Songs of the Week: Bad Flamingo, Bare Jams, & Love You Later

Welcome to Songs of the Week, a running series with new selections.

Bad Flamingo – “Keep Off of You”

Something wicked this way comes. In “Keep Off of You,” mysterious desperados Bad Flamingo twist the musical knives deeper into the skin. Dusty and clinging to their lungs, the dangerously volatile new track trudges over the earth’s scorched earth with devilish energy. “Keep my eyes on the road and my hands on the wheel to keep them off of you,” the duo snarls, serpent-like. Darkness seeps into the instrumentation, as though they have covert intentions of hypnotizing you while they pounce with their seductive lyrical daggers in hand. It’s an electrifying treat, that’s unmistakable.

Bare Jams – “So Long”

“I’m a soul searcher tonight!” yowls Ollie Coombes. Fronting a collective known as Bare Jams, Coombes deliciously licks the melodies with a sly smile on his lips. With “So Long,” Coombes and company impress upon the listener that life is best lived by taking risks and living free. Everyone else be damned! “I wanna live a little more, a little louder,” admits Coombes. Horns decorate the production, giving a boost like taking a shot of adrenaline. It’s a groovy, shiny, and altogether infectious number about life, living, and never giving up. We should all take notice.

Love You Later – “Are You Gonna Care When I Die?”

Lexi Aviles, known onstage as Love You Later, was drowning in rejection. She couldn’t muster up the strength to dog-paddle through the muck and mire, yet she turned her sorrow into one of the best bangers of the year. “Are You Gonna Care When I Die?” glistens, deceiving the senses to permit the lyrics to worm deeper into the brain. “I know you’ll never say it straight to my face / So tell me are you gonna leave a kiss at my grave / By now, I know you wouldn’t dare when I’m alive,” sings Aviles. Her words clatter like diamonds on a hardwood floor, each tingling sensation a glimpse into her hard-coated soul. She might feel the sting from the music industry keeping its doors closed to her, but it’s that turmoil that has led to warrior-like strength. This song proves it.

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