I distinctly remember when Billboard magazine introduced the ‘heatseeker’ designation on their Hot 100 singles chart in the 1980s. Initially it just indicated a song that was moving quickly up the chart but later it would be used to single out new artists or those that hadn’t charted before. Well today’s debut heatseeker single on Poprock Record is new to me and this blog. New York’s Taking Meds have come a long way from their screamcore roots with their new power pop single “Memory Lane.” As frontperson Skylar Sarkis remarked in a recent interview, “We wanted to write big choruses and big leads because that’s what we want to hear right now.” Well they don’t get much bigger than this. The song practically launches into the hook stratosphere right out of the gate. It’s like equal parts Swervedriver, Weezer and Matthew Sweet all battling it out to define what’s going on. But, ultimately, the chorus provides the heat here: it’s relentless, driving, and oh-so hooky. As I return to start with this group album-wise you can really see how they got to where they are now. An unerring knack for melody was always present but often more than a bit buried in the mix. It was certainly coming to the fore on their recent long-player, 2021’s Terrible News from Wonderful Men. But that album had nothing quite like this single. A full album of “Memory Lane” rocking pop goodness? Really. Can’t. Wait.

Check out Taking Meds via their back-catalogue at their Bandcamp page and, like me, get caught up on what you’ve been missing. You won’t need a prescription.