While not as flat-out stunning as 2010’s career-best Majesty Shredding, this is still a great album. Kind of like Majesty‘s evil twin, some of the lyrics concern the death of a friend of the band and so they address mortality head-on. Musically, some observers have also likened this to early Portastatic and that’s not far off. However, It’s still umistakeably Superchunk and songs like “Me and You and Jackie Mittoo,” “FOH” and the one-minute hardcore blast “Staying Home” just explode with their trademark spastic, anthemic energy. Elsewhere, “Low F” is almost a tribute to fellow North Carolina denizens Archers of Loaf.

Another great Superchunk 7”, this one featuring the best song on the new album as the A-side with a great B-side called “Sunset Arcade” that could’ve easily made the album!

The first new Zero Boys material in 20 years (their last release was 1993’s The Heimlich Maneuver) is a 4-song 7” that bridges the gap between their most well-known (and best) release (1982’s Vicious Circle, of course) and their last few, more indie-rock oriented efforts. You can stream it here.

For some reason, the previous Night Birds releases I checked out failed to grab me. This, however, absolutely rips. Imagine a singer who sounds just like Tony Cadena from The Adolescents and set him over a blazing melodic punk band that pays homage to that early ’80s California punk sound without aping it and with thoughtful lyrics that definitely make you remember that we’re in 2013, not 1981. Now I have to further investigate their back catalog.

I liked 2007’s Weirdo Rippers, loved 2008’s Nouns, but was disappointed with 2010’s follow-up Everything in Between. Thankfully, this one brings back the atmospheric noise and well, weirdness, of Weirdo Rippers (the collection of singles that this, their third real full-length, reminds most reminds me of) as No Age pull away from the relative slickness of Everything in Between.

Their first release since 1997’s Play 7 Songs with Quintron by the newly-reunited Memphis garage trio is decidedly different from their ’90s output. Yes, it’s slicker and they’re older, but I think it serves the songs well since I don’t come at this release from a purist’s perspective.

This is the recent (third) press of this 7” from a few years back. The Arctic Flowers track is (as usual) great and not on either of their 12“s (Procession EP and Reveries, respectively). Spectres sound like a synthed-out Killing Joke. I like their track quite a bit, too!

A nice bounce back and return to form following the disappointing Kone EP from earlier this year, this one finds the Chicago band expanding on the Krautrock and post-punk derived sound they came up with on last year’s Pre-Language, this time without any obvious nods to Mark E. Smith. This one may be even better as the early Simple Minds drive of “Power” will attest.

The latest in Dr. Strange’s ongoing Government Issue vinyl reissue (say that ten times fast) series is the 1986 self-titled album (also known as GI 5 as it was their fifth full-length album at that point). It tacks on three bonus tracks to side 2 and features liner notes by both singer John Stabb and guitarist Tom Lyle. It also, like the previous Dr. Strange reissues, sounds great, and of course the material here is absolutely top-notch. GI would top this a year later with You, but this is also an essential album!

This excellent debut Lp from 1978 finally just got issued in the U.S. via Light in the Attic. It sounds stunning (both the vinyl and the hypnotic, repetitive, Krautrock-like music on it) and like a predictor of not just post-punk but early ’90s noise-rock bands as well. And “Religion” is as blasphemous as Crass‘ “Asylum” from a year earlier as anti-religion rants go. More to the point, this is the only album on which the classic PiL lineup of John Lydon, Keith Levene, Jah Wobble and Jim Walker all performed together and it sounds more like a band effort than much of Lydon’s later work does (even the also excellent Metal Box).