Live ’19 has that special historicity in spades. It is, in a sense, a greatest-hits compilation for a band eight years into the global fight for psych-garage supremacy. They waste no time in introducing you to all the tools in their toolbox: their rhythm section locks in, acting as a springboard for the guitars, which trade in their trademark bright tones and West Coast country fretwork.
The Manchester based trio are set to release their debut album, In Threes, on March 6th via Upset The Rhythm and Maternal Voice, a record that is wildly discordant, each song built on sharp angles, bleeding noise, samba grooves, and experimental no wave. There’s a lot of freedom at hand and we’re all the better for soaking it in.
After almost half a dozen years, Habibi have released their highly anticipated second full-length album, Anywhere But Here. The record represents a culmination of several years of songwriting and even revisits some of the band’s earliest, unfinished creative output in a way that explores new territory while staying true to what they do best.
Their latest and apparently last release, Little Curly/boy is a Bird, is a collage of harsh glitchy noises, choral singsong, crying woodwinds, warm synths, unhinged vocals, and commanding programmed drum hits. Held together by seemingly-random motifs and bookended by the ramblings of a strange character known as “Gampy,” this album highlights both Beverly Tender’s songwriting chops and ear for aesthetic.
Dead Finks are a duo originally formed in Australia and recently relocated to Berlin. The worldly travelers, Erin Violet and Joseph Thomas (ex-Trust Punks), will release their debut album, Dead Fink Era, via Urge Records on March 20th, a transfixed post-punk record that drifts between haunted synths and harsher punk songs.
Maybe it’s because of the title, but this most recent record feels like the flip-side contraposition to the sunny, surf ambience that surf tunes usually convey. Night of the Worm Moon conjures images of an empty beach beneath a bright and starry sky while soft winds gently blow ocean waves to a foamy shore.
St. Louis’ Frankie Valet released their latest album, Waterfowl, a gorgeous record that combines heart warming folk and indie pop with shoegaze, slowcore, and emo tendencies. Out now on It Takes Time Records, the album finds the voice of each member contributing in equal measure, creating the idea of something personal and collective.
On a list of great ideas, a charity compilation to benefit RAICES comprised entirely of Neil Young covers, is up toward the top. Compiled by Yeehaw Junction’s Shayla Riggs, the compilation, Look Out For My Love: A Neil Young Covers Album is built on their idea that “at the core of Neil Young's catalog is the belief that art has the power to transform the world around us.”
Pop melodies, grunge tones, folk fingerpicking, and post-punk song structures are patched beautifully and darkly into a cohesive record on Treadles’ And the Rocks…. Each track unpredictably runs the gamut of sound, tone, and emotion, never staying in the same place for long, making the album a unique and rewarding listen.
Good Big is a debut record laden with meticulous riffs, built on rhythm and supplemented by a constant drive. The label describe it as “top-notch egg punk,” with nods to Minutemen and Suburban Lawns. It stops, starts, and speeds up. With a fade out, you’re able to catch your breath before being catapulted into the next track.
Having released their debut EP and a stand-alone single in 2018 and 2019 respectively, the band are set to share the full length debut, Change Is Bad, on April 3rd via Born Yesterday Records. The band swerve between slurred aggression, blaring attacks, and tightly coiled post-punk; unhinged one moment and snapping into place the next.
It'll scratch your itch for punk and power-pop from top to bottom, but when Personality Cult push outside genre boundaries on their second album, New Arrows, the results turn electric. Packed with driving beats, there's not a slow moment until the finale, and with nary a song longer than two minutes and thirty seconds.
En Attendant Ana's Juillet is another absolute gem of an album released by the mighty Trouble in Mind. This is the second full length from this fantastic fuzz pop band from Paris. It is an album of triumphant swells, hooks, and horns marked with lyrics urging one to figure out that thing you are trying to figure out and move forward.
Following up 2017’s Melt To You EP, Sleepies returns with a new full length, their first in four years. Time v Pleasure, due out February 28th, is an eclectic offering, bringing you both the Sleepies you know and love, and much like it’s predecessor, pushing their sound to unknown territories, experimenting along the way.
if indie rock albums could be measured by how effectively it evokes of the teenager experience, I Was Trying To Describe You To Someone would be nothing if not a triumph. The sophomore effort from the Asheville, NC quintet is a dark, deep work that captures the emotional messiness and simmering irascibility of adolescence with a searing accuracy.
