Sleigh Bells – Reign of Terror
Sleigh Bells’ second album, Reign of Terror, is plenty loud, but it doesn’t rely on this volume trick. Instead, the duo emphasizes the delicate elements of their sound that mostly got crowded out in the midrange of Treats’ speaker-melting din. Alexis Krauss, the former teen-pop singer turned punk-rock badass, is foregrounded throughout the record, and her roots in Clinton-era bubblegum are more fully integrated with Miller’s heavy riffing. The beats are less indebted to hip-hop this time around and the guitar parts have gone full-on metal, alternating between elemental AC/DC-like hooks and late-80s harmonics. Read the full Review

Sinead O’Connor – How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?
Working with longtime producer John Reynolds and a band of seasoned British modern rockers, on How About I Be Me O’Connor revisits the sonic ground of her indelible first two albums, The Lion and the Cobra and I Do Not What What I Haven’t Got. She melds the winding melodies of the Irish sean nos tradition with classic hip-hop-flavored beats and new-wave guitar and synth lines. Jamaican rhythms are thrown in here and there, like a dash of earthy sorrel. It’s O’Connor’s essential sound, purified and perfected, offering the kind of immersive, shout-along experience that made those early albums feel so necessary. Read the full review on NPR

Cursive – I am Gemini
As their seventh in a discography of unpredictable creativity, where I am Gemini holds back on the discordant brutality of the likes of The Ugly Organ, it ultimately proves to be a much subtler beast. Kasher allegedly thought up the story before sitting down to write out the complete album lyrics sequentially into an angry, melancholy, captivating narrative. It traces the events brought about by the reuniting of twin brothers Cassius and Pollock, who were separated at birth. Are they two, or are they one? Are their opposing good and evil natures two halves of a destructive whole? In a lyrical and musical exploration of the themes of duality, Cursive have come out with a conflicted gem. Read the full review on Drowned In Sound