Maxwell Stern is a singer and songwriter living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His musical career began and blossomed in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio at the tail end of the 00’s with his band Signals Midwest. As Signals grew to become one of the tentpoles of Cleveland’s independent music community, Stern’s songwriting prowess grew and his world-traveling continued, with various iterations and projects eventually reaching the UK, Europe, Australia, China, and Japan.
Max’s new 12-song LP, In the Good Light, was released on Los Angeles-based Lauren Records (early home of indie-punk stalwarts such as AJJ, Joyce Manor, and Algernon Cadwallader) on August 9, 2024, and features contributions from members of Ratboys, Magnolia Electric Co., Sincere Engineer, Into It. Over It, and Slaughter Beach, Dog. The twelve tracks comprise a collection of thoughtfully crafted, pop-oriented songwriting filtered through a DIY punk ethos.
In the Good Light finds Maxwell Stern embracing love, tenderness, and authenticity. You can feel it in the performances and collaborations. You can hear it in Max’s voice, in the scenes he captures and the moments he memorializes in his songs. The title track speaks to that authenticity:
I wanna see you in the good light, further out where your hope and home can collide
So sing it out into the steep night, I wanna see you in the good light
Forgot About Me is Rachel Gagliardi’s full-length debut under the name Pouty. The album was written and recorded throughout 2022 in Los Angeles and Philadelphia with the Superweaks’ Evan Bernard and Chris Baglivo. Forgot About Me’s nine tracks speak to a series of realizations about desire, self-sabotage, denial, acceptance, and aging, all set atop fuzzy power pop.
Pouty began in 2013 when Gagliardi and Michelle Zauner (Japanese Breakfast) collaborated on a solo-song-a-day-project. At the time, Gagliardi was one-half of Slutever, whose bratty punk songs continue to captivate new audiences on social media. She later joined Upset, which featured former members of Hole and Vivian Girls. Pouty’s debut EP, Take Me to Honey Island, came out in 2016 and over the following years, Gagliardi shared a handful of EPs and singles including 2021’s “Bambina,” which reflects on the changes that accompany motherhood.
The title of Forgot About Me is a line borrowed from the defiant chorus of album opener “Salty”: “I bet you almost forgot about me.” “It’s an admission to the self that you are struggling with an identity crisis, a nod to past versions of yourself, and the growing pains that come with getting older,” Gagliardi explains. “It also addresses the fear of being left out, of outgrowing places and people, of feeling discarded.” “Salty” underlines Gagliardi’s hunger to step back into her power. “What if you stopped standing in your own way?,” she wonders on “The Big Stage.” Forgot About Me is the answer.
Harmony Woods has always been about dynamics. When this Philly project began a regional rail stop away, Sofia Verbilla wrote songs about the ways people see each other on either end of disaster. Across two records that spoke to the quietest of bleeding hearts, Verbilla expanded on processing grief, trauma, and other aftermaths while her band climbed and collapsed around her, turning ordinary circumstances into visceral reflections.
GRACEFUL RAGE—the band’s third LP—basks in the sheer magnitude of letting revelations and recoveries blossom on their own terms. Produced by Bartees Strange, it’s an extension of trademarks and an exploration of new ground. Verbilla often lets moments stack and shiver like a wobbly house of cards, and the sparse vocal-led freeze of opener “Good Luck Rd.” continues that trusted thread. But it’s in the explosive nuance of tracks like “God’s Gift to Women,” a smoky and jagged pop-punk sneer, where Harmony Woods jets far from their most comfortable alcoves. What’s found in this growth is resolve and power, snug behind a radio-ready punch.
Across stopovers in pop-country’s swaying embrace (“Rittenhouse”), tear-stained calls for absolution (“Easy”), and the lockstep of booming percussion (“Holding You to You”), GRACEFUL RAGE regains footholds on forgotten pathways, shouldering the pain but destroying the doubt that smolders in its wake. It’s Harmony Woods at their most aware and assured, where towering relief and welcome confidence have finally converged.
