For their ninth album, Mudhoney offers absolutely nothing new, and thank goodness for that!
The New Mendicants is the new project of Joe Pernice and Norman Blake.
Like most everything else on Truth & Soul, the record sounds like it was recorded in the early 70s, with horn-laced, synth-free arrangements that nurture the melodies as much as the grooves.
Billy Bragg’s first album since 2008’s Mr. Love and Justice is a mesmerizing masterwork from one of the finest songwriters of the best three decades.
Benoit Pioulard’s fourth album for Kranky finds mastermind Thomas Meluch carrying on in his psychedelic folk tradition, while blending in the styles of his more experimental releases of the last few years.
This young Cardiff-based indiepop quintet’s music lives up to its clever name.
While there is a sailing motif to the band, it doesn’t impact the music which is firmly rooted in the road rock of Radio Birdman.
Douglas McCombs’ resurrects his solo Brokeback moniker after a decade-long hiatus, and the album is an enjoyable—but too brief—return to form.
After releasing the excellent No Future, Oakland-based Wax Idols’ second album eschews that album’s punk-rock sound in favor of some of the best post-punk inspired music you’re likely to hear this year.
Oakland duo Bam will remind you of very good things, whilst charming you with this four-song EP.
Veteran Montreal pop rockers return with a sparkling new collection of sweaty tunes.
Nineties-inspired heroics with a sludgy veneer, Vancouver’s Cascadia hits a timeless sweet spot where punk and shoegaze collide.
Q: When is a saxophone not a saxophone?
A: When it’s handled by John Butcher.
The beauty of good shoegaze rests in how it hits you, and this one bowls me over.
So what about the actual music? Well, if you’ve never heard The Big Boys, this might be a good place to start.
Oh no, I’ve said too much. I haven’t said enough.
Slouching sideways out of the backwater town of Valleyfield, just west of Montreal, Crabe is a fantastically unpredictable duo of dudes laying down some of the freshest tunes that defy any attempts at categorization
Despite the liberal genre-hopping, this is a cohesive effort that really works and there’s little confusing it for anyone else’s vision.
Though she’s released music for the past few years, Ripely Pine is the debut proper for Aly Spaltro, and it’s a stunner.
The superb and prolific Bristol-based indiepop band The Brilliant Corners finally gets the comprehensive singles collection it has long deserved, and is an essential compilation for both longtime fans and newcomer.
Don’t be scared by the title: No previous knowledge required. I’ll be your test subject.
This brilliant four disc box set compiles all of Zs’ releases through their first five years as a sextet consisting of saxophonists Sam Hillmer and Alex Mincek, percussionists Alex Hoskins and Brad Wentworth and electric guitarists Charlie Looker and Matthew Hough.
Texas bar-rock legend Wayne Hancock releases another fine slab of his masterful blend of Texas swing, country, and roots rock.
Brooklyn-based Pearl Necklace’s debut is an enjoyable introduction to a young, talented duo.
Dawn McCarthy and Will Oldham team up for a tribute to the Everly Brothers, and in turn, they turn in one of the year’s best records.
The Yips’ first EP is already a triumph, managing to infuse older sounds with new attitude and succeeding fiercely while achieving the rare feat of being a party band with depth and complexity.
The perils and pleasures of an artist’s profound consistency.
Sometimes it’s necessary to get away from all the noise and grit of the city and retreat into a paradise of soothing sonic waves.
Pennsylvania’s Pissed Jeans’ fourth album offers longtime listeners absolutely nothing new, and thank goodness for that!
It can drip with gentle piano when you expect sonic bombast, or meander into the liquid notes of the lovely instrumental “Encrypted Wilderness”.
Time’s running out for the world much faster than it is for Lisa Germano, faultless artist.
This memorable cycle of songs will resonate with listeners long after the final note has faded away.
The inaccurate but hopefully useful narratives we construct when listening to albums.
I’ve been eagerly dancing around this stunning li’l number from Cambridge’s Hands and Knees, enjoying it as heartily as I would a great huge fucking sandwich.
Though Dallas-based Air Review’s influences weigh heavy on the listener, there’s something enjoyable and special about this young band’s debut album.
Deep Elm presents another amazing instrumental post-rock record, this time the Swedish-based Lights & Motion.
Jazz drummer Terri Lyne Carrington pays tribute to the 1962 LP Money Jungle, originally created by Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach.
Just because it initially sounds like noise, the latest record by experimentalist Dan Friel is an compellingly enjoyable experience.
The Dick Dale-on-bad coffee vibe still rumbles, but there’s a lot more going on than just angry takes on “Miserlou.”
The Italian/Spanish White Zoo Records continues its obsession with Killed By Death-style punk with this raging slab of darkness.
Originally released in 2011, Yearling, the third album from Portland’s Parson Red Heads, gets a new life after being lost in the shuffle of new releases the first time ‘round.
Parquet Courts is the offspring of the Brooklyn-via-Denton duo Fergus & Geronimo; instead of that band’s often confounding weirdness and diversity, this is a satisfyingly straightforward rock effort.
British-based quintet The History of Apple Pie offer up sweet, potent shoegazer-style dream pop on their impressive debut.
Much-missed Washington State post-punk trio Unwound revisits its sprawling 2001 swan song Leaves Turn Inside You with 13 choice live recordings from the band’s final U.S. tour.
Pretty Old’s stripped-down post-emo is sentimental but concise, and sometimes even uplifting.
