_{By Zach Collier}

With so much music in the Provo music scene, it’s easy to get sucked in and start listening to music in a bubble. It’s always great to see what awaits you in the broader world of sonic textures, and to find new recommendations that can inspire you to make music differently than you did before.

We’re in way early on this one. At 700 monthly listeners, Atlanta-based alt rock trio KHALIKO only started releasing music 6 months ago (making their debut with “Downtown”). All of their songs to date have performed well on Spotify despite their small following, racking up tens of thousands of streams. This is a promising sign for a fresh group.

But our eye is on their March 2024 single “Say What’s On Your Mind.” This song has riffs for days. The verses are glued together by an iconic instrumental refrain that grooves hard in between sparse vocals without losing any of the grit. It has a heavy and fuzzy low end under intricate hi-hat work. The verses manages to be spacious and atmospheric while rocking your brain right out of your skull.

The pre-chorus trades the heavy low-end riffs for high end brain scratching. The lead guitar plays an intricate arpeggiated riff that stimulates the brain without distracting from the superb lead vocals (courtesy of frontman Sam Epstein). Snare rolls build until everything cuts out, and Epstein’s isolated vocals drop listeners into a heavy but more pop/rock oriented chorus.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

If you like what you hear, make sure to follow KHALIKO on Instagram. You can hear “Say What’s On Your Mind” below.