“Do You Remember” is the first single by the new rock project, Sweet Apple, a band comprised of John Petkovic and Tim Parnin of Cobra Verde with Dinosaur, Jr’s J Mascis and Witch’s Dave Sweetapple. The power pop/metal sound of “Do You Remeber” is one which should be quickly identifiable to those who’ve kept up with the latter day output of Cobra Verde. Yet, with J Mascis in tow, you get the added bonus of shredding solos from one of the premier shredders of our day.

MP3: Sweet Apple – Do You Remember

Lost in the hoopla surrounding Fucked Up’s new Christmas single (A cover of the classic tune, “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” featuring Bob Mould and members of Yo La Tengo, Broken Social Scene, Vampire Weekend to name a few), is the fact that this forward thinking, Canadian hardcore band have a new singles collection due in the new year, too. Couple Tracks collects singles, demos and b-sides collected over the course of the past few years including this one, “Neat Parts,” a surprisingly straight ahead hardcore track from a band whose catalog has become more diverse with each additional release.

MP3: Fucked Up – Neat Parts

Mean Jeans’ latest Dirtnap Records release, Are You Serious, was first brought to my attention by the rejuvenated Buddyhead. In his review, Joel Jett just about nailed this one, when he wrote, “So every 10 or 15 years or so you get a band that takes the tired Ramone’s core formula and actually breathes fresh life into it. I’m talking bands such as Screeching Weasel, early Queers, Head, The Spits, Sloppy Seconds, and so on. Besides the bands that I just mentioned you have about a zillion clones of the same genre who just miss the mark or who just flat out suck. Well now we have one more band who does this formula justice and is here to save us from the ashes of our own depression…The Mean Jeans are here to rescue you!” Spend a click on “Born on a Saturday Night,” and I think you’ll agree.

MP3: Mean Jeans – Born on a Saturday Night

To say Thee Oh Sees have new material on the way is not news. Well, it is news, but it’s news in the same vein as saying a new Robert Pollard disc is on the way is news (Which, coincidentally, there is a new Robert Pollard disc on the way) , in that John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees, like Uncle Bob, is always cranking out the jams. “I Was Denied,” comes from an as-of-yet unscheduled 2010 release, and gets back to that re-verb overload, melodic genius found on the 2008 release, The Masters Bedroom Is Worth Spending a Night In, lacking in some of Thee Oh Sees ’09 records.

MP3: Thee Oh Sees – I Was Denied

And the award to not stocking my inbox with garbage goes to The NEC. Out of, oh, let’s say hundreds of pitches from unknown bands I receive every week, The NEC’s “It’s Right,” is one of the few songs to not only pass the first 30 seconds test, but survive the more stringent, last one week on the hard drive test. More than that, “It’s Right,” f’n rocks. Unlike many bands who cite shoegazing standards like MBV or Spacemen 3, this band isn’t content to crank out feedback and drop out. Clocking in at around the one minute and 45 second mark, “It’s Right,” combines cascading feedback with something uncommon to those who like cascading feedback — A thrashing rhythm section.

MP3: The NEC – It’s Right

From Hozac Records, the same label which brought us the most excellent album from the Alabama fuzz and scuzz band, Wizzard Sleeve, comes a lighter, more frail take on modern psych-rock courtesy of Medication. Even if, “Didn’t Want to Know,” doesn’t quite pack the punch of the Sleeve, it does more than enough in its three sweet minutes to reinforce the growing opinion that Hozac is a label to keep your eyes and ears on.

MP3: Medication – Didn’t Wanna Know

Judging from the first few bars of “Scissor,” the first single from Liars’ forthcoming album, Sisterworld, one might think the experimental, noise-rock band had been taken inspiration from hot, Brooklyn bands like Grizzly Bear or Dirty Projectors. Fear not, the trio of Angus Andrew, Aaron Hemphill, and Julian Gross have not gone all romantic and twee. They’re just teasing. One minute and forty seconds into this one, they throw all kinds of dirt into the mix with crushing bars of guitar obliterating all things twee. It’s a formula those aforementioned Brooklynites could learn a lot from.

MP3: Liars – Scissor