Carolina-based Tiny Engines has released some of the best rock albums, punk or otherwise, in 2014 by tapping a Massachusetts pipeline—both the Hotelier and Somos are from the Bay State, Boston and Worcester specifically. New signing It Looks Sad. comes from a less renowned, more local source, Charlotte, to be exact. However, the sound of their new single "Radical" is a far-flung departure for the label, featuring tangled, pinging gutiars reminiscent of Tarheel ex-pats Beach Fossils. There's still some no-qualifiers punk in It Looks Sad.'s post-punk, as Jimmy Turner's lunging, aggressive vocals reflect "Radical"'s morbid concerns ("Just trying to sleep out on my deathbed...I want to go back"), and align them with Tiny Engines' more typically unstable, jittery sound.