This week, an all-girl five-piece from England makes waves, while Australia sends us their most wild music yet. And we’re already playing a bit of catch-up. Yippee! Let’s hear from Co-Music Director Carter Moore.
J Mascis – What Do We Do Now (Sub Pop)
J Mascis has long ago earned his spot among rock royalty, so this album gets love from that alone. Don’t come here for Dinosaur Jr., though, you’ll be very disappointed. Listen for driving, but generally quiet, acoustic guitars, a very consistent brand of electric lead in every single song, and about half an inch of variety from the first to last track.
Kirin J Callinan – If I Could Sing (WORSE/PIAS)
Do you ever listen to LCD Soundsystem and think, “but what if they were super-manic? Like 100 gecs manic?” Well you’re in luck, find your answer in Australia’s Kirin J Callinan. It’ll take me a week to form a coherent thought about this music, give it a listen and you’ll see what I mean. Listen for the most dramatic (appreciative) vocals around, plus general insanity (appreciative).
The Last Dinner Party – Prelude to Ecstasy (Universal)
If you haven’t heard about this new English femme rock group, you must have been living under a gigantic rock (only excusable if you’re Punxsutawney Phil, thanks for the early spring bud). Empowered and empowering, their sound is hard to label (in a way that 20 other sites haven’t already). Listen to hear Britain’s answer to Boygenius.
Vera Sola – Peacemaker (Spectraphonic/City Slang)
Based and recorded mostly in Nashville, Sola co-produced and orchestrated this album full of wistful strings, a western-inspired atmosphere, and cinematic lyricism. Also, she’s Dan Akroyd’s daughter, so that’s pretty neat. Listen if you’ve ever wanted to know what the soundtrack for The Good The Bad and The Ugly would sound like if it was made today with lyrics.
Sex, Fear – the grackly glare of interference on every station – why bother having stations? why bother bragging to people that they’ve reached another dead end? (self-released)
This Wisconsin outfit just took the crown from Gizzard for wildest album title, and they did so with music that would make King Krule weep. The guitar on “Byzantine Camshaft” is some of the cleanest noise I’ve ever heard. Don’t forget to say the “comma” in their name when you tell your friends about this band. Listen if you’re the kind of person who likes a lot of genres with “post” in the name, or if you enjoy album titles like that beautiful monstrosity.
Astrid Sonne – Great Doubt (Escho) [released Jan. 26]
Sonne is a Danish producer and composer, but also a viola player. Take those words, put them in an album, and you have Great Doubt. It’s mostly eerie strings, I can only remember drums once and they sounded straight from FL Studio. Listen for the vibe of Black Country, New Road in their Bush Hall era, with the unique edge they had in their Isaac era.
Courting – New Last Name (Lower Third/PIAS) [released Jan. 26]
I fell in love with Courting’s previous album, Guitar Music, so I was sad to see lots of backlash to this follow-up. There’s certainly some duds, and the autotune gets excessive here and there, but the good tracks are truly fantastic. Listen to “Emily G” or “The Wedding” (an energy between LCD Soundsystem and Kirin J Callinan), anything else I can’t quite vouch for.
Check back next week for the latest exciting new releases!