brilliant covers), but "Pine Warbler" is their first single. Think Watchhouse but with a more grounded, waltzy foundation. This is a gorgeous track that gets the best out of the band's members. Brittany McGuire's vocal is sweet and has just the right amount of vibrato to make it sound alive and warm. Guitarist Jerimiah Hatfield adds exactly the right amount of guitar to service the song. The rest of the band, Lily Moore on violin and Nick Blake on bass create a dreamy canvas for this whole thing to unfold onto. This is really beautiful stuff and it's from right here in Charleston, WV. Check these guys out if you can.

The Local Honeys - Darlin' Don't You Know That's Wrong

The Local Honeys might just be the best band in any genre out there. Linda Jean Stokley and Montana Hobbs do something truly magical with their music – they take traditional folk music and they elevate it. In this process, they are not running away from the core sound of folk music – far from it. Local Honeys are leaning in and finding all the weird little psychedelic elements and then letting them grow like kudzu all over the music. They are pretty fearless in the way they push the boundaries of folk. On "Darlin' Don't You Know That's Wrong" they find that mid 70's bass heavy boom-boom country beat often implemented by people like Waylon Jennings. The track eventually grows into a fiery guitar solo. All this held together by the otherworldly droning hum of the harmonium. If you've seen the band play live, you know this instrument is a signature part of their set and their sound. Linda Jean will sit on the floor with the heavy, resonant box (sometimes called a pump or reed organ). There's just no one like The Local Honeys.

The Bug Club - Appropriate Emotions

The Bug Club have been playing indie rock with twisty bass and charmingly awkward vocals since 2016. The British band will probably remind WTSQ fans of one of our favorites – Cheekface. The Bug Club has actually been around for just a little longer. In any event, The Bug Club has a new album out soon and "Appropriate Emotions" is my favorite single released ahead of it. The lyric is simple but speaks of uncertainty about one's own emotions in the face of commitment or change. Maybe it's just me being neurodivergent, but I often wonder if I have the "appropriate emotions" for the situation I am in. Maybe you do too. 

And this week's extra innings. Just a few other things that I have been listening to (which are not new).

Gladys Knight and the Pips - Midnight Train to Georgia

Lana del Rey - Young and Beautiful 

Radwimps - Suzume (ft. Toaka)

And a playlist with everything.

One more thing -- if you're not following Lou's New Music Monday playlists, you are really missing out. Check out the new one here.

Thank you all for reading and listening. 

-emily