Joyce Tratnyek – Final Girl
Joyce Tratnyek's 'Final Girl' is a thrilling shoegaze-pop-rock anthem from Portland, slasher-movie imagery wrapped in hooks that soar
Joyce Tratnyek knows how to build a monster. 'Final Girl' opens with soft synth haze before the guitars crash in, dragging you through a horror-flick love story where survival is the only goal. The track leans into that desperation, layering washed-out shoegaze textures over a pop-rock backbone that refuses to quit. And the hook? It stays with you. The tongue-in-cheek lyrics play with obsession without losing their edge, and when the production swells into full headbanger territory, the payoff is massive. Brilliant shoegaze-inflected alt-rock, visceral and undeniable.
Joyce Tratnyek is a 22-year-old singer, songwriter and producer based in NYC. She writes and records everything herself in her basement using Logic Pro and her guitar. Her sound lands between lyrical indie rock and dreamy shoegaze, pulling from her experiences as a young LGBT+ artist. 'Final Girl' comes with mastering by Grammy-winner Gabi Grella. A proper Halloween anthem this one, and we'll be watching closely.
Jimi Bennett Band – When Love Walks In
Jimi Bennett Band's 'When Love Walks In' is a soaring pop rock anthem from Atlanta, veteran musicianship channelled into a song that moves something deep
Those guitars sweep this track in, and it's very clear The Jimi Bennett Band know how to pace a song, letting each verse breathe before the hook takes hold. There's a live-room feel here, instruments bleeding into each other the way they do when players are reacting in real time. The lyric is direct and unguarded, about the moment everything changes. 'When Love Walks In' builds toward a chorus that lands exactly where it should. Uplifting pop rock, heartfelt and earned.
The Jimi Bennett Band is an Atlanta three-piece with serious miles on the clock. Vocalist Jimi Bennett founded StarSong act Sacred Fire and toured alongside GRAMMY winners Petra and Mylon LeFevre & Broken Heart. Guitarist John Davis is Berklee-trained, a GRAMMY voting member since 2010, with over 200 songs placed on TV. Keyboardist Jean Carllos Lemes Miranda is a Latin GRAMMY winner who spent years with Brazilian rock giants Oficina G3. The single is out now. A proper banger this one.