Month: April 2022

Birria tacos have a long and storied history in Mexico before they blew up around the U.S. food truck scene a few years ago. The tacos are full of slowly stewed meat — usually goat or beef — with a deeply built, chili-based spicy stew at the core, both for frying those tacos (in the skimmed fat) and dipping them (in the braising liquid).

The recipe comes from around what’s now Central Mexico. It was originally prepared by the Indigenous population as a stew made with Spanish goats back in the 1500s — basically invented as an attempt to make their gamey goats more palatable. Cut to the 1950s (and several genocides against Indigenous Mexicans later), and people were still eating birria as a stew and in tacos. A taquero in Tijuana decided to start serving his beef birria tacos with a side cup of the braising liquid for dippin’, putting a vital component of the dish in place. In 1980 another taquero in Los Angeles added a little cheese, creating the quesabirria, and here we are. Today, I’m making both standard beef birria and quesabirria tacos with a delicious “consomme” on the side for dipping.

Before we dive in, it should be noted, this takes a lot of time. You’re slow-stewing/braising tough cuts of meat into luscious, soft, and well-spiced meat that you can bite through. That isn’t a quick process. I did mine over a whole day, but most recipes call for you to take two days. Which does raise the question, are these worth making at home? Yes. And no. Yes, in that a lot of people don’t live in a city where these taco trucks are the norm, so making them at home is a way around that. No, in that this takes forever. It’s tiring, and it’s a lot of work for a plate of tacos, Tuesday night or not.

All of that aside, this is really freaking delicious. So, make up your own mind on whether you want to give these a shot. The ends do justify the effort, I promise you that.

Birria Tacos

Ingredients:

Makes about 2 dozen tacos

• 4 lbs. top round of beef, trimmed of the fat cap
• 2 lbs. oxtails
• 1.5 liters/quarts of beef stock
• 4 Marisol chili peppers, deseeded
• 1 jalapeno, deseeded
• 1 small can of chipotles in adobo sauce
• 1 yellow onion, quartered
• 1 large tomato, quartered
• 6 cloves of garlic, whole
• 10 peppercorns
• 6 allspice berries
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 tbsp. cumin
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1 sprig of fresh sage
• 2 sprigs of fresh marjoram
• 2 sprigs of fresh oregano
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Corn tortillas

Optional:

• Low-moisture mozzarella or Oaxacan queso
• Fresh cilantro
• Diced red onion
• Guacamole or a simple mash of avocado
• Lime wedges

When it comes to the ingredients, you should be able to source all of this at a good grocery store — or a regular one and a good butcher. I like to add in oxtail. Not so much for the little meat that you get in the end, but for gelatin, fat, and marrow that you get. That makes the stew base — or “consomme” — so much lusher and more deeply beefy. If there was one thing you could skip because you can’t find it, you can skip the oxtail. Your consomme will be thinner but still okay.

Lastly, there’s the chili mix/paste. I didn’t have any dried chilis on hand, so I used fresh and canned chipotle chilis. This stuff is roasted, blended, and cooked down for four hours, they’ll work just fine if you can’t find dried chilis. [Editor’s Note: If you can find dried chiles — Guajillo, New Mexico, Califonia — just toast and rehydrate in some hot water, it takes about 10 minutes]

What You’ll Need:

• Cutting board
• Kitchen knife
• Cookie sheet
• Large braising pan/pot (oven safe)
• Baking paper
• Tongs
• Spatula
• Food processor/blender
• Smaller pots (for reheating)
• Cast-iron skillet
• Small bowls (for consomme)
• Fine mesh strainer
• Large Tupperware containers for storage/straining things
• Spoons

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 400f. In the meantime, peel and cut up onion, tomato, and garlic, de-seed chilis, and put it all on a large cookie sheet with baking paper underneath. Add the oxtail and generously salt and pepper everything and add a few dashes of olive oil. Place in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until the oxtail has started to brown and the chilis, onion, garlic, and tomato are browned and cooked through. Once finished, lower the oven to 300f.
• In the meantime, trim the fat cap and silver skin from the top side beef cut if needed (you can ask your butcher to do this for you).
• Set the oxtail aside in the braising pan. Add the rest of the cookie sheet ingredients — including the juices and oil — to a food processor or blender — also add in the marjoram and oregano. Pulse until the ingredients turn into a thick paste.
• Heat up 1.5 liters/quarts of beef stock.
• Place the top side cut on top of the oxtails in the braising pan/pot. Add the chili paste, stock, cinnamon sticks, peppercorns, allspice berries, thyme, bay, and sage. Use the tongs to move the meat around in the braising liquid to help even it out.
• Cover the pan or pot with foil or a lid and place it into the oven.
• Braise for two hours and then flip the meat and braise for another two hours. The meat should fall apart very easily when it’s done.
• Remove the meat from the braising pan. Pull the top round apart with a fork. Pick away the oxtail meat and mix it into fork-pulled-apart top-side beef.
• Strain the braising liquid to get all the small bits out.
• Add two cups of the braising liquid to the beef, cover, and set in the fridge for at least four hours, preferably overnight.
• Place the remaining braising liquid in a Tupperware container with a tight lid. Place in the fridge to cool and let the fat solidify.
• The next day, use a spoon to skim the fat off the cold braising liquid and into a waiting small pot.
• Reheat the meat in its own braising liquid in a heavy-bottomed pot on the stovetop on medium-low heat (let it slowly come to a simmer).
• Reheat the braising liquid in another pot, again allow it to slowly simmer (this is the dipping consomme).
• Melt/reheat the skimmed fat in yet another small pot that’ll just fit a small corn tortilla.
• Grate some cheese in the meantime, if you’re making quesabirria tacos.
• Lastly, place a cast-iron skillet on medium-high heat. Place a corn tortilla in the pan and warm it up on both sides. Then, using tongs, dip that tortilla into the warm fat and put it back into the skillet. Use the tongs to scoop in the birria meat filling and crumble a few bites of cheese in there (again, if you’re making quesabirria). Fold over and let the tortilla just crisp on the edges on both sides. Repeat for however many tacos you need (you can keep the finished birria tacos in a low-temp oven for 15 mins).
• Serve with a hot bowl the braising liquid/consomme for dipping with a side of diced onion, cilantro, lime wedges, and avocado mash (also for garnish).

Bottom Line:

I can’t say for 100 percent that this was worth it. I’d kill a plate of these from a food truck without hesitation. Spending all day making them took a little of the luster away. These were so tasty though. The tortilla was crispy around the edges and soft around the taco filling. The meat is amazingly spiced but not overtly “spicy.”

Then there was the consomme or stew base, and, good lord, was that good. I was drinking it right out of the bowl like beer. Yes, the taco dipped in — French dip style — is great too. But, I might just have a mug of that consomme for lunch tomorrow. At the very least, I’ll warm some up with the beef to have an old-school birria bowl of stew.

As for the standard birria tacos versus the quesabirria, I have to go with the quesabirria. Look at the cheese pull up there! The cheese did just the right thing to bring the spicy, funky, and unctuous meat and crunchy tortilla together to something bigger, especially when dipped in the consomme.

In the end, this was a delightful recipe and a delicious dish. I’m not 100 percent sure I’ll need to make these again until next year though. That said, I have great burrito filling for like a week now. Maybe I’ll make some birria chimichangas.

Luke Bonner is familiar with getting his ass kicked.

Growing up in Concord (NH), the youngest of three athletic siblings, Bonner watched his older brother, Matt, and sister, Becky, as they found success at every competitive level. Becky was a Division 1 player at Stanford, Director of Basketball Ops at Louisville, six years managing global outreach with the NBA and now, four years in as Director of Player development with the Magic, and Matt is a two-time NBA champion and current studio analyst with the Spurs.

“For me, since I was 12 years old, my family couldn’t really afford to go to all these tournaments and my parents were like, if you want to do this you have to get good enough to earn a scholarship, because you’re not going to have any college fund, because this is what your college fund is going towards,” Bonner says over Zoom. “I knew by the time I was 15 I’d be better and bigger than everyone, by the time I’m 17 I’m going to be getting offers, worst case, Division 2 somewhere.”

Bonner played a year for West Virginia and three for UMass before heading overseas to play in Hungary, the UK and Lithuania, plus some time in the D-League. While he notes he didn’t “make it to the NBA and have a prolific career”, he counts his basketball career as successful. Unbeknownst to him, it would also prep him for what was to come — fast-forward to Bonner launching PWRFWD in 2021.

“This is the first time I’ve felt like my experience as an athlete is actually transferable to my work,” Bonner says. “I always hated that. I found it patronizing if people were like, ‘Oh you’re an athlete, you’re going to be a good teammate, and work hard’. And it’s like, you can’t do anything without that.”

“I never felt like my experience as an athlete translated to my job for someone else,” Bonner adds. “With this, it 100 percent does. In terms of being an entrepreneur, there’s a lot of moments when it’s pretty scary. It’s terror and euphoria, constantly. And knowing how to keep going and paying attention to what’s going on around you but being able to focus in on, survival is success,” Bonner says.

For PWRFWD, it’s been a year of paying attention.

The initial idea behind the company was an online marketplace driven and exclusively controlled by the athletes in partnership with Bonner and his team. Every athlete (from the WNBA, NBA, NFL, MLS and more) had their own shop, selling merchandise designed by them in tandem with PWRFWD’s marketing team. Profits went back to athletes directly or were funneled toward causes close to them. Sylvia Fowles sold pieces that channeled her love for plants, Mo Bamba had candles, Breanna Stewart’s store offered a diner mug that said ‘STEWIE’. Those stores and products are still there, but the focus of Bonner and his team necessarily shifted.

“We found what we were doing interesting, and what we were really doing was building a community, but doing it backwards. We were putting products out with different athletes and it was a little bit disjointed,” Bonner says. “We would have something really do well, and instead of building on that, [the next drop is] like another thing from someone else who might be a completely different category.”

It was also difficult to spearhead so many drops for so many athletes. Given that each person was immersed in a totally different timeline dictated by their season schedules, focus would always be splintered, priorities mixed. But there was one area Bonner and his team continued to gravitate back to in their interests, the personalities, and the product.

“We all just really liked working with the WNBA players the most,” Bonner laughs.

The team also found that any WNBA drop, or item focused on the women’s game — like the now ubiquitous Kelsey Trainor ‘Invest in Women’ hoodie and line — would come with a boost in general chatter. A community was starting to form, and it felt like the right foundation to build on.

“We saw, not just from a personal interest standpoint, a passion standpoint on the women’s basketball side, but I think it’s a very high growth category within sports in general,” Bonner says, “We also just frankly saw women’s athletes, women’s basketball players, perform better than a lot of the other athletes that were using the platform.”

That online success included non-WNBA athletes on the PWRFWD platform rallying around women’s basketball and the products available. For Bonner, it was a green light he hadn’t necessarily realized he’d been looking for to go all-in on the women’s game.

“There is nothing else. That’s how we have to operate,” Bonner stresses, “That doesn’t mean only women’s basketball players to us. On the athlete side, we’ve made a shift [toward] athletes [as] our community members. If you connect with our mission, our messaging, then you are welcome here, you’re one of us. If you don’t, we don’t care. It’s just not for you.”

Hoping to create a space for the informal community they’d been cultivating to gather, Bonner and his team started by inviting people to focus groups via Twitter to talk about women’s basketball and the WNBA. They also brought on Olympic gold medalist, Nadia Eke, as PWRFWD’s head of community. From there, a Discord server was launched. Bonner, who admits to “lurking in” a lot of other Discord spaces, wanted this one to be very “hands-on”, and wanted it to be filled first by “true women’s basketball fans”.

“We just had (Israeli-Russian professional basketball player) Egor Koulechov [drop in],” Bonner grins, “He just introduced himself organically in our Discord like, ‘Hi, I’m Egor, I play in Israel!’ And I’m like wait, Egor? And he had no idea I’m involved either.”

Understanding that the support for and behind the women’s game can often seem secondary, or an afterthought, Bonner wanted the next steps in launching this new aim and arm of PWRFWD to be as intentional as it was big and bold. The company bought courtside season’s tickets in every WNBA market (“I think we’re second row in two or three of the markets”, Bonner clarifies) and the pairs will be given to PWRFWD community members.

“Women’s basketball is awesome,” Bonner says happily, “People are nominating each other — it’s a nomination process, not just a raffle — so it forces everyone to interact and get to know each other. It’s been super powerful already, but from our perspective, this is something long-term.”

It’s the combination of physical presence and financial support that PWRFWD wants to replicate with each of its next big steps to support the women’s game, all the while funneling energy back into its community. On April 12 an initial, exclusive round of “Day 1” NFTs went out to the company’s closest supporters as a means of marking symbolic membership into the PWRFWD community. Included in the social promotional campaign for the drop was a link to the Discord server so that anyone who felt like they may have missed out could jump in.

“You participate in whatever you connect with,” Bonner stresses when asked why NFTs felt like the right avenue for growth. He notes that while plenty of early NFTs have looked goofy, those that have been most successful are the ones with a big community behind them. It’s also a more fluid means of membership. “Rather than monthly subscription you own that piece, you can sell it if you want out,” Bonner says.

The first drop was a spinning, holographic ‘W’, much like a pin. That’s the point. It’s part of what Bonner describes as a “futuristic, digital varsity jacket” that will be released as the next NFT in a mint of 1,000 on April 29. More patches and pins will be released over time and eventually, the option to create its mirrored, physical pairing. A very exclusive, modernly imagined letterman jacket.

There will be other perks to membership with PWRFWD, like online and in-person events, early access to future drops, WNBA League Pass subscriptions, and more. Bonner and his team hosted a Twitter Spaces in the hours leading up the this year’s WNBA Draft that saw Mystics player Erica McCall Bird, ABL and WNBA vet Val Whiting, and Becky Bonner come through to share their draft stories. Through every effort, the point is to offer tangible tokens of real-life moments and thanks, even from a company as small as PWRFWD (eight employees, at present).

While Bonner notes the initial response to PWRFWD’s first few releases have been “insane,” he says it’s important for “us to do our own thing” when it comes to emerging partnerships.

“For us as a team, there’s been a lot of confidence in prioritizing ourselves and what we are building,” Bonner says, “That is something that can be nerve-racking at times, but everyone that’s touching anything we’re associated with, or doing, are the exact type of people I’ve always dreams of working with. That is going to bleed out to anyone that comes into the PWRFWD walls.”

All of this, Bonner notes, allows PWRFWD to continue to “put products out, tell stories, all of that stuff” but now includes who he calls the company’s key stakeholders — the community.

“One of the things we had been talking about was building a community that really brings the athletes and the fans more so together, to work towards a uniform mission and bigger goal. We were seeing that in the context of what was happening on the NFT side, and we were kind of like, holy shit, there’s a pretty big opportunity here for us to take our own approach,” Bonner says, when asked to trace the shift PWRFWD took over the last year. “Pivoting a business is not easy no matter what size you are. It requires you to balance real-time changes and keep everyone informed while you’re figuring things out. Sometimes that involved pressing the brakes for a bit and keeping everyone engaged while you did that.”

“This is a really interesting way for us to build a community together,” he continues, “to work towards having an immediate business impact on the WNBA, growing the game, and eventually being a catalyst for expansion — like I really think we can do that.”

It’s one of the last big components to being all-in on women’s basketball for Bonner and PWRFWD, to gain an ownership stake in the WNBA. Bonner acknowledges that PWRFWD is uniquely positioned between fans, athletes, league executives, and ownership groups to operate as a bridge to make something happen.

“Expansion is long term. There are a number of ways we can help drive that. We can show the business case for expansion ourselves. We can amplify messaging of expansion. We can maybe eventually invest in expansion — either via a new franchise or even by helping create a farm system for expanded rosters,” Bonner says.

By riding the ups and downs of PWRFWD’s past year, occasionally getting his ass kicked, Bonner’s compulsion to “just not stop ever, even if it seems illogical at times” has not only renewed his focus but has helped to bring the kind of community — genuine, purposeful, joyful — that he and his team were trying to reach outside, in.

“I can’t tell you how much better it feels,” Bonner smiles, “I really loved what we were doing [before], but I think everyone feels 1,000 times more excited about what we’re doing now.”

When social media star turned rapper Bhabie Bhabie bragged that she’s earned over $50 million from OnlyFans since starting her account a little over a year ago, there were plenty of people who expressed doubt online. The 19-year-old, who basically lives on social media, has since responded to her skeptics, posting receipts on Instagram that show that while her net income from the site is less than $50 million figure, it’s not far off — and her gross profits are indeed well over it before OnlyFans takes its cut.

Of course, those figures are pretty much in line with the totals that she boasted when she started the account in April 2021, just days after her 18th birthday. She said that in the first six hours, she’d accumulated over $750,000 in subscriptions and $250,000 from message payments, giving her $1,000,000 on her first day. While that kind of earning was likely unsustainable long-term, a year later, she’s made a little under a million a week, proving that whatever people say about her, plenty of them are willing to pay to follow her antics.

Even if they weren’t, she has plenty of other revenue streams besides OnlyFans and music, including her investments in a dating app alongside her mentor Lil Yachty. Bhad Bhabie may still be a controversial figure six years after her viral moment on Dr. Phil, but no one can say she hasn’t made the most of her humble, meme-ready beginnings.

In the early 1980s, G.I. Joe rebranded under the “Real American Hero” line of 3 3/4th inch action figures that were basically Hasbro’s answer to what Star Wars was doing over at Kenner. (They are the same company now.) G.I. Joe was no longer a 12-inch figure named Joe, now this was a code name for a highly skilled strike force that would spawn a terrific Marvel comic, an animated series, then, eventually, three live action films.

In the mid-1980s G.I. Joe started adding “real” people to the team. All of a sudden, Refrigerator Perry from the Chicago Bears was a member of G.I. Joe. And then so was professional wrestler Sgt Slaughter, who, in the universe of G.I. Joe, was not a wrestler, but, instead, was a drill instructor. (Though, there were some real-world ramifications for Sgt Slaughter’s participation with G.I. Joe as the then WWF wasn’t thrilled about this, eventually leading to his temporary departure.)

(Also, as an aside, one of the most bizarre examples of “real” people joining G.I. Joe was that of Rocky Balboa. No, Sylvester Stallone wasn’t joining G.I. Joe, but in an issue of Marvel’s G.I. Joe: Order of Battle, basically a Who’s Who of G.I. Joe characters, it was unceremoniously announced that, yes, Rocky was a member of G.I. Joe. Then, as quickly as that happened, in the next issue there was a retraction saying that, no, Rocky was not, nor has ever been, in G.I. Joe. At a time there was no internet, this would have made a great time for there to have been an internet because it just became this unsolvable mystery for years and years until someone involved said it had to do with a competing toy company.)

But of all these examples, Sgt Slaughter is the one who has persisted. But unlike other G.I. Joe characters, a deal has to be reached with the real Sgt Slaughter to use his likeness. And that has now happened for the popular G.I. Joe Classified line of action figures. Here’s a very enthusiastic Sgt Slaughter himself sharing the exciting news!

G.I. Joe Classified debuted in 2020 as a highly detailed line of six-inch figures based on the classic characters from G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. For anyone familiar with the Star Wars Black Series, they are like that, only they seem to, as a whole, include more accessories. (It will probably not come as a shock to learn that, yes, I have purchased a few G.I. Joe: Classified figures.)

So now Sgt Slaughter is finally coming to the Classified line for the first time. The information we were given is stressing that this is a multi-year partnership between Hasbro and Sgt Slaughter. It also stresses that his figure, “comes with (surprise) exciting accessories allowing fans to recreate the 80s nostalgic Sgt Slaughter experience.” As of right now, there’s no street date for Sgt Slaughter’s Classified action figure, so this is all just to tell you ”he’s coming.” And Hasbro provided a digital mockup of what the figure will eventually look like that you can look at right now:

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Ivanka Trump’s White House run was curiously involved and then soon (at least in her mind) forgotten. Trump had installed his daughter in a prominent senior advisor position, and now, she and husband Jared Kushner (who busied himself with “bringing peace” to the Middle East) are pretending like they didn’t help run the joint. On January 6, Ivanka also famously tweeted and deleted a message to the “American Patriots” who were storming the U.S. Capitol in what turned out to be a deadly insurrection. And the House Committee on Jan. 6 has now turned up Ivanka’s texts (from group text chain with Chief of Staff Mark Meadows) leading up to that day.

Let’s just say that Ivanka was not passively hanging back from the text chain with Kushner, Hope Hicks, Jason Miller, Dan Scavino, and more. A few days after the election didn’t go as planned for Team Trump, she texted, “You are all WARRIORS of epic proportions! Keep the faith and the fight!” Seth Meyers, of course (at about the 1:00 mark above), roasted the heck out of her for being such an Energizer Bunny. “She’s trying to overturn the results of an election with the tone of a Peloton instructor. And also, just a tip, if you’re planning a coup, maybe don’t do it via group chat?”

From there, Meyers imagined what else Ivanka would say about the coup: “Should do the coup on TikTok? I think that would totally slay!! LMK!” Yep, that sounds plausible!

Fresh off of his unofficial coronation at Coachella where he put on a standout, headliner-worthy performance, Lil Baby has announced his summer tour dates. The One Of Them Ones Tour kicks off in Raleigh, North Carolina on July 15 and runs through August 27 in Las Vegas, backed by Rolling Loud and co-headlined by Chris Brown.

Lil Baby didn’t just put on a show at Coachella; he also recently earned his 100th Hot 100 song, a feat only a handful of artists have ever accomplished. It looks like he wasn’t exaggerating when he boasted that “the summer is mines” earlier this year. You can see his tour dates below.

07/15 — Raleigh, NC @ Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
07/16 — Virginia Beach, VA @ Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
07/17 — Philadelphia, PA @ Waterfront Music Pavilion (formerly BB&T Pavilion)
07/19 — Washington D.C. @ Capital One Arena
07/22 — New York City, NY @ Madison Square Garden
07/23 — Boston, MA @ Xfinity Center
07/26 — Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
07/27 — Hartford, CT @ Xfinity Center
07/29 — Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
07/30 — Detroit, MI @ Pine Knob Music Theatre
07/31 — Columbus, OH @ Nationwide Arena
08/02 — Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
08/04 — Chicago, IL @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
08/05 — St. Louis, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
08/06 — Indianapolis, IN @ Ruoff Music Center
08/09 — Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion
08/10 — Atlanta, GA @ Lakewood Amphitheatre
08/12 — West Palm Beach, FL @ iThink Financial Amphitheatre
08/13 — Tampa, FL @ MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre at the FL State Fairgrounds
08/16 — Dallas, TX @ Dos Equis Pavilion
08/17 — Houston, TX
08/19 — Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheatre
08/20 — Phoenix, AZ @ Ak-chin Pavilion
08/21 — Irvine, CA @ FivePoint Amphitheatre
08/23 — Concord, CA @ Concord Pavilion
08/26 — Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum
08/27 — Las Vegas, NV

Dua Lipa has been keeping busy. She’s about halfway done making her third album. She’s on tour in support of Future Nostalgia. Her recent Megan The Stallion collaboration “Sweetest Pie” was a big chart success. On top of that, she recently managed to capture the “ultimate thirst trap,” as she dubbed it.

This morning on Twitter, Lipa shared a brief gallery of photos and wrote, “swipe to the end for the ultimate thirst trap.” Two of the photos are Lipa just doing ordinary things in her life and one is of her singing on stage. As for the “ultimate thirst trap,” it’s a photo of Lipa in bed, but not as saucy as that description might make it sound. Instead, it’s just a blurry picture of Lipa landing on a bed, so this whole thing was Lipa flexing her sense of humor.

(She shared a version of the post on Instagram a few days ago, but with more photos.)

Elsewhere in her life, Lipa started a podcast, dropped by The Tonight Show and met her viral 80-year-old superfan, and saw “Levitating” become the longest-charting Hot 100 hit by a woman.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels, but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.

Every week, Uproxx is rounding up the best new indie music from the past seven days. This week we got new music by Bartees Strange, Soccer Mommy, The Smile, Fontaines DC, and more.

While we’re at it, sign up for our newsletter to get the best new indie music delivered directly to your inbox, every Monday.

Fontaines DC — Skinty Fia

This week marked the release of Skinty Fia, the anticipated third studio album by Dublin’s Fontaines DC. At times haunting and propulsive, Fontaines DC proves the post-punk genre is still alive, packing radically honest lyrics and unsettling instrumentals into an inventive 10-track effort.

Spiritualized — Everything Was Beautiful

Though they’ve been making music for over three decades now, Spiritualized are still in their prime with the new album Everything Was Beautiful. The space rock LP calls back to the band’s early days, mixing experimental soundscapes with tender lyrics that built to a wall of psychedelic melodies on tracks like “Always Together With You” and “I’m Coming Home Again.”

Hatchie — Giving The World Away

Australian dream-pop artist Hatchie displays her refined confidence on her sophomore album Giving The World Away. The LP drifts between gauzy chords and airy synths, proving Hatchie writes more than love songs; contemplating on aging, second chances, and dependency in 12 reflective, at times dance-leaning tracks.

Kate Bollinger — Look At It In The Light

This week also graced us with Kate Bollinger’s effortlessly charming EP Look At It In The Light, her first project since 2020’s independently released EP A World Becomes A Sound. On her new effort, Bollinger leans into her lingering, breezy melodies with pensive songs like “Connecting Dots” and upbeat tunes like “Who Am I But Someone.”

Soccer Mommy — “Unholy Affliction”

Soccer Mommy has started rolling out new singles ahead of her upcoming third studio album Sometimes, Forever. Her latest, “Unholy Affliction,” is one of her most experimental to date, featuring buzzing synths and a deadpan lyrical delivery that marks one of her grittiest songs to date. “‘Unholy’ was really fun in the studio because the end result was totally different from what we expected,” Soccer Mommy said about the single.

Bartees Strange — “Cosigns”

This week marked a new era of music for breakout Philly artists Bartees Strange. His new track “Cosigns” officially heralds his new album Farm To Table and leans into his genre-bending sound. Mixing auto-tuned raps and a hard-hitting breakdown of electric guitars, “Cosigns” points to an inventive sophomore effort.

The Smile — “Free In The Knowledge”

The Smile, the new group consisting of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood alongside Sons Of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner, has been dropping a number of enticing singles ahead of their debut release as a group, A Light For Attracting Attention. The latest song, “Free In The Knowledge,” is their most subdued song yet. Featuring an orchestral arrangement and Yorke’s vocals at the forefront, “Free In The Knowledge” is a beautiful and moving ballad.

The Wonder Years — “Oldest Daughter”

Philadelphia emo group The Wonder Years, not to be confused with the ’80s sitcom or recent reboot, have been releasing music for over a decade and they’re showing no signs of slowing down. This week, they kicked off a new era of music alongside a nearly sold-out tour with the latest track “Oldest Daughter,” a kinetic and compelling track about coming to the understanding that you can’t save everyone yourself.

Young Guv, James Matthew VII — “Change Your Mind”

Prolific songwriter Young Guv announced his upcoming project Guv IV this week with the swirling, melodic tune “Change Your Mind.” Armed with warm tones and a fitting harmonica refrain, the song is Young Guv’s version of a psychedelic lullaby.

Momma — “Speeding 72”

Duo Momma have proved themselves one to watch with their 2020 debut album Two Of Me. Now gearing up for their sophomore effort Household Name, the band shares the fuzzed-out track “Speeding 72.” In the new track, Momma flexes a catchy guitar riff and references their love of Pavement’s “Gold Soundz” while singing of finding love at a local gig.

Say Sue Me — “To Dream”

Korean indie group Say Sue Me dropped off the tranquil number “To Dream,” heralding their forthcoming LP The Last Thing Left. Reflecting the title, the song is a dreamy number packed with cascading guitar tones, mixing elements of shoegaze with ’90s indie and surf rock sensibilities.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

After putting out the charming LP I Know I’m Funny Haha last year, Faye Webster just announced Car Therapy Sessions, an EP of reimagined songs of hers backed by an orchestra. “I think I had actually even cried listening to the demos,” she said upon the release of “Car Therapy,” the first single. Now she’s unveiled the newer version of “Jonny” off of her beloved 2019 album Atlanta Millionaires Club.

This rendition combines “Jonny,” the swaying, intimate ballad, with “Jonny (Reprise),” a spoken-word moment that takes vulnerability to the next level as she confronts the person the song is about with a candid tone.

“This is the song that sparked the whole concept for this project for me,” Webster said, “It’s also one of the first songs that I ever wrote that I felt was truly honesty and had true transparency, which I think is maybe why so many people relate to it. I wanted to be able to relive this song in a way that felt new at the same time, which is why I really like the direction that Trey took these orchestral arrangements.”

The YouTube comments are full of people crying, so get ready for this tearjerker.

Listen to the song above.

Car Therapy Sessions is out 4/29 via Secretly Canadian. Pre-order it here.

This week in pop exploded with some unexpected and amazing collaborations. Willow — who has been teaming up with everyone from Machine Gun Kelly to Camila Cabello — joined forces with the rapidly rising PinkPantheress for “Where You Are,” while Bring Me The Horizon further shed their metalcore skin to immerse themselves in dark-tinged pop on the new song “Bad Life” with Sigrid.

Each week, Uproxx rounds up the best new pop releases. Listen up.

Sub Urban, Benee — “Uh Oh”

Electic star Benee cares more about vibe than genre, so 22-year-old Daniel Maisonneuve, whose moniker is Sub Urban, recruited her for this disorienting track “Uh Oh.” It’s not so easy to categorize musically; it can only be described as simultaneously playful and eerie, and the video harps on that even more.

The Kid Laroi — “Thousand Miles”

“Thousand Miles” marks the start of a new chapter for The Kid Laroi, whose last one was so successful it must be hard to follow it up. But this new song retains his charm while conveying the struggles of love and self-esteem: “There’s nothing left to say / If I was you, if I was you then I would stay / A thousand miles away,” he sings.

The Chainsmokers — “Riptide”

New York City hitmakers The Chainsmokers returned with a new catchy single that has more of a sharp edge. The lyrics are full of vivid images: “Late night / Zip ties / Make you wanna miss your flight,” and poetic declarations of longing: “But If I only get one life this is what I wanna do / And If I only get one life I wanna live it with you.” It watches them keep a danceable beat, but also open themselves up to vulnerability.

PinkPantheress, Willow — “Where You Are”

This collaboration between the idiosyncratic PinkPantheress and the eclectic Willow is like a fever dream. “Where You Are” soars with both of their gorgeous vocals creating a rapturous harmony; the rhythm moves ecstatically, almost seeming to defy time and drift at its own pace.

Alesso, Zara Larsson — “Words”

Speaking of great collaborations, there was also this dance-worthy anthem from Alesso and Zara Larsson. The Swedish DJ’s frantic sounds are the perfect backdrop for Larsson’s silky vocals as she reckons with wanting to share her feelings: “I got the words / I love you / Sitting on the tip of my tongue,” she sings conflictedly.

Karol G — “Provenza”

This lush song from the blue-haired Colombian singer Karol G is bouncy and jaunty, but weighed down by a heavy darkness. Her voice overflows with a sense of bittersweetness, represented in the video by a storm that causes rain to pour down on a party. But they don’t let it ruin the fun; they just keep dancing.

George Ezra — “Green Green Grass”

George Ezra is in a getaway car with his lover in this new track “Green Green Grass,” a perfect summer song. His lover is completely carefree, talking about mortality with excitement and fearlessness: “She said / Green, green grass / Blue, blue sky / You better throw a party / On the day that I die.” This exuberant attitude is infectious and inspiring, especially with such a catchy melody.

88rising, BIBI — “Best Lover”

This sparkling new song from 88rising and BIBI is otherworldly, radiating a celestial energy that makes the experience of listening completely immersive. The dreamy vocals mix wonderfully with the captivating synths; the entire sound is rich and layered, so much so that the only option is to click repeat.

070 Shake — “Skin And Bones”

070 Shake is mesmerized on “Skin And Bones,” recalling a love that she wants to be eternal: “Write on your flesh / With permanent ink / Light the incense / Remember this scent.” The song is packed to the brim with desire, but the shadow of fear hangs over it, imbuing it with an alluring gloom. It intensifies as time elapses, leading into a powerful, synth-filled outro that feels like transcendence.

Sigrid, Bring Me The Horizon — “Bad Life”

Norwegian pop singer Sigrid linking up with former metalheads Bring Me The Horizon was unexpected, but the result is inspiring. “Bad Life” grapples with the inherent difficulty of existing; both vocalists sing about their hardships, but then team up on the chorus to create a beautiful harmony about staying strong: “Things won’t always be this way, no / It’s just a bad day / Not a bad life.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.