Scratch Acid, "She Said"
In the mid-80s, Scratch Acid helped for the noise rock scene in America, taking the racket that the Birthday Party was kicking out and taking it another step further. Scratch Acid also provided half of the Jesus Lizard, which is certainly notable enough for any band. All of Scratch Acid's work (one LP and one EP) are collected on The Greatest Gift, which is a must for any noise rock fan.
The Good People, "Windows Down feat. Trash"
Rappers out of NYC, I stumbled across them through a Bandcamp spotlight, and they're a lot of fun. Sort of laid-back, it reminds me a lot of People Under the Stairs. This is from The Summer EP, which is a good time.
Hostage Calm, "Affadavit"
I think I bought this after a recommendation in a Discord, and it's excellent. I know nothing about this band, I totally missed them the first time around, and I've done no research after getting the record. So, you know, A+ work here at Five Songs as usual!
Boss Hog, "Black Eyes"
Sixteen years after their last LP, Boss Hog put out a new record, Brood X. It doesn't exactly pick up where the previous album left off, but that's to be expected: not only was there a huge layoff between the albums, but no Boss Hog record really sounds that much like the previous one. It's a little tame, but no record where Jon Spencer is playing guitar is going to be entirely tame.
Andrew Bird, "First Song"
Andrew Bird's career took two large pivots over the course of two albums. The Swimming Hour moved him away from the jazz of the first two albums and towards a much more varied palette of songs. It was a masterful breakthrough, but his transition wasn't quite done. The second step was with Weather Systems, when he built his own studio and began recording much more sparsely and really leaned into using his own voice, whistling, and the incredible variety of his violin playing to create his songs. The space opened up allowed his incredible songs to shine through. While this album isn't his finest work, it's really the first album of his that showed the path of his future career.