Ritza – Shuk

ShukLadytron beware this track from Ritza is gonna snag a few of your followers as well.  It’s a slippery synthpop track that infuses a bit of a punk esthetic into the mix.

 

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Press Release:

Originally formed by Maii Waleed (vocals/keys), Ismail Seleit (keys/synths), Mohamed Mallawany (bass), and Marwan Wahid (drums) in August 2015, Ritza played a number of gigs around Cairo and garnered extensive local attention with their electro/surfpop approach – infused with robotic vocals in Arabic, electronic beats, synth-based disco grooves and driving bass lines.

Waleed brings diverse influences to the table. Having worked with leading Lebanese producer Zeid Hamdan for six years and played numerous gigs in Beirut, Amman, and Cairo, she spent enough time figuring out what sound she wants to produce for herself.  Came back to Egypt in 2014, and got together with Seleit and Mallawany to end up with Ritza’s own signature sound of electropop.

Few months later they were joined by guitarist Youssef Abouzeid, who was also part of Waleed’s previous band with Seleit and Mallawany back in 2013, adding melodic guitar lines and noisy ambient textures to realize a fuller sound as a band. Soon enough Hassan Seleit replaced Marwan on drums, and with previous experience with Abouzeid and his brother Ismail in El Manzouma, things added up together pretty naturally with his punchy and teasing drum lines.

Ritza has now written almost an hour of music that ranges from mellow, ambient sounds that demonstrate somber styles; to faster, tighter and more synth-dominated dance tunes.

 

The Soaks – Boyfriend

The Soaks

San Diego’s The Soaks just released this power pop punk with an infectious hook.  Fans of The Ramones and Green Day will want to check this one out.

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If you like this track you should stop by their Bandcamp page to listen to their entire EP: https://postmarkrecords.bandcamp.com/album/loser-ep

 

 

About this song

One foot planted firmly in minimal early punk ala Ramones, yet somehow boast big pop songs. Literal in their approach, “Boyfriend” can be summed up with the lyric “I don’t wanna be your boyfriend”, It’s not rocket science and that is the point. “The Soaks want to make intense, simple punk music without all the macho/aggressive stuff that sometimes comes with it,” says frontman Jordan Clark,

“These songs are straight forward and fun on the surface, yet address very complicated experiences in my life ranging from divorce and depression, to dependency and self medication.”