Jay Som - 1 Billion Dogs

Cali bedroom musician Jay Som (aka Melina Duterte) understands that sometimes, the beauty is in the juxtaposition. Take away the vocals from ‘1 Billion Dogs’ - the latest track from forthcoming breakthrough record ‘Everybody Works’, due March 10 - and you have a fuzzed out slacker gem full of power chords and rumbling bass. Flip reverse that and focus Duterte’s pipes, however, and you’re in pure, cooing lullaby land.

Like Palehound’s superlative LP ‘Dry Food’ last year, Jay Som’s mix of the harsh and the hazy work in perfect harmony. And while these tricks might have been around since grunge cemented the joy of loud-quiet-loud, Duterte does it better than most. And no amount of dogs could argue with that.