Any discussion of “Deathwestern,” the latest number from the Las Vegas metallic hardcore band SpiritWorld, is naturally going to involve the insanely gory Old West blood-orgy of its music video, one of the finest and grossest horror mini-movies we’ve seen in a long moment. But the song itself might generate its own corpse-pile. “Deathwestern” hits like a Ford F-150 plowing straight into your skull. Frontman Stu Folsom roars about screaming a trail of corpses through the desert over speed-crunch evilness that consciously evokes both Slayer and White Zombie. When a song is this single-mindedly devoted to kicking ass, it can make middle-schoolers out of us all. —Tom

James Goodson makes it look easy, but the songs he makes as Dazy are dizzyingly complicated. “Split,” the latest offering from his upcoming debut full-length, packs some serious riffs and fuzzy firepower, and it’s in and in under two minutes. “So split my brain and watch me stumble every day and every night,” goes the nasally, infectiously melodic hook. “Split my brain and watch me stumble all the time.” Goodson might sing about stumbling, but his mile-a-minute songs never do. —James

“Look Both Ways” is all eerie shadows and creeping unease. Pink Siifu sounds like he’s whispering, trying to avoid attracting the attention of some malevolent ghost. Nosaj Thing’s productions are usually dreamy and minimal, but this one sounds like a nightmare — there’s discordant viola playing from Amir Yaghmai, drum production from Scoop DeVille, a disorienting DJ scratch from D-Styles. Despite how many hands were involved in crafting this track, the result is insular and more than a little unsettling. Maybe you shouldn’t cross that street at all. —James

I cannot resist a sticky post-punk bass-line, and by god have Men I Trust unleashed a great one with “Billie Toppy.” The solidly uptempo “Billie Toppy” diverges somewhat from the Montreal band’s typical dream-pop fare: First, there’s that irresistible new-wave groove layered on a chilly guitar riff that would make ’00s-era Interpol jealous. Then, lead singer Emmanuelle Proulx — channeling the late Julee Cruise — warms things up with her wispy vocal, providing a nice contrast to the track’s brisk shuffle. Finally, don’t miss the accompanying music video where Proulx innocently swings against a gloom-and-doom backdrop. I also love a good light-dark mashup, and everything about “Billie Toppy” scratches that itch. —Rachel

On the lead single and title track from their first album in six years, Paramore translate the anxiety of post-COVID public life into a twitchy, tightly wound anthem. The verses sound like Radiohead’s “Lotus Flower” snapped from black and white to Technicolor: skittering and slinky, Hayley Williams weaving her vocal around the bassline in float-like-a-butterfly mode even as her lyrics sting like a bee. (“If you have an opinion/ Maybe you should shove it.”) The chorus sounds like Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out” on edge, the battering-ram dance-punk groove buoying one of those huge shout-along hooks you hope for from a beloved band’s comeback track: “This is why I don’t leave the house!” On the whole, it feels like Paramore have spiked the poppy, percussive sound they pursued on 2017’s After Laughter with a pinch of the ferocity that animated their early records — an exciting proposition in theory, made even more exciting in practice here. I’m eager to hear what else they’ve come up with and to play “This Is Why” on repeat in the meantime. —Chris