5 songs you need to stream this week: Jurassic 5, Sam Beam, RZA and more

Jurassic 5 — Customer Service

Funky, head-bobbing, and full of bouncy West Coast lyricism, Jurassic 5‘s latest cut Customer Service is impossible not to enjoy. The first single from the band in two years is a spectacular return to form which came unexpectedly this week, following a long period of inactivity from the group — the 2014 single The Way We Do It was itself their first single in eight years. While the classic LA rap outfit may not be prolific anymore, at least both of the jams they’ve made in the last decade are hot, hot stuff.

Sam Beam and Jesca Hoop — Sailor To Siren

Iron & Wine frontman Sam Beam and his recent songwriting companion Jesca Hoop appeared at the famed NPR Tiny Desk this week, bringing with them an acoustic guitar, and a healthy dose of beautiful vocal harmonies. On Sailor To Siren, the first song the duo performed during their appearance on camera, Hoop changes her accompaniment for each verse, giving the melodically repetitive single a shimmering, transformational quality.

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Banks & Steelz — Giant

The second celebrity collaboration to hit airwaves and earbuds this week comes from two unlikely partners: The Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA, and Interpol frontman Paul Banks. You might not expect it, but we’ll be damned if they don’t sound great together. A Run The Jewels-esq mix of vocal hooks and heavy-hitting rap verses, Giant is powerful and anthemic, just the sort of jam fans hoped to hear out of such an oddly-matched pair when their partnership was first announced last month.

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Gold Star — A Shot In The Dark

A clean bit of rock and roll songwriting, A Shot In The Dark is one of the first singles to come from songwriter Marlon Rabenreither’s Lucinda Williams-influenced project Gold Star. Rabenreither was reportedly highly encouraged in his songwriting by Williams while opening for her on tour, where the former painter shifted his sensibilities more towards the blues-rock tradition. That transformation was clearly successful, as this classic and clean single is definitely repeat worthy.

School ’94 — Common Sense

School ’94’s latest single Common Sense could easily be spliced into almost any ’80s high school movie intro; it’s angsty, it’s cathartic, and it’s perfectly suited to montage. But in the last minute, the latest from the Swedish dream pop outfit does manage to create something new out of the ether, when a slow-beat breakdown transforms it into a 21st century pop-rock single. All of the sudden, Common Sense feels like the sort of thing one might expect from one of Sweden’s most famous songsmiths, Max Martin, and that’s great energy for any band to be able to harness.

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