There’scover songs, and then there’s themanywaysLeah Wellbaum and Will Gorinhaveflippedtheir favoritetracksover the past15years.Not just with their longtime band Slothrusteither. TheSarah Lawrence gradsfirst bonded over the blues,a way to apply the progressivelesson plans ofteachers like Mike Longo—a pianist who played with suchjazzpioneers asDizzy Gillespie and Lee Konitz—tofearlessriffs andrhythmsthatfeellike total rewrites.Gorinis quick tocreditLongo’s“Three I’s”lesson—imitation, incubation,and innovation—inparticular.Themain takeaway? Thatthe best music comes from building uponother people’sideas,ratherthansimply replicating or revisiting them.The clearest example of this would be the Slothrust recordShow Me How You Want It to Be, acover song compilationthatdroppedsand-blasted renditions of The Turtles (“HappyTogether”) and Marcy’s Playground (“Sex and Candy”) alongside spare takes on Al Green(“Let’s Stay Together”) and Sam Cooke (“Cupid”).Headingeven further out into left field is the new EPI Promise,a wildride thatincludesarawperformance of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and not one but four differentrecordingsoftheslo-mosmash“Pony.”The lattertakes its cues fromGinuwine’s cassingle,whichsplit itssides betweenavibrantalbumversion, drawn-out director’s cut,Timbaland’siconic beat,andGinuwine’s carnala cappella.Slothrusttakes the trackdowntwodistinctpathsbuilt around the original’sthree powerhousechords andeffervescent low end. One swings like a lithe slice of sludgy rock ‘n’ roll, and theother dives straight off the deep end for 10 extra minutes, playing to thepair’sstrengths aswell-rounded mind readers.“It’s always fun to leave space in the music where improvisation is possible,” explainsWellbaum, “and that is part of what is so exciting to us about the extended version of‘Pony’;it’s entirelyimprovised,and we only did one performance of it in the studio.”“One of my all-time favorite quotes isfrom composer Claude Debussy,” adds Gorin. “I firstdiscovered itinMiles Davis’ biography, when he said‘music is the space between the notes.’Iapproachmy playing with thatkind ofenergy, with an emphasis onfillingnegative space withsymmetrical orasymmetrical patterns.”The same can be said for the two snappy, tightly wound tracks that also landed onI Promise,“Maybe Maybe” and “Magic Glow.”Written by Wellbaum while she was living in Floridalastyearandendinga “really long and beautifully dramatic relationship,”the songs are both poetic               and poppy, working in hummable nods to liminal spaces, ceremonial magic,and eco-sexualityalongside a slick rhythm section (featuring Gorin on drumsandbass for the first time) andWelbaum’s manic guitar melodies.“The two originalson this EP are good examples of songs that wrote themselves,” saysWellbaum.“I decided that I wanted todoguitar-driven, dynamic rock songs and I wrote thesetwo as a pair, which happens tome a lot.”Another recent example of songs that seemed to finish each other’s sentences—sonically andlyrically—would be “Courtesy” and “Waiting” from Slothrust’s last record, 2021’sParallelTimelineLP. All of this synchronicity makes perfect sense,of course. After all, Slothrust’sbreakthrough album (Of Course You Do) is about to celebrate its tenth anniversary, and theband’s core duo have connected on a kismet level ever since those early days.“Will and I have been playing different genres of music in different configurations together foralmost15years now and that is a big part of our lock,” says Wellbaum.“We know how to workwith each other in a variety of different settings and how to communicate outside of what wedo specifically. That offers us tremendous freedom.”“I feel like we have developed our own unique sound to the point where we can ask ourselves‘what wouldSlothrust do?’”adds`Gorin. “The paradox beingthat ifSlothrustknew whatSlothrust would do,Slothrust would do the opposite.”

Portland, Maine indie rock trio Weakened Friends dive into the honest truth of being aworking musician on their new LP,Quitter, reflecting on lost friendships and self-worthswallowed up by burnout. Songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist Sonia Sturino is supportedby Annie Hoffman (bass/vocals) and Adam Hand (drums), filling out a mature andemotive sound.Central to the record thematically is the empty threat of quitting music and “getting areal job”. Sturino wrestles with her relationship with music on the title track, shouting “Ilove it, but it never really feels okay” over scorching guitars. Despite the implications ofthe title, quitting is not an option for the band.Even as friends settle into adulthood,Weakened Friends find themselves trapped in a fortress of their own creation,inseparably attached to the eternal youthfulness of life in music. In this liminal zone, lifepasses by and friendships are weakened, andQuittertakes plenty of time to mournthese losses.Chunky, distorted riffs support snarky, cutting vocals on “Everything is Better”, a tongue-in-cheek acceptance of one such broken friendship. Agile shifts between heavy fuzzguitar and softer, more introspective moments follow the vocals through tumult andtriumph as Sturino envisions what’s being said about her from the other side of theconflict. Leaning into a perception of her as cold and uncaring, Sturinorevels in the roleof the villain, taking jabs like “everything is better when you’re not around”.Though the record acknowledges a perpetual state of arrested development that comeswith being a musician, the band is anything but stagnant musically.Openingthemselves up to ideas outside the constraints of their slacker rock sound, WeakenedFriends puts the full force of their creative ambition into “Quitter”. Inspired by watchingpeers go above and beyond what is expected of them, the band sought to explore eachsong’s fullest potential, with their most extensive pre-production and arrangement workto date. Incorporating banjo, pedal steel, horns, extensive synth arrangement and anumber of non-instrumental sounds such as ovens and camera flashes, WeakenedFriends expand on their universe of sounds on their new LP.Sturino begins songs as skeletons, allowing the rhythm section to “pull every song apartand investigate every path they could go down”, as Hoffman put it. Focusing on themomentum behind every lyric, the trio squeezes each musical moment for maximumemotional impact. The album’s opener “Bargain Bin’ exemplifies this process, beginningjust with Sturino providing a contemplative melody underlaid by wandering guitarpicking. A sharp crack of the snare drops the rest of the band in, cueing in a lush swellof bass and guitar.Quitterbears Sturino’s vulnerabilities and insecurities about her role in the music worldloudly and proudly, but in the confident and ambitious sounds that couch those fears,Weakened Friends prove their worth as a vital and exciting rock band.   Central to the record thematically is the empty threat of quitting music and “getting a real job”. Sturino wrestles with her relationship with music on the title track, shouting “I love it, but it never really feels okay” over scorching guitars. Despite the implications of the title, quitting is not an option for the band.  Even as friends settle into adulthood, Weakened Friends find themselves trapped in a fortress of their own creation, inseparably attached to the eternal youthfulness of life in music. In this liminal zone, life passes by and friendships are weakened, and Quitter takes plenty of time to mourn these losses.   Chunky, distorted riffs support snarky, cutting vocals on “Everything is Better”, a tongue-in-cheek acceptance of one such broken friendship. Agile shifts between heavy fuzz guitar and softer, more introspective moments follow the vocals through tumult and triumph as Sturino envisions what’s being said about her from the other side of the conflict. Leaning into a perception of her as cold and uncaring, Sturino revels in the role of the villain, taking jabs like “everything is better when you’re not around”.    Though the record acknowledges a perpetual state of arrested development that comes with being a musician, the band is anything but stagnant musically.  Opening themselves up to ideas outside the constraints of their slacker rock sound, Weakened Friends puts the full force of their creative ambition into “Quitter”. Inspired by watching peers go above and beyond what is expected of them, the band sought to explore each song’s fullest potential, with their most extensive pre-production and arrangement work to date. Incorporating banjo, pedal steel, horns, extensive synth arrangement and a number of non-instrumental sounds such as ovens and camera flashes, Weakened Friends expand on their universe of sounds on their new LP.   Sturino begins songs as skeletons, allowing the rhythm section to “pull every song apart and investigate every path they could go down”, as Hoffman put it. Focusing on the momentum behind every lyric, the trio squeezes each musical moment for maximum emotional impact. The album’s opener “Bargain Bin’ exemplifies this process, beginning just with Sturino providing a contemplative melody underlaid by wandering guitar picking. A sharp crack of the snare drops the rest of the band in, cueing in a lush swell of bass and guitar.    Quitter bears Sturino’s vulnerabilities and insecurities about her role in the music world loudly and proudly, but in the confident and ambitious sounds that couch those fears, Weakened Friends prove their worth as a vital and exciting rock band.