New Releases


Zola Jesus – Conatus
There has always been something almost subliminally idol-killing about the Zola Jesus project, and it really comes into focus here. Danilova’s childhood opera aspirations are subverted into something nearly opposite. Opera singing is narrative and flows smoothly from deep within. Danilova is more allusive and tortuous. Her voice keeps getting caught in her throat, where it’s stressed and twisted by transient emotional surges. Though the theatricality and the epic-pop trappings may evoke artists like Dead Can Dance, the vocals have the passion of blues singing. Danilova is equally iconoclastic when it comes to industrial influences like Throbbing Gristle, finding ways to make abrasion as musical as possible without sacrificing tension. Her touchstones have been digested into a personal style that is much more substance than reference. Read the full review on Pitchfork


Mastodon – The Hunter
The Hunter sees Mastodon taking a much more riff-heavy approach — shorter songs, more bombast — without compromising their epic feel. A purist raised on the literary universes encompassed on the band’s last three albums (Leviathan, 2004; Blood Mountain, 2006; and Crack the Skye, 2009) could pine for the 13-minute cosmic journey, but The Hunter is just as expansive as any of Mastodon’s earlier efforts, despite the lack of Hawkwind-style noodling. Having a pop radio producer at the helm seems not to have diminished the band’s determination to push boundaries, but rather to have made that desire more concise, more focused, and somehow more powerful. The shine given to The Hunter is definitely worthy of Warner Bros. (the parent of Reprise), and a measure of rock-radio friendliness hasn’t been a barrier to metal bands in the past. Read the full review on Tiny Mix Tapes


St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
Describing Annie Clark’s work as St. Vincent comes down to a toss-up between cinematic and clever. Both in the studio and in her videos, Clark is captivating, expansive, and yet undemanding. She slyly earns your attention with bombastic hooks, witty turns of phrase, or by mentoring a kid who just got a merit badge for “mind sandwich” (all done together in the video for “Jesus Saves, I Spend”), and then she reels you in further. She convinces you to take another step closer to the difficult subjects she intends to work out. Many were drawn in by the title track of her debut, Marry Me, for its cute power, the smoky vocals, the pretty girl singing directly to you with stark emotion. But what sticks in the end are her clever twists (“Let’s do what Mary and Joseph did… without the kid”) and the huge scope of such a simple song. Read the full review on Consequence of Sound

New Releases


Wilco – The Whole Love
“The Whole Love,” a 12-song effort that’s way more “Summerteeth” and “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” than more recent efforts: The band is having fun not only with sound but with structure, without sacrificing catchiness. Nearly every song contains some tangential surprise, odd hook, sonic back flip or midsong redefinition. The first single, “I Might,” sounds like ? and the Mysterians covering Radiohead and is the closest thing to a simple rock song on the record (rivaled by “Dawned on Me,” which suggests Electric Light Orchestra). “Sunloathe” is a surreal, psychedelic piano ballad carried forward by Kotche’s miscellaneous noise and layers of intricate countermelodies. “Standing O” sounds stolen from Elvis Costello’s “This Year’s Model.” Read the full review on LA Times


Nirvana – Nevermind (Deluxe Edition)
Twenty years later, here I sit swamped again in that riotous cataloguing of disaffection and narcissism, thanks to Nevermind’s big-event two-disc reissue. First comes the original album, at once unchanged and alien. The choruses strike me as ridiculously effective: pop sing-alongs hidden in the outsider sneer of punk. That radioactive pop core can’t be contained – not by dank effects, fragmented lyrics or even a mocking self-awareness about underground rock bands making major-label debuts. Butch Vig’s radio-glossed production has taken its share of lashes – and certainly the faint echo on Kurt Cobain’s voice during ‘Breed’ seems silly now – but he brings out the crossover potential of these songs even when they’re infected by groggy angst and vague sentiments. Like those loping verses and ravenous choruses, Vig’s pro sheen is a roadworthy vehicle for Cobain’s musing-venting-musing streaks. Read the full review on the Vine


Dum Dum Girls – Only In Dreams
Dum Dum Girls in particular had a way of reminding you that there was more to it than that. They had fun with irony; artifice; and winking, revisionist takes on musical history (Kristin Gundred’s Ramones-nodding stage name Dee Dee; Richard “My Boyfriend’s Back” Gottehrer’s co-producing credit on both full-lengths) that reminded you of the simple, triumphant facts: these women were all pretty excellent pop songwriters, and this thing they were part of was the most visible all-female front in indie rock since the riot grrrl movement in the early 1990s. Read the full review on Pitchfork

New Releases


Wolves In The Throne Room – Celestial Lineage
Casting themselves as warrior-monks chanting benedictions while honing their swords on blood-soaked whetstones, the Weavers wield “Permanent Changes In Consciousness” as a ghostly interlude—one that offers breathing space between “Thuja Magus Imperium” and “Subterranean Initiation,” two symphonic, multilayered epics that launch Lineage into cosmic orbit. But the disc stays tethered to terra firma; simultaneously earthen and unearthly, the closing track, “Prayer Of Transformation,” churns frantic dissonance, blackened ambience, and the choral aura of guest singer Jessika Kenney into a blur of ethereal sludge. Each shimmering chord is a crested wave; each blastbeat and bestial screech is administered with zealous conviction. Read the full review on AV Club


Blitzen Trapper – American Goldwing
Last year, some speculated that the sixth album by Portland’s Blitzen Trapper might see the band enter some kind of cosmic-progressive phase. The logic, such as it was, went that their Queen-inspired miniature rock opera “Destroyer of the Void” was indicative of the group’s future plans, where the last album’s other songs were not. However, borrowing from a host of ‘70s influences is just what Blitzen Trapper does. Had they chosen another song from the last album, critics might just as well have predicted the band would become full-time Laurel Canyon folkies, don leather for hard rock, or disband altogether allowing frontman Eric Earley to transform permanently into Bob Dylan. Thankfully, none of those things happened. On American Goldwing Blitzen Trapper remains true to itself—still inspired by its heroes, still fusing old sounds with new, and still compelling. Read the full review at Pop Matters


Tori Amos – Night of Hunters
Using a technique taken from classical music, Amos has created a cycle of repeating musical themes with her latest solo work, “Night of Hunters,” a beautiful kaleidoscope of remembering and letting go. Tori fans will be delighted to find that “Hunters” marks the return of Amos’ piano, which has taken a back seat to the electronically produced fanciness she’s favored in the recent past. Here her voice is a crystal bell with only the ivory guiding her. Tori’s preteen daughter Natashya Hawley, her voice a rich earthy tone that vacillates between Sia-esque beauty and childlike curiosity, joins her mother for duets on four tracks, most notably on the wonderful “Job’s Coffin,” their vocals playing off of each other like two calling birds. Read the Full Review

New Metal

Check out these new releases in our Headbanger Listening Station!

Revocation – Chaos of Forms

Exploding out of Boston, these thrashing tech-death masters have unleashed their third album (and second on Relapse) to the masses. Strewn with references to some of the gods in the pantheon of metal-dom, I have no doubt that this will be on many year-end best of lists. If you’ve got eyes, keep them fixed on these guys.

STAFF RECOMMENDED

Check this out if you like Slayer, Necrophagist, and Evile

 

Architects – The Here and Now

With three albums under their belt, Architects have now come around with a fairly different sound. The Here and Now sees the use of less technical aspects and a bit of a push towards a more post-hardcore, poppy sound. They’re still searching for their exact niche, but it should only be a matter of time until they’ve found it.

Check this out if you like The Dillinger Escape Plan, Bring Me the Horizon, and A Day to Remember

 
 
Arch Enemy – Khaos Legions

For over ten years now, Arch Enemy have been able to lay claim to arguably the most infamous female vocalist in metal. Fortunately, Angela Gossow’s pipes have been showing no signs of letting up and she still sounds as horrifying as she did way back on Wages of Sin. The rest of the band has also shown great resolve, with Khaos Legions being one of their best releases in years.

Check this out if you like In Flames, Dark Tranquility, and At the Gates

New Releases


Das Racist – Relax
“Relax” is Das Racist’s first commercial release, yet it shares the dense sprawl and uncomfortable laughs of the group’s previous Internet mixtapes. First single “Michael Jackson” proves an earworm equal to Das Racist’s breakthrough 2008 blog hit, “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell” — as catchy as anything by Lil Wayne, but its postmodern absurdity actually seems intentional. “Booty in the Air” suggests an R&B strip-club anthem via someone too nerdy to have ever actually gotten a lap dance, while on “Shut Up, Man,” Kool A.D. bisects a buckshot spray of surrealist wordplay evoking Ghostface and MF Doom with an insightfully pointed query: “They say I act white but sound black/ But act black but sound white/ But what’s my sound bite supposed to sound like?” He’s clearly being hypothetical: It sounds a lot like Das Racist. Read the full review on LA Times Pop & Hiss Blog


Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost
The first listen to Father, Son, Holy Ghost brings with it an almost eerie sense of familiarity, like these are songs you’ve been hearing your whole life even when you can’t place them, and it’s sometimes startling just how specific the references can be. The opening “Honey Bunny” has a shuffling beat and riff that is close to Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome”; “Love Like a River” has a verse structure, chord changes, and tinkling piano arrangement almost identical to the Beatles’ “Oh! Darlin”, which was itself a direct rip of songs like “Blueberry Hill”. “Magic” has bouncy sunshine pop chords that bring to mind something from a Have a Nice Day comp, “Die” has almost the same melody as Deep Purple’s “Highway Star”. Read the full review on Pitchfork


Can’t – Dreams Come True
Turns out dreams come true indeed – CANT is like fresh air from left field, brilliant and creative, indicative of Taylor’s versatility as a songwriter. Not many vestiges of the indie folk Taylor and his bandmates in Grizzly Bear engineer with such mastery are present here, nor are many sonic ties to the myriad groups Taylor has produced. Dreams Come True is humid and brooding and dark, constructed gracefully of layers of shuddering drum machine and dizzying bass riffs and drones (you’ll need headphones for this one). Read the full review on Pretty Much Amazing

New Releases


Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks – Mirror Traffic
Despite originally wanting to title the album L.A. Guns and putting the hard-rocking “Senator” forward as the first single, Malkmus largely lays off the Guitar Hero: The fretboard theatrics are used more sparingly and deployed to much greater effect on “Forever 28” where a “Mr. Blue Sky” bounce is interrupted by Thin Lizzy runs, or in the thrilling summertime riff of “Stick Figures in Love”. Only three songs break the five-minute barrier, and these feel far less claustrophobic than the extended tracks on the last three Jicks records. “Share the Red”‘s shambolic waltz, for instance, goes down easier than the 10-minute-long interlocking duets of “Real Emotional Trash”. Read the full review on Pitchfork


Beirut – The Riptide
You see, “The Riptide” is a demonstration. It’s an explanation that, from here on out, the band know exactly what they’re doing; they have the style, they have the skills and they have the willpower. But “The Riptide” is not the full execution. It’s a map; an overview of what is to come.

It makes sense that this is the album to finally see a release of “East Harlem” – a song Condon originally wrote when he was seventeen. Though it appeared on the “Live in Williamsburg”, it was not in finished form. Condon has been tweaking this song for years, performing different variations of it live, adding and dropping things, changing what he had (I personally had the pleasure to hear this final version of the song live in June, and can testify to how surprised I was by their changes); but it was always recognisably the same song. Of course it’s “The Riptide” when he decides to set in stone the final version of the song. The album’s about Beirut growing up, and “East Harlem” is the perfect song to represent that. Most notably, Condon’s flat singing really finds its sense of place now – becoming a layer of the music rather than becoming an imposing lead. Read the full review on The Silver Tongue


Jay Z & Kanye West – Watch The Throne
The album’s highlight, and an instant classic, is “Made in America,” a solid, slow-paced Frank Ocean-teamed jam about the American dream that reveals the main difference between West and Jay-Z: humility. Above a weirdly magnetic synthetic beat and dots of pretty piano clusters crafted by producer Sak Pace of the Jugganauts, Ocean begins by gently listing a string of saints — “sweet king Martin, sweet queen Coretta, sweet brother Malcolm … sweet baby Jesus” among them, and West offers a verse that starts off humble, but by the end he’s bragging about his power and slamming his critics — while Ocean sings “We made it in America.” Read the full Review on The LA Times

Hurricane not exciting enough? These albums might make your life a little more awesome…

Washed Out — Within & Without

Washed Out’s second full-length album, Within & Without, doesn’t only feature a cuddly stock photograph from a recent issue of Cosmopolitan, but contains dreamy, crisply executed sleepy synth to match. Even though the sound veers on the slow electronic / shoegazy side, it isn’t empty candy pop like *ahem* The Pains of Being Pure At Heart by any means. Soft and intimate like its awesomely pretty cover art (I actually like it a lot even though it was in that silly magazine), this album is super creative and sexy. Despite all of these positive feelings I have for the album, it does sound like the soundtrack of Williamsburg, Brooklyn’s hipster scene. Proof of this is that you can also hear the entire album if you hang out in Urban Outfitters for a couple hours.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEGqLpgiY-M

Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde

There was no bigger fan of Smith Western’s self-titled debut album than this girl right here – and though I was late to get on the train, I rode it all the way into late 2010, when “Dye It Blonde” was released. DIB is great, albeit considerably less “garage” and gritty than album numero uno. The boys are also 17 year old jerks on and off stage, so the thought of them sweetly pining for little teenage ladies as much as they do on this album sounds kinda gross. There are two different schools of boy swoonage in my opinion. #1: I’m James Dean and I’m going to act aloof but secretly think you’re pretty hot…let’s hang out behind the school ifyaknowhatImean and #2: I’m not ashamed of being twee and sickeningly in love with you…can you see these hearts popping above my head? Can we share a rootbeer float and stare into each other’s eyes after school? Whereas the Smith Westerns assumed the former attitude in their self-titled, Dye It Blonde is representin’ over the latter.  All background info aside, the new LP is fun, young and super glam (they sing about being all of these things proudly…kinda like MGMT flaunts their reckless, glittery youth).  As another band frequently played on Urban’s speakers, you know it’s at least excellent for bopping around to.

httpv://youtube.com/watch?v=zKRRDmug9c4

Black Lips – Arabia Mountain

Another rambunctious group of young men, The Black Lips are one of my favorite bands ever. The hobbies of these guys include making awesome garage-y rock music and not-giving-a-general-sh** what you think as long as it’s really fun and involves beer (especially onstage, where they are known to make out with each other or indecently exposure themselves to swooning/moshing fans). Arabia Mountain is relatively more produced than albums past (thanks to famous dude Mark Ronson), but as long as they keep singing about superheroes and wild tomfoolery, I’m always gonna be hardcore crushin’ these bad kids.  I mean just check out this video…it’s a few minutes of an entire cruise that was just a lineup of rock acts like Vivian Girls, Ty Segall, etc…sailing from Florida to the Bahamas on a boat with a water park, laser tag, puppet show over banana pancake breakfast, etc. Eleven year olds forever and ever…

P.S: Guess where you can hear these album all the way through? Urban Outfitters! I only point that out because although “Arabia Mountain” is smart and fun,  it’s also accessible.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqpkT2lGNW4

Michael Ian Black (stand-up comedy) – Very Famous

Raunchy! We had this playing in the store for a few tracks. Michael C. (Head Dude of Pure Pop) and I were red in the face from laughing, but the talk got a little dirty and therefore a little awkward for the kids browsing around in here. Nevertheless, if you love Stella, Wet Hot American Summer, anything to do with “The State” comedy troupe or general little boy humor, this CD was made for you. If you have no idea what any of the aforementioned are, Michael Ian Black was the funniest guy on VH1’s I Love The 80’s and I Love the 90’s series, delivering sarcastic commentary completely deadpan. Bonus!!! You can see this guy in person at Higher Ground on Saturday, October 15th.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW21lp833Vo

New Releases


The Horrors – Skying
Skying continues the evolution set in motion 2009’s Primary Colours, but with an emphasis on melody and pop form. This time, the band recorded and produced in their own studio, crafting a sound that recalls both the gothic pomp of 80s new wave and the big-screen dreaming of early-90s shoegaze, just as it was beginning to transform into chart-conquering Britpop. That the record can be heard as a catalogue of influences is nothing new for this outfit. They’ve routinely been tagged as “record collector rock” for their unabashed aping of influences from the Cramps to Can– and indeed their well-selected covers indicate a group that has spent some time in record shops. Skying isn’t likely to change that perception. The insistent chorus and Badwan’s breathy delivery on “I Can See Through You” comes off like the Psychedelic Furs run through the effects rack of My Bloody Valentine. “Monica Gems” nods to Suede with its decadent guitar swirl and Badwan’s moaning sighs. On “Endless Blue”, a horn section pops in for the floating intro as if borrowed from a James Bond theme by way of Blur or “This Is Hardcore” before the song abruptly surges into an impressive rock nosedive. The debts owed here are obvious, but the taste is impeccable, and the application is more often than not convincing. Read the full review on Pitchfork


The Rosebuds – Loud Planes Fly Low
Losing love and finding love are equally potent muses, and The Rosebuds are adept at turning both into seriously catchy songs. The North Carolina indie-pop sweethearts got divorced after 2008’s Life Like, and Loud Planes Fly Low is the sound of Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp working through their failed past to arrive at a functional future. Making the record was reportedly grueling, but the resultant emotions are the realest felt since the duo’s exuberant 2003 debut, Rosebuds Make Out. “Swooning” and “romantic” might be odd adjectives to use at this juncture, but they still apply in full force. Read the full review on The AV Club


Patti Smith – Outside Society
Punk-rock-poet-priestess, Mapplethorpian-anti-pin-up-queen, rabble-rousing-riot-grrl-archetype: Patti Smith is your go-to rock icon when it comes to underbelly doppelgangers of Pat Benatar or Stevie Nicks. Since the release of her 1975 debut Horses, she’s done the audacious thing (30-odd years later, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Nigger” still shocks), the Top 20 thing (she made Bruce Springsteen’s “Because the Night” a viable, and successful, single), and the oddball reinvention cover thing (her take on Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” with none other than Sam Shepard on banjo, is a spooky Americana delight). This 18-song primer, out August 23, spans Smith’s entire career, thankfully skirting the more ponderous poet-concept pieces in favor of straight-up rock music. Read the full review on The Boston Phoenix

New Metal

Check these new albums out in the headbanger listening station

Decapitated – Carnival is Forever
Polish tech-death metallers Decapitated are back at it after 5-year hiatus inflicted by a bus crush, the death of their drummer, and the near dissolution of the band occurring thereafter. They still sound heavy as hell, but with a slightly different approach which incorporates more prog influences from bands like Meshuggah. Overall, a good comeback. Looking forward to more.

Check this out if you like Vader, Death, and Necrophagist

 

 

Alestorm – Back Through Time
In a world where power and folk metal are dominated by the cheese of bands who wish they were vikings or medieval dragon-slayers, it’s refreshing for a band to essentially satire everything about the scene. Alestorm is a group of Scottsmen who base their sound on pirates. It’s the ultimate in cheesiness, but in all the right ways. If you haven’t heard anything else by them, Back Through Time would be a fine introduction.

Check this out if you like Ensiferum, Tyr, and Swashbuckle

What’s New @ PP

Scattered Trees – Sympathy

A deep, heart-wrenching, lyrically driven album. Stripped down and to the point, but with beautiful, unique sounds throughout. A truly therapeutic and emotional album. Watch this video and try not to laugh.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2faowUp93s

 

The Horrors – Skying

This album verges on the side of trippy. Lots of synths and filters here, paired with some very airy vocals. Reminiscent of some 80s classics. Nice touches  of feedback and reverb sprinkled in. Take a look at this cool vid!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJQk0jDZx8o

 

Archers of Loaf – Icky Mettle

This reissue is packed with all the short, catchy tunes you may or may not have listened to back in yester-year. Lo-fi and nostalgic – it’s alt. rock at it’s best. Very garage-y and fuzzy. Don’t miss it this time around! (check out this old-school video below, it’s an oldie but a goodie!)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnIBBbWFJ38