Now onto this week’s music. We have FOUR, count em, FOUR albums in the push file this week. Woah!
First off, we have the new Hop Along album, which is a personal favorite of both Trevor and myself. The songwriting is great, and her vocals are super passionate. This album rules.
In addition to that, we have the new album from noise rockers Metz, the new Built to Spill album, and some great stuff from Stealing Sheep. All of which are in the push file, and all of which are amazing! Woo yeah music!!
Check it all out below!
-Dan
**= push *= recommend
ARTIST ALBUM DESCRIPTION LABEL
| Hop Along** | Painted Shut | Totally brilliant indie rock with incredible vocals. Seriously, these pipes RIP. Lyrics center on issues of growing up and maturation. Instrumentals match the intensity of vocals. SO GOOD. I LOVE THIS. RIYL: Speedy Ortiz, Lady Lamb. Play 1,2,4,6,7,8,10. FCC clean. | Saddle Creek |
| Built to Spill** | Untethered Moon | Old rock dudes who have definitely aged really well as song-writers and musicians. Produced by guy who has worked w/ Sleater-Kinney and Elliott Smith. Great guitar layering, great songwriting. RIYL: Television. Try 3,4,5,6. | Warner Brothers |
| Metz** | II | Heavy rock with cool, heavy riffs and great dissonant echoed vocals. This album rips from the start! Jordan loves this. Try 1,2,4,5,7 | Sub Pop |
| Stealing Sleep** | Not Real | Utterly original, menacing, mechanical, polyrhythmic pop with queasy 3 part harmonies, hints of middle eastern music, 80s synth pop, creepy british folk. Play 2,3,1,6,8. RIYL: Wild Beats, St. Vincent, Warpaint. FCC clean. | Heavenly Recordings |
| Sonic Youth* | Bad Moon Rising (reissue) | Reissue of no-wave era Sonic Youth. Really abrassive, angular and intricate guitar work. Dark both sonically and lyrically, about the “dark side of America”. Recorded after tour with Swans, and that definitely shows. Try 2,6,8,9. FCC 5,7,9,10,11. RIYL: Early Swans. | Goofin’ |
| Marriages* | Salome | If you like Deafheaven. Distortion-heavy ambient metal/rock. Prog-rock influences. Singer’s voice works well with the instruments. Songs sort of blend together after a while. Try 2,3,4. | Sargent House |
| George Fitzgerald* | Fading Love | Soft electronic with danceable beats. Some deep house elements present, warm synth melodies and tender vocals by Boxed In and Lawrence Hart. Rich, personal, and dynamic. RIYL: Caribou. FCC clean. Try 1,2,4,6,8. | Double Six/Domino |
| Winter* | Supreme Blue Dream | Cutesy, twinkly, shoegaze indie-pop. Dreamy and swirly guitars. Very reverb’s all around. Pretty mellow. Play 2,3,10. RIYL: Beach House, Best Coast. | Lolipop |
| The Japanese House* | Pools to Bathe In | Very reminiscent of Imogen Heap. Acoustic flavors with lots of vocal layering and modulation. Cool, atmospheric. Worth a shot. Rec: 1. | Dirty Hit |
| Kat Winter | Islands | Electronic, very similar sounding to E. Goulding. Beats are boring, don’t get poppy enough to highligh vox. A weak EP. | Culvert |
| Kathryn Calder | Kathryn Calder | Lesser known member of Canadian power-pop supergroup the New Pornographers. Conatains elements of twee, synth pop, dream pop, power pop etc. Really good record. RIYL: New Pornographers, Belle and Sebastian, Feist. FCC clean. | Canada Factor |
| Peach Kelli Pop | Peach Kelli Pop | Fun, summery onverly simple and beachy. Lo-fi: fuzzy lyrics/vocals. Songs are all pretty similary but hey they’re a good time. Play 1,3,7,6,2. FCC clean. | Burger Records |
| Tribe Society | Delirium Sonata | Weird mich-mach of different genres sprinkled throughout. Covers of the Beatles and Smashing Pumpkins, along with a song in the style of Atlanta hip hop group Migos. Try 3,5,7. | Self-released |
| Rose Windows | S/T | Heavy psychedelic rock with witchy female vocals. Blues folk, and even doom metal influences. Try 2,3,8. FCC 7. RIYL: True Widow, Comets on Fire, Earth. | Sub Pop |
| The Ruen Brothers | Point Dume | Deep vocals, nice acoustic background guitars, slightly distorted guitar riffs, nicely produced vocals remind me of Jim Morrisson to a degree. | American Recordings |
| Elliott Moss | Highspeeds | Very James Blake influenced downtempo indie rock, taking from a lot of late 2000s indie records (Bon Iver, Alt-J, etc.). | Grand Jury |
| Skipping Girl Vinegar | The Great Wave | Catchy, repetitive melodies, lyrics and riffs. Group vocals with lead vocal, high energy at times, acoustic guitar with drums. Clean production, organs, distorted guitar at times. RIYL: Arctic Monkeys. Try 2,3,4,5. | Secret Fox |
| They Might Be Giants | Glean | Cheesy, upbeat alt rock with bizarre lyrics but catchy melodies. Highly enjoyable, but in a humerous way. Fun for air-play. Play 1-7, 10,13,14. | Megaforce |
| Cosmo Sheldrake | Pelicans We | Playful, sample-based poppy fun songs. Catchy at moments, some interesting use of samples along with singing. Try 1,2,4. FCC 5. | Self-released |
| Surfer Blood | 1000 Palms | Really boring, really bland. Lacks character and tone. Vox are way too high in the mix. Track 6 is a doo-wop song. BORING. | Joyful Noise |
| Best Coast | California Nights | Ultra produced “obsessed with California” rock//pop rock. Stadium/festival core. Lyrics are abysmal per usual only there’s studio pixie dust sprinkled on it. Catchy, I guess. SO PRODUCED. Play 1,2. FCC clean. RIYL: La Sera, Dum Dum Girls. | Harvest |
| Death | N.E.W | Proto-punk discoveries from Detroit have put out a new album. Pretty dad-rocky, but in a cool way. Definitely had punk roots, along with old world blues rock. RIYL: MC5, Ramones, Iggy Pop. FCC clean. | Tryangle Records |
| Square Pusher | Damogen Furies | Loud instrumental electonic! Squarepusher is back with his signature blend of furious drill n break drum rhythms and fast-paced jazzy bass synths. Never a weak moment. FCC clean. Try 1,3,5,2,6. | Warp |
| Martin Gore | MG | Instrumental electronic, solo project from Matin Gore of Depeche Mode. A soundtrack of eerie soundscapes, some pounding and some more atmospheric. Slow and contemplating. FCC clean. Try 1,6,8,9. | Mute |