The fine post-indie rock idols in Under Beasty did us all a solid with the teaser for their umpteenth single, “love pain,” and I’ll admit — because they sounded like their third or fourth shift in sound over the last couple of years, I was extremely apprehensive about the result. Like, would it even be good? It’s too easy to either hit a sweet spot as a unit or fall back on lazy tropes to get a release out the door, you know?

I should have just trusted in Yua.

I … I can’t stop playing it! This is Hauptharmonie-level jazzy; the video’s pretty standard by UB, uh, standards, but that song … I’m really glad that we’re still nominating and considering Of the Year stuff, because this one’s a total stealth entry on Song — the single doesn’t release until past the deadline, but the song is right here, out for our enjoyment. And what enjoyment!

Now I feel like I’m looking at scatterplot showing each UB’s releases relative (to each other, natch) merits, and BAM now there’s a very handy red line showing net positive growth all the way back to “Raven.” That’s the idol ideal, except that I’d be perfectly satisfied if Under Beasty stayed right in this territory from now on. Nice work.