Well after a fantastic single and a live EP, Savages have made one heck of a debut Lp. This is just full of one future classic after another. Detractors may scoff that these 20-something Londoners’ attempt to revive the post-punk sound of early Echo and the Bunnymen, Joy Division and (perhaps most of all) Siouxsie and the Banshees offers nothing new, but listen closely and you’ll hear the equivalent of a female-fronted Iceage, as raw, dangerous and icy cold, but even better since their songs (what matters most here) are so much more memorable. I’m really impressed. Oh and they also had the good sense to put last year’s B-side slammer “Husbands” on the album, too!

This is the soundtrack to the Jay Reatard documentary of the same name. Really, though, this is much more. The DVD and the incredible live Lp are tacked on at the end as almost an afterthought to an elaborately-packaged, 50-page book full of previously unissued photos and liner notes from folks who played with him like TV Smith and King Khan. Beyond the incredible package, you get the DVD with some limited bonus scenes and a great soundtrack Lp feature mostly live versions (the only studio track here is Lost Sounds‘ “Better than Something,” which gave the movie its title) of songs written and performed throughout Jay’s career with The Reatards, Lost Sounds, The Angry Angles and of course his super prolific (and fantastic) solo career, too. If there’s a better tribute to this incredible talent who died way too soon, I can’t think of it.

When we saw him last year at ATP, I remarked to my wife that Bradley has a voice that could stop a truck. Thankfully, it’s just as powerful on this, his new full-length, as it was in that captivating live performance. The songs and backing (from the Menahan Street Band) are great, too, and this is yet more proof that just about anything on Daptone is worth checking out.

What is it about the Mexican Summer label? In addition to Best Coast and that fantastic last album from The Fresh and Onlys, we have this shoegaze-ish gem from this Montreal band.

Their first release since 2011’s Rocket Surgery and their fourth overall since Mollie Israel joined in 2008 is their best album yet. Not only that, but between this and their recent appearance on Rabid Sessions at Pancake Factory Studios, they are on a roll and making the best music of their career. This is remarkable for a band on their 11th (!) album. If you don’t know them and a mix of shoegaze and spaghetti-western styles (sometimes sounding like early ’90s Wipers or what Giant Sand would’ve sounded like with distortion pedals) with a great female singer sounds good to you, you can listen and buy it here.

This is Shawn Brown(Swiz, Sweetbelly Freakdown)‘s first band since the early ’00s rockin’ hardcore of Jesuseater. This band reunites him with Swiz and Sweetbelly Freakdown alumni Jason Farrell on guitar and Dave Eight on bass. Former Garden Variety and Retisonic drummer Joe Gorelick fills in for Alex Daniels. Sonically, this is somewhere between all of Brown’s previous bands, but he sounds more fired up than he’s been in many years (at least on record). Plus, it’s so nice to hear Farrell’s guitar backing him up again behind a pounding (I mean, absolutely pounding) rhythm section. Hardcore record of the year? I think so. J Robbins is also to be commended for an absolutely stunning-sounding recording as well!

Though I have not written about them here yet, I really like this Seattle band and in particular their 2011 Don Giovanni album Hard Life. This is a single released last year on Grave Mistake and instead of Cheap Trick (whose song of the same name I can only hope they are named after), this is female-fronted poppy punk of the best possible variety (in other words, think of The Muffs and maybe a much better version of The Donnas or maybe a more hi-fi recorded Swearin’).

I kind of slept on 2010’s Personal Life and some of their recent singles, but I may have to revisit it as this new album (on yet another iconic label after stints on Sub Pop and Kill Rock Stars) absolutely rips. A total stormer in the vein of 2004’s Fuckin’ A or 2006’s The Body, The Blood, The Machine instead of the (relative) dialing back of the intensity on their most recent releases, I guess one could call this a back-to-the-basics for the band, especially on a new label. Whatever the case, this is a band that has made consistently great records with something to say for a decade now.

One of the 7“s that Light in the Attic released last year to celebrate its 10th anniversary was a split between Bradley and their flagship artist Rodriguez. It features both Rodriguez’s original version of this tune and Bradley’s recently recorded version. In all honestly, while I love Rodriguez, this 1967 single isn’t one of his best. Bradley, however, makes it his own and really re-invents the song, giving it a completely different spin.

This is only the second Thee Oh Sees record I’ve heard (not counting their split 7” with Jay Reatard), but given the quality of this new one and 2011’s Carrion Crawler/The Dream (both great slabs of sprawling, deeply psychedelic garage rock), I need to check out the rest of their discography!