Please see my full review here.

Here is a 7” that comes with pre-orders and initial copies of their astonishing new album Too True. The A-side “Rimbaud Eyes” is the album track and at first the most striking song on the record (and one of the best) while the B-side “Girls Intuition” may be my favorite B-side of theirs so far. It may be strong enough to have made Too True‘s second side and that’s saying something.

Although like other fans of this UK band, I liked 2011’s Freedom Run, I couldn’t help but to be a bit let down after 2008’s amazing, world-beating The Great Escape, perhaps the greatest mod revival type album of the last 30 years.

On this release, The Rifles wisely ditch the orchestral flourishes of Freedom Run and go back to the full-on manic pop thrills (to borrow the name of That Petrol Emotion‘s first Lp) of their first two releases.

Transgender Dysphoria Blues is the first Against Me! album since 2010’s White Crosses and the first since Laura Jane Grace came out as transgender. While the lyrical content (which is very honest, cutting, personal and at times difficult to listen to) is a must when talking about this record, it should also be acknowledged that the playing and songwriting are both top notch here as well. Highly recommended.

The follow-up to this Harrisburg, PA’s six-piece’s debut 7” is a 4 song (5 if you count the hidden track, a great cover of INXS‘ “Don’t Change”) EP that sounds great as it was mixed by J Robbins. Musically, Very Americans are tough to pin down as I don’t think there are a lot of bands doing what they do at the moment. They make me think of some of the indie rock and emo that was prevalent in the early ’00s (some of the stuff from Jimmy Eat World‘s Bleed American comes to mind), though they are also a great live band who in that setting me of late ’00s Merge artists The Broken West.

The “other” band of Waxahatchee bassist and collaborator Sam Cook-Parrot and Swearin’ drummer Jeff Bolt is wonderful, raw pop-punk/power-pop. Most of these tunes are originals, but there is a great take on The Flamin’ Groovies‘ “Sometimes” here as well (which just shows off their great taste). Sam’s voice may take some getting used to, but the melodies and tunes are way too good to ignore here. And I should also add that this has been out since last summer, but I am late to the party here.

Toy follow up their self-titled 2012 debut and “My Heart Skips a Beat” EP (along with various singles) with what is their finest release to date. Sure, they don’t tinker at all with the formula here, which is part Krautrock and part heavy shoegaze/dream-pop, but why do so when the results are this intoxicating?

Recent psych rock from Jakarta, Indonesia? You bet! After reading our own Bryan Swirsky‘s ecstatic review of their yet-to-be-released double 10” (which I have still not heard), I had to check this band out and sure enough, they don’t disappoint. This was actually released last April, but is relatively new to me.

This is a band featuring Frank Deserto (of Mark Burgess‘ ChameleonsVox) and our own Greg Fasolino (most recently of Bell Hollow) along with vocalist Vanessa Irena. Not surprisingly, on occasion this 5-song EP reminds me of The Chameleons as well as The Cure‘s 17 Seconds. I can’t get enough of this stuff.

The 10 songs here (“Follow You Down,” “High on the Skyline” and “Sarasota” are reprised from their EP, but the rest are originals save for a beautiful cover of “By the Time It Gets Dark” by Sandy Denny) fly by quickly and the sense of fun being had while making this record is palpable and explodes from the grooves, so my reaction to a set so catchy is just to play it over again. The New Mendicants follow up on the promise of their EP from last year and deliver with flying colors here. Joe Pernice dominates the lead vocals here, but having Norman Blake on guitar (and the occasional lead vocal) is almost like having Peyton Pinkerton back as this reminds me of the first few Pernice Brothers album and that is a very good thing. It’s great that after not releasing anything for a few years, Pernice has (along with the recently reunited Scud Mountain Boys and Pernice Brothers) 3 active bands. The more, the merrier!