→ August 31, 2015
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August 2015 music update.

These playlists are getting longer, but there’s just more good music out there – I even cut a few tracks because I can keep raising the bar with so much great independent music coming out. This month’s playlist has a bunch of familiar artists, but also has more pop or at least non-alternative songs than any list I’ve crafted so far. We’re also headed into a two-month span with a ton of promising albums coming out, many of which are foreshadowed here.

Deerhunter – Snakeskin. Deerhunter have been around for over a decade, and while their sound is really all over the map, I haven’t heard anything from them as cohesive or melodic as “Snakeskin,” the tumbling, funk-soaked lead single from Fading Frontier, due out in October.

Superhumanoids – Norwegian Black Metal. The second track from their sophomore album, Do You Feel OK?, due out September 11th, is just as promising as the first single “Anxious in Venice” was. I first heard the trio’s music last year via their fantastic two-sided single “Come Say Hello”/”Hey Big Bang” last year, with Sarah Chernoff’s vocals a real standout in a field of dream-pop and other indie artists who stick a female singer out front without regard to her range or depth.

CHVRCHES – Never Ending Circles. Another stellar single from their sophomore album, Every Open Eye, due out September 25th.

Pure Bathing Culture – Pray For Rain. The lead single from this Portland, Oregon, indie-pop duo is their best song yet, more modern than the ’70s vibe that permeated their debut album.

Beirut – Gibraltar. Zach Condon’s fourth album as Beirut, No No No, is due out September 11th; there’s a delightful weirdness about this song, which starts out like LCD Soundsystem’s “Dance Yrself Clean” before the piano (real) and handclaps (maybe real) come in.

The Colourist – When I’m Away. I loved the Colourist’s first single, 2013’s “Little Games,” but the rest of their debut album (released the following year) fell short of that song’s strong central hook and shifting sounds and tempos. This title track from their latest EP follows a similar formula, slightly less catchy but with a more upbeat tempo throughout.

Civil Twilight – Holy Dove. This South African quartet just put out their first album in three years, since their second album brought the minor hit “Fire Escape” to alternative radio here. “Holy Dove” isn’t quite as intense, exchanging that for a more mid-American shuffle backing up the vocal hook in the chorus.

BØRNS – The Emotion. Garrett Borns’ first full-length album, Dopamine, is due out in October, featuring a couple of the tracks from his previous EP release, but “The Emotion” is his best song to date, a shimmering, hazy song where Borns gets all the feels into his high-register vocals.

Cœur De Pirate – Carry On. Roses, the third album from Quebecois pop singer Béatrice Martin, features her first original compositions in English, although most of the album is in French like her previous work.

Allison Weiss – Golden Coast. Apparently Weiss is a big deal in indie circles, funding her first album in 2009 with a hugely successful Kickstarter (and you thought Kickstarter was just for boardgames) before that was a thing. Weiss’s indie aesthetic doesn’t really stretch to her music, as “Golden Coast” is a pop song like you’d expect to hear on a top 40 station … it’s just better than most other songs of its type, lighter on production and heavier on songcraft.

Low – Lies. I remember Low from the mid-1990s, when I kind of dismissed them as too slow and dull for my then grunge-influenced tastes, and hadn’t realized they were still around until I came across this lead single from their upcoming album, Ones and Sixes, their eleventh to date, also due out September 11th. “Lies” is slow and mournful, just like most of Low’s music; I’ve probably aged into them more than they’ve changed their sound in any way.

Neon Indian – Slumlord. The second single from Alan Palomo’s upcoming album VEGA INTL. Night School, due October 16th, is unapologetic in its devotion to early 1980s New Wave, probably to its detriment when compared to the more progressive lead single “Annie,” even though the lyrics here are quite a bit darker.

Small Black – No One Wants It to Happen to You. It’s synthpop meets shoegaze – I think Carles would call it “chillwave,” although SB themselves apparently disdain the label – with a dissonant, wailing guitar solo that elevates this song from the background to the fore.

Josh Ritter – Getting Ready to Get Down. It’s catchy, but it also makes me laugh, right down to the line “Jesus hates your high school dances;” Ritter seems to be satirizing America’s leading family of degenerates, the Duggars, in a track about a teenaged girl escaping the moral and sexual repression of her evangelical family and judgmental neighbors.

Little May – Seven Hours. The Sydney trio’s first full-length album, For the Company, is due out October 9th, featuring sweet harmonies and more acoustic-to-electric rhythm guitar lines, music rooted in folk but borrowing more from dream-pop for their melodic inspiration.

Lou Barlow – Wave. Founding member of Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh, and Folk Implosion, Barlow will release his first solo album in six years on Friday, with this track starring him on vocals and ukulele, giving the song an unmistakable beach-music feel. I do wish it didn’t sound like it was recorded in a closet, though.

Passport to Stockholm – All at Once. This young British quartet includes a cellist among its members, and that’s the distinguishing characteristic of their soaring folk-rock sound, reminiscent of Birds of Tokyo and, yes, the earlier work of Mumford & Sons.

Boy & Bear – Walk the Wire. More great independent music from Australia – I’m starting to think every adult on that continent is a member of at least one indie band.

Mutemath – Monument. I’ll admit I’m not a huge fan of Mute Math or this particular song – it’s fine, if unremarkable – but I know from past conversations many of you like the band. I’ve found their lyrics to be very disappointing; if you’re going with a name that includes “math” there’s a higher standard in my book.

Palma Violets – Danger in the Club. The title track from this British trio’s latest album sounds like a big drinking song – and like it was actually recorded in the pub where everyone was getting hammered.

Radkey – Evil Doer. I had higher hopes for this punk-pop trio’s debut album Dark Black Makeup, but it’s very safe and overproduced, emphasizing the pop over the punk. I know that not every African-American punk band can be Bad Brains, but these kids had some of that looser, angrier feel in their earlier releases.

Wavves – Heavy Metal Detox. Their fifth album, V, comes out October 2nd, and this third single from the album (not to be confused with their collaborative album with Cloud Nothings from July) is its most promising yet, hook-filled but uncompromising, probably the closest thing to a post-Nirvana act going today.

The Dead Weather – I Feel Love (Every Million Miles). This supergroup, with Jack White its best-known member, will put out its third album, Dodge and Burn, on September 25th; it includes two tracks released as singles in 2014, as well as this rocker, with White doing Jack White things on the guitar, which is what Jack White should probably spend most of his time doing.

SEXWITCH – Helelyos. SEXWITCH is Natasha Khan, a.k.a. Bat for Lashes, along with the English rock band Toy and producer Dan Carey. They’ve recorded covers of a half-dozen psychedelic tracks from around the world, including this Iranian track about “my dark girls” that takes on quite a different meaning when Khan sings it.

Deaf Wish – Sex Witch. This Aussie post-punk act’s half-hour debut album Pain is decidedly anti-commercial, almost grating, until the sudden arrival of this seventh track, a slower song that marries the anti-tonal vocal style of Kim Gordon with the dissonant math-rock of Polvo.

Battles – The Yabba. Is there a better experimental rock act going right now than Battles? I’d have it down to them and These New Puritans, as both acts produce intelligent, unpredictable, technically proficient music that manages to veer over the line into accessibility too.

Ghost B.C. – From The Pinnacle To The Pit. This bizarre Norwegian black metal act (it all ties together on my playlists) is almost shameless in its borrowing of sounds from British Heavy Metal to late-80s thrash to the Crystal Method-inspired guitar line that opens this track, the second from their most recent album, Meliora. Ghost’s members all appear under pseudonyms, and they maintain a facetious Satanic theme in their lyrics and appearance, something that only detracts from the fact that they’re producing some of the most compelling metal in the market today – it’s heavy yet melodic, eschewing death growls and blast beats but retaining the musical sensibilities of the Gothenburg style or even Finnish acts like Children of Bodom. I think the
Pitchfork review of Melioradoes a great job of summing up the album’s strengths and limitations. These guys are going to have to grow up at some point if they want to have any legacy beyond modest record sales, instead of running over the same old ground of tired black-metal tropes and Halloween costumes.

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→ August 3, 2015
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July 2015 music update.

I think this is my longest playlist to date, at least by number of tracks, and that’s after a handful of deletions that didn’t make the ultimate cut. A lot of these are preview tracks from albums due out in the next two months, so it seems like we’re headed for a great fall of new music.

CHVRCHES – Leave A Trace. They’re back with one of their best songs yet; the new album, Every Open Eye, is due on September 25.

Boxed In – Mystery. Boxed In is the stage name of solo artist Oli Bayston, who used to be in a band called Keith (great name, lads), who were joint winners in a 2006 competition with Bombay Bicycle Club, which is the band I first thought recorded this song because it sure sounds like their work. Turns out Bayston’s self-titled debut has been out for months, but this single, a minimalist, offbeat dance track, is just starting to get some airplay over here.

Prince – Stare. I’ve come to grips with the reality that 1980s/1990s Prince is gone, but “Stare” might be my favorite song from him since The Hits/The B-Sides came out in 1993. Prince at least seems to be trying to recapture the golden era of funk influences that informed his earliest recordings, something that comes through even with the sparse production that’s characterized most of his self-recorded albums from the last ten to fifteen years.

Foals – Mountain At My Gates. When these guys rock, they’re among the most interesting bands out there, but when they drift too far over toward their dance/electronic leanings, I start to fade out. This song rocks.

Superhumanoids – Anxious In Venice. Their song “Come Say Hello” was #62 on my top 100 songs of 2014, but it looks like this new track might be their breakout song – or at least the first to garner some mainstream attention, at least. They’re all about lead singer Sarah Chernoff’s voice for me, as she has tremendous range and can go from seductive to soprano in the space of a measure, but what sets “Anxious in Venice” apart is the throbbing electronic beat behind her, one of their best pop hooks ever.

Wavves/Cloud Nothings – No Life for Me. The title track from the “collaborate album” by Wavves and Dylan Baldi (who records as Cloud Nothings) is … well, actually what you’d expect if you mashed these two artists up, in a really good way. Wavves tend toward a cynical/dissonant sound, while Cloud Nothings can be monotonous, but here the two artists seem to mitigate each other’s worst tendencies for a track that’s a little bit poppy and closes out before the hook starts to wear.

Swimm – All the Time. An indie-pop duo from Florida, Swimm calls their sound “genre-blurred” on their bandcamp page, but I think it’s quite clearly electronic pop music like Grouplove or Tanlines, here boosted by a high-flying chorus.

Atlas Genius – Stockholm. There’s more great music coming out of Australia right now than any other place on earth. The brothers Jeffery (not to be confused with Jeff the Brotherhood) will put out their second album of quirky alt-rock gems later this month.

The Libertines – Gunga Din. Try not to act too surprised, but the Libertines’ big comeback song is all about getting wasted. Enjoy them while you can.

Wilco – You Satellite. Wilco’s unexpected album Star Wars (still free on amazon) also seemed, to me as a non-Wilco fan, one of their most accessible to date, but it’s the sprawling five-minute rocker “You Satellite” that grabbed me rather than the more radio-friendly “Random Name Generator.” This song’s syncopated drum line and mournful guitar lines seem more like something out of Wooden Shjips or Slowdive than classic Wilco, but instead of devolving into stoner-rock nonsense the song completes its orbit (pun intended) with a more majestic finish.

The Sword – High Country. Speaking of stoner-rock, we have The Sword, which sounds like the spiritual descendants of Deep Purple and Rainbow, losing some of their Black Sabbath inclinations here on the title track from their upcoming fifth album, due in late August.

Orchid – Helicopters. Sign of the Witch, the new four-song EP from San Francisco-based Orchid, continues down its own Sabbath-inspired path – they chose their name from an instrumental track off Sabbath’s Master of Reality – starting with this track, sort of like “War Pigs” as reinterpreted by Jim Morrison.

Years & Years – Worship. Years & Years’ debut album, Communion, came out last month and debuted at #1 on the UK charts, even reaching #47 here without a lot of radio support. It’s a safe record, like Hot Chip distilled for broader appeal, with very few moments that stood out as worth replaying. This track was the album’s highlight.

Tove Styrke – … Baby One More Time. Styrke, a Swedish pop artist, takes a pop song (and, if you remove the hypersexualized underage girl from the original’s equation, a good one) and makes it into something new, with a darker twist to the song and a synth line that sounds like a Lo-Fi All-Stars riff. It’s far better than the other cover running around this month, Nekokat’s perfunctory, cash-grabbing cover of the Cure’s “Boys Don’t Cry.”

Passion Pit – Until We Can’t (Let’s Go). These guys seem to be good for one great track per album; this is the one from their April release Kindred.

Metric – Cascades. The third single from their upcoming album isn’t as immediate – ugh, I can’t believe I used that word – as “The Shade,” but it’s a similarly mature track from the Canadian outfit whose early stuff drove me up a wall.

The Helio Sequence – Battle Lines. This Portland duo’s eponymous sixth album came out in late May on Sub Pop but I missed it in all the draft prep I was doing at the time. “Battle Lines” is a dreamlike, textured track that has a hint of melancholy in the reverbed vocals and a tropical underpinning in the drum line, probably a shade too long at 4:20 (heh).

Mimicking Birds – Dead Weight. These guys seem too smart for even the smarter (if more self-important) corners of popular and “alternative” music, especially in the lyrics to this track, which read more like poetry than rock lyrics. It’s mournful and immersive until the odd smooth-jazz outro.

Telegraph Canyon – Why Let It Go. Arcade Fire with a tinge of country? They’re called “Americana” in reviews, but that’s not only a subtle insult, it diminishes the breadth of their sound and the members’ prodigious technical skills.

Houndmouth – Say It. Now this is more Americana, right? Or maybe alt-country or roots-rock. I’ve noticed “Sedona,” which appeared on my April playlist, is getting a little mainstream airplay, so, you know, way to catch up.

Cloves – Don’t You Wait. I can’t quite get my head around Cloves’ bizarre pronunciations (what she does to the word “better” might qualify as vandalism), but her voice is haunting and strong, reminding me of how I felt when I first heard Fiona Apple’s “Shadowboxer” and couldn’t get over that voice coming from an eighteen-year-old.

Chelsea Wolfe – After the Fall. I don’t know what to make of this song, but it creeps me out. She cites lots of dark influences, including black metal acts, but the morbid feel of “After the Fall” comes from atmosphere rather than blast beats or death growls.

Telekinesis – In a Future World. This song from Portland indie rocker Michael Benjamin Lerner is so new his own website doesn’t mention it, but it’s the lead single from his upcoming album Ad Infinitum, due out on September 18th. It’s a departure from his power-pop output to date, instead drawing heavily on early 1980s synth-pop and new wave, and I think the best song I’ve heard from him.

Shura – White Light. Aleksandra Denton has yet to produce a full-length album, with this track coming from her first EP release, itself just three songs long. It’s electro-pop more than “alternative,” with a definite R&B influence underneath her vocals, which are reminiscent of Leanne Macomber’s.

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→ June 30, 2015
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June 2015 music update.

Huge month for new tracks and albums; I ended up cutting this list down (or, as I like to think of it, raising my standards) by dropping a few songs that didn’t hold my attention on multiple listens. By the way, I have a new Insider post from scouting Tyler Glasnow and Josh Bell last night in Harrisburg.

Cloves – Frail Love. A nineteen-year-old singer/songwriter from Australia, Cloves put out this debut single just two weeks ago, and it’s my song of the month without a doubt. It’s Bat for Lashes’ “Laura,” but more sparse, more emotional, and somehow more raw thanks I think to Cloves’ peculiar intonation (did she really say “twooth?”).

HAERTS – Animal. There isn’t enough Nini Fabi on this song for my tastes, but I love the huge drum fill that announces her arrival. This track was released along with a cover of Jeff Buckley’s “Everybody Here Wants You.”

Wolf Alice – You’re a Germ. The London quartet just released their full-length debut album after several EPs, and it’s a banger, with more influences than I could possibly count across a dozen tracks that explore multiple corners of modern rock. They’re a band, but it’s three guys backing up singer Ellie Roswell, whose charisma defines the album’s best tracks, whether she’s whispering or shouting – both of which occur within this, the best song on the album.

Beck – Dreams. The Beck I like is back; Morning Phase didn’t do it for me, sorry.

Beirut – No No No. Zach Condon’s world music/rock blend is back, with their first album in four years dropping in August. I’m mixed on this song, which is perhaps a little too deliberately weird (especially in the vocals) for my tastes.

Jamie xx w/Romy – SeeSaw. I loved “Loud Places,” I hated “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times),” and I like “SeeSaw.” I think Jamie xx has tremendous ideas, but the execution varies too widely from song to song. Perhaps that’s by design too. He’s already produced more songs I liked than the xx have over two albums.

Highly Suspect – Claudeland. I feel like I should be drunk in a dive bar when I hear this hard blues-rocker, which is funny because I’ve never been drunk in a dive bar.

Frank Turner – Get Better. Folk-punk icon Turner hit my radar in 2013 with Tape Deck Heart, one of my top 13 albums of that year, featuring the track “Recovery,” which hasn’t left my main playlist since I first heard it. “Get Better” is harder with more electric guitars, but the message is very similar and the lyrics are just as wry.

Kid Astray – Diver. The Norwegian indie-pop wackos have put out their proper full-length debut, Home Before the Dark, featuring their 2013 hit “The Mess” and this mid-80s alt-pop gem, a little time out of joint number with a swaying synth line at its heart.

Heartless Bastards – Gates of Dawn. I’d never heard of Heartless Bastards until hearing this song, but they’ve been around since 2003 and even appeared on Austin City Limits in 2009, so I’m just behind the curve. There’s a tinge of country and a shimmer of melancholy in their approach on this indie-rock track, which wouldn’t have sounded out of place on a college radio station in 1993.

Girlpool – Chinatown. I can’t decide if they’re annoying; “Before the World Was Big” is definitely annoying, but the harmonies the two members hit on the chorus here are strong. They remind me of Hinds (ex-Deers), critical darlings who don’t seem to play particularly good music, neither from a technical nor a melodic perspective.

Totally Mild – Move On. I mean, if you wanted to get my attention, you didn’t have to go as far as this album cover (real subtle with the symbolism in front there). This is soft, shimmering pop music, and you know it’s Australian because they have that same jangling Go-Betweens influence that every Aussie alternative act seems to have. There’s also a bit of early Lush, another band that had harder lyrical edges disguised by high-pitched female vocals.

Gardens & Villa – Fixations. The latest single from the Santa Barbara indie-pop outfit, who just missed my top 100 last year with “Colony Glen,” has a late ’70s soft-rock vibe, which is not normally my jam. In this case it works for me because of the hook in the chorus and the layered chorus (including the reverbed falsetto lead vocal) that make it better than the sort of pablum that made 10cc moderately famous.

Atlas Genius – Molecules. The first single from the band’s second album sounds a lot like the hits from their first album, but I’m okay with that.

Veruca Salt – Laughing In The Sugar Bowl. The Volcano Girls are back, and Louise and Nina have buried the hatchet. This song sounds like very little time has passed since Eight Arms to Hold You, and that’s a very good thing in my book. I don’t think the song’s title is coincidental, as their brand of hard rock always had a slightly saccharine edge to it.

The Maccabees – Marks To Prove It. Another runner-up to alt-J’s An Awesome Wave in the 2012 Mercury Prize voting, the Maccabees are about to release their follow-up album to their nominee from that year, Given to the Wild. This lead single has a harder edge to it, but if that’s not your thing, check out the electronic, ’80s-inflected remix by Public Broadcasting Service.

White Reaper – Pills. This is the second single from the Louisville punk-pop quartet’s upcoming album White Reaper Does It Again, due out on July 17th, that I’ve included on a playlist this year; it’s a little formulaic, but their music boasts strong hooks and an infectious energy that sets them apart from most of the neo-punk acts in the market right now.

The Kenneths – Cool As You. If I told you this was a secret punk band fronted by Elvis Costello, you’d believe me after listening to it. They are a punk band and they are British and this is catchy but Elvis is not in this particular building.

Desaparecidos – Golden Parachutes. Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes and a thousand other side projects has resurrected Desaparecidos, an overtly left-wing punk/hard-rock act who recorded an album in 2002 and then broke up, reuniting in 2010 for some concerts. They put out a few singles in 2012, both of which are on their new album Payola, which has a Hüsker Dü vibe to the music but with louder, angrier vocals.

Ghost – Cirice. So, here’s where the trio of metal tracks starts, and this one requires some explanation. As Ghost BC, this Norwegian band recorded two albums of dark metal that were overshadowed by their ridiculous image (the members are anonymous and appear in costumes) and their openly Satanic lyrics (which the band says are tongue-in-cheek). I have no use for any of this; it’s like they wanted to be the next Mercyful Fate or the heirs to Satyr and Mayhem, and instead turned out to be the Norwegian Slipknot. They’ve dropped the “BC” from their names, while this new song, the first from their upcoming album Meliora, sounds like a lost Diamond Head track, heavy in the way that underground British Heavy Metal acts of the late 1970s and early 1980s were before thrash and speed metal took over. I’m at least interested to see if the band ditches the ridiculous trappings of their old look and focuses more on the music as they appear to have done here.

Sons of Huns – An Evil Unseen. This Portland stoner-metal trio has deep roots in ’70s heavy metal with hints of Seattle grunge (more Tad and Mudhoney than Pearl Jam or Nirvana). Their second album, While Sleeping Stay Awake, comes out in mid-July and can be pre-ordered for $7 on their site.

Slayer – Repentless. Jeff Hanneman’s death left a large hole in Slayer, as he wrote or co-wrote most of their signature songs; it wasn’t immediately clear if the band would record again after alcoholism claimed him (due to cirrhosis) in 2013. “Repentless,” the title track from their twelfth studio album (due out in September), is a full-on thrasher with a vintage Slayer riff but subpar lyrics.

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→ June 1, 2015
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May 2015 music update.

I think this is my longest music update yet, 21 songs and 73 minutes total. Also, my final ranking of the top 100 prospects for this year’s draft will be up tomorrow for Insiders.

The Chemical Brothers – Go. Ten years after their first collaboration on “Galvanize,” the Chemical Brothers reunite with Q-Tip for this new track, with better lyrics this time from the brother Abstract and an equally catchy bit of electronic music that has Rowlands and Simons seeming in an almost poppy mood.

Metric – The Shade. I’ve never been a big Metric fan, finding their lyrics superficial yet pretentious, as if they felt like they had Really Big Themes to discuss but didn’t have the creative chops to do it. (It’s odd, since the lead singer’s father is a noted poet.) Here the Canadian quartet downshift slightly in their topic, and the song’s imagery, while predictable, works with the whinging chorus to create a deep sense of yearning and an emotional connection I haven’t heard from them before.

The Wombats – This Is Not A Party. The British act’s third album Glitterbug is one of my favorite spins of the year, and this is the third track from that record I’ve put on a playlist in the last four months. Matthew Murphy is a modern-day Morrissey with his wry humor and latent cynicism, but everything’s couched in these infectious musical packages that make this their best work yet.

Cayucas – Moony Eyed Walrus. It’s not quite “High School Lover,” their modest hit from 2013, but the Yudin brothers’ new single has some silly lyrics and a surfer/low-fi pop vibe.

Tame Impala – Disciples. I’m just stunned Kevin Parker could put out a song this short – it clocks in at under two minutes. It’s admirable restraint.

Torres – Cowboy Guilt. I’m not a big Torres fan (although I understand the boardgame is pretty good), but this song is an exception with the lilting riff that backs up the initial verses leading up to a heavier, denser chorus. I can’t quite explain what happens at the two-minute mark, though.

Django Django – 4000 Years. My second-favorite track from their latest album, Born Under Saturn, which is solid all the way through but doesn’t have the huge breakout hits that their debut had in “Default” and “Hail Bop.”

White Reaper – I Don’t Think She Cares. Punk-pop with a little hint of early Vines.

Desaparecidos – Backsell. The first album from this side project of Conor Oberst (leader of Bright Eyes) since 2002 features this song, originally released in 2012 (along with “MariKKKopa,” about Arizona tyrant Sheriff Joe Arpaio). I’ve seen them described as emo and punk, but it’s really just loud alternative, not that dissimilar in style from the Foo Fighters but a good bit smarter.

Tei Shi – Bassically. A recommendation from reader Courtney, who accurately pegs this as something fans of Grimes would enjoy. The video is a fashion nightmare – is she wearing a giant red diaper? – with some highly stoned dance moves.

Joy Williams – Until the Levee. Williams, formerly half of the country duo The Civil Wars, keeps dropping new singles from her upcoming album Venus, each of which shows off her powerful voice in a different motif.

Tanlines – Slipping Away. I miss the darker note from their 2012 song “All of Me,” but this has the sort of effortless sunny tone of a summer hit.

Horsebeach – Disappear. Mancunian, ethereal, jangly indie-pop that sounds like an Inspiral Carpets song covered by Wild Nothing.

The Vaccines – Minimal Affection. I have no idea what to make of the Vaccines at this point; their punk-pop hit “Teenage Icon” was one of my favorite tunes of 2012, while their latest album, English Graffiti, is moodier and draws just as heavily on British new wave and two-tone ska revivalist music as on the punk and post-punk movements that informed their earlier work. Maybe the Vaccines are coming of age an album later than promised.

Total Babes – Blurred Time. I keep reading how these guys are a spinoff or offshoot of Cloud Nothings, but the only direction connection is a shared drummer, and even that is tenuous since Cloud Nothings is really a one-man project. Regardless of their relationship to that other Cleveland act, Total Babes put out music that’s somewhat similar to Dylan Baldi’s output but more focused and less overproduced, noisy punk-pop with a sunnier overtone.

Mourn – Gertrudis, Get Through This! A quartet of teens, three of them girls, from Barcelona, Mourn put out a debut album last fall and just followed it up with a three-song EP, boasting a more melodic but still rough-edged rock sound. There’s definitely a familiar note here that reminded me of Hinds (ex-Deers), another female-led rock act from Spain, but Mourn’s music is far more advanced and they probably deserve some of Hinds’ hype.

Destroyer – Dream Lover. Destroyer is Dan Bejar of New Pornographers fame, and if you liked his “War on the East Coast” on Brill Bruisers you’ll like “Dream Lover” as well.

Neon Indian – Annie. Alan Palomo’s first full-length album since 2011 is due later this year, and this first single reminds me of St. Lucia’s debut record, but where the latter’s Jean-Philippe Grobler brings his South African roots to his music, Palomo’s instrumentation (especially the percussion) here sounds more Mexican or Native American.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Can’t Keep Checking My Phone. This song is all about Riley Geare’s percussion lines, which sound like they were lifted from a salsa record and used to create this psychedelic soul-tinged track instead.

Seoul – The Line. Another song that reminds me of Wild Nothing – a band I discovered through a few reader suggestions in 2012 – in its dreampop stylings and hard-to-make-out vocals.

Creepoid – American Smile. The first single from this Philadelphia quartet’s latest album, Cemetery Highrise Slum, calls to mind Titus Andronicus, Mudhoney, and early Nirvana, with a sludgy guitar line and the general feeling of slowly tumbling down the side of a mountain.

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→ May 4, 2015
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April 2015 music update.

My latest draft blog post covers Georgia prep catcher Tyler Stephenson and includes lots of gossip on teams’ preferences for their first picks. I’ve got a top 100 draft ranking due to run on Tuesday.

Django Django – Shake and Tremble. Due on Tuesday, Django Django’s sophomore album, Born Under Saturn, marks their first output since their Mercury Prize-nominated debut, an album that likely would have won the award had it not run into the alt-J juggernaut that year. If you liked “Default” and “Hail Bop,” this lead single will be up your alley, with a similar psychedelic/dance beat but more hints of the heyday of pop-rock in the 1970s and ’80s.

The National – Sunshine on My Back. I shouldn’t like this song, an unreleased track from their Trouble Will Find Me sessions that combines two vocalists whose singing styles I dislike, Matt Berninger and Sharon Van Etten. You can understand Berninger’s words here – maybe that’s why they left it on the cutting room floor – and I love the way all of the instruments work together to provide an enormous buildup of tension that calls for a catharsis that never arrives.

Houndmouth – Sedona. Roots-rock that draws from alt-country and american folk traditions. I could see Houndmouth becoming the new Mumford & Sons, a band that crosses over into the mainstream by putting harmonic elements and pop arrangements on top of genres that don’t typically attract top 40 attention.

Drenge – Favourite Son. The most Drenge-like track from their strong sophomore album, Undertow, which I reviewed two weeks back.

Lord Huron – Meet Me in the Woods. I reviewed Strange Trails, the band’s second album, in mid-April; this is one of my two favorite tracks on the album.

Mumford & Sons – The Wolf. Speaking of Mr. Mulligan and friends, they’ve plugged in for their forthcoming album, Wilder Mind, which comes out on Tuesday … but so far I’m not hearing anything remotely new in the singles they’ve released. It sounds like Babel with electric guitars, and, speaking as someone who truly enjoyed their debut album, I am not interested in a rehashing of their somewhat stagnant follow-up.

The Wombats – Emoticons. Their latest album, Glitterbug, feels like it has some breakthrough potential, with more consistent work across the record’s eleven tracks, slightly poppier melodies, and all of the wit and wordplay that has made Matthew Murphy one of my favorite lyricists.

San Cisco – Too Much Time Together. I’ve only given their sophomore album, Gracetown, a couple of spins so far, but I’ve liked most of what I’ve heard; this track is my daughter’s favorite and I think it’s easy to hear why.

Tame Impala – Cause I’m A Man. The lyrics are a step up for Tame Impala front man Kevin Parker, although I find his falsetto a bit cloying; I could see this ballad getting cross-over airplay thanks to the music’s heavy influences from 1960s and 1970s soft-rock artists, without abandoning Tame Impala’s trademark psychedelic sound.

Kero Kero Bonito – Picture This. My pick for the feel-good hit of the summer; KKB’s previous songs are all disposable if not outright embarrassing J-Pop trifles, but this song has an obnoxious edge to its lyrics (mocking folks who photograph every aspect of their lives so they can share the pics on social media) and music that was absent from their previous efforts.

Failure – Hot Traveler. This alternative trio will release their first album in nineteen years in late June, and only their fourth full-length release overall. They suffered a bit from overgenrification in their 1990s heyday, touring with Tool (a much heavier, more prog-rock act) while not quite fitting in with the grunge or post-hardcore movements that were the flavor of the year. If you don’t remember Failure’s work, you probably know of former member Troy Van Leeuwen, who is currently a member of Queens of the Stone Age and played with A Perfect Circle on three albums.

Wild Beasts – Woebegone Wanderers II. An unexpected new release from the British art-rock quartet whose music is only consistent in its weirdness, this song is a sort of sequel to the track of the same name from their 2008 debut album, Limbo, Panto.

Speedy Ortiz – The Graduates. Their second full-length album, Foil Deer, came out on April 20th, with a very similar overall noise-pop vibe to their debut, featuring Sadie Dupuis’ faintly warbling vocals and the band’s heavy use of unexpected chord changes and tritone-based riffs.

Jamie xx with Romy – Loud Places. Both members of the Mercury Prize-winning, highly overrated indie-pop act the xx, Jamie (producer) and Romy (singer) collaborated on this, the only decent song I’ve ever heard from him (Jamie). It’s by turns sad and ecstatic, a pastiche of song scraps that wouldn’t appear to work together until you hear them.

Strange Wilds – Pronoia. Strange Wilds are a power trio from the Pacific Northwest who bear a strong resemblance to pre-Nevermind Nirvana and are signed to Sub Pop, the label that owned grunge before the term went mainstream. Their first album is due this summer.

Ceremony – Your Life In France. Post-punk that derives musically from Wire (whom they covered on a 2011 EP) and Gang of Four, but here skipping the politics for a song about loss and regret. “The Separation,” another promising track from their forthcoming album, is getting some airplay on Sirius XM.

Violent Soho – Fur Eyes. The best track from the Australian alternative band’s album Hungry Ghost, which was released in their home country in September 2013 but didn’t come out here until a year later, and is just now getting a fresh marketing push.

Of Monsters and Men – I Of The Storm. I might be looking forward to this album as much as any due the rest of this year.

Kid Astray – Cornerstone. This Norwegian sextet had a hit on alternative radio in 2013 with “The Mess,” a song that was both catchy and incredibly quirky, sounding at multiple points like the band had cut up several tracks and stitched them back together at random. This track has a much more conventional structure, and the shared male/female vocals have them firmly in Naked & Famous territory.

Torres – Sprinter. I’m not a huge fan of Mackenzie Scott’s solo work (that would be Paul Boyé’s domain), but there’s some promise in the singles from her upcoming second album. I think it’s her voice that keeps me from becoming a bigger fan.

Blur – Lonesome Street. Remember when Blur’s music was cheerful and energetic, even when Damon Albarn’s lyrics were their most biting? “Country House,” “Charmless Man,” “Chemical World,” “Girls and Boys” – these songs were all exuberant in contrast with their satirical nature. Blur’s new album, The Magic Whip, their first since 2003, is positively maudlin in contrast with all of their work from the mid-90s, before their discography took a turn for the worse with 13. Only three tracks from this album could stand up with their Britpop halcyon days – “Go Out,” “I Broadcast,” and the opener “Lonesome Street,” which boasts a shuffling, syncopated guitar line that seems like a lengthy allusion back to Modern Life is Rubbish. It’s good to have a little bit of the old Blur back, but the album as a whole was a disappointment.

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→ April 17, 2015
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Strange Trails.

Lord Huron’s first full-length album, 2012’s Lonesome Dreams, spawned a minor crossover hit in the single “Time to Run,” a folk/alt-country song that I put at #35 on my list of my top 100 songs of 2013. That song stood out on the album for its upbeat tempo and shuffling guitar pattern that is in itself a foundational element of the group’s second album, Strange Trails, which came out on April 7th.

The album begins in more subdued fashion, almost like (dare I say it) a Mumford and Sons “let’s have a slow bit, then a faster bit, then a slow bit again” track, “Love Like Ghosts,” a song with big sounds that seem designed to fill an arena without surrendering that syncopation that is such an essential part of the group’s sound. The same rhythm works more effectively when the pace picks up on “Until the Night Turns,” the swirling “Hurricane,” and “Meet Me in the Woods,” with a melody very reminiscent of that of the War on Drugs’ “Red Eyes.”

I frequently see Lord Huron pegged as indie-folk or folk-rock or just alternative, but this album is much more country than any of those labels would lead you to believe, although on some level it’s all just marketing copy. It’s guitar-driven, shuffling, yearning music that probably draws as much from rockabilly and the Bakersfield sound as it does from any folk or indie-rock tradition. It isn’t as sentimental as its musical progenitors, which were more products of their time in lyrical tone and in a production style that forced the twang of the guitars to the forefront, yet maintains a strong connection to its roots through shared rhythms and motifs. That makes Strainge Trails‘ strength also its main drawback: there’s little variation from the group’s fundamental sound, just alterations in pacing. That’s part of why “The World Ender” stands out to me as the album’s best track: the music is similar to everything else on the record, but the lyrics are darker, so it’s more Johnny Cash than Buck Owens and the Buckaroos.

That revivalist mantle might fit Lord Huron better, as they seem to revel in long-forgotten sounds that haven’t been popular since the death of the border blasters. The album closes with the mid-tempo “Louisa,” a love song with an arpeggiated rhythm guitar line, and “The Night We Met,” which recycles the main melodic line from the opening track – a nod back to a nod back. There’s nothing wrong (in my mind, at least) with a band committing itself to a retro sound, especially when it’s one to which so much of rock, folk, and country owes a debt. I would like to see more experimentation or modern flourishes within that sound, however; it’s an album you’ll like if you liked the first Lord Huron record, but I hope their next album covers new ground.

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→ April 6, 2015
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March 2015 music update.

My breakdown of the Craig Kimbrel/Melvin Upton trade is up for Insiders, as are my (for entertainment purposes only) standings and awards predictions for 2015.

My apologies for the delay on this month’s playlist, but I was on the move most of last week and didn’t have much writing time. This list is heavy on tracks from albums that came out in March, which was a fertile month for new releases from major alternative acts.

Lord Huron – The World Ender. Lord Huron’s new album, Strange Trails, comes out on the 7th; I have an advance copy and have enjoyed it, although it doesn’t have a cross-over hit like “Time to Run.” This track’s dark, shuffling rhythm matches the macabre lyrics perfectly, and it’s the style I’d like to see vocalist/guitarist Ben Schneider employ more frequently.

Of Montreal – Bassem Sabry. Of Montreal are actually of Athens, Georgia, and defy any easy characterization as their sound changes from album to album and sometimes from track to track. Their thirteenth album, Aureate Gloom, came out in early March, and returns the band to their rock roots, with some psychedelic-rock inflections that seem to come from the 1970s.

Purity Ring – stranger than earth. The Canadian duo’s second album, another eternity, also came out in March, and was stronger overall than their debut, lyrically and musically, although I wish the band didn’t push Megan James’s vocals through the effects board so frequently, as they make her otherwise gorgeous voice sound tinny and shrill.

Young Fathers – Shame. Winners of the 2014 Mercury Prize, Young Fathers will put out their second proper full-length, White Men Are Black Men Too, on Tuesday the 7th. I can’t vouch for the title’s accuracy, but this lead single continues their trend of combining electronic sounds and world-music rhythms with sparse lyrics, some rapped and some sung, so that characterizing them strictly as a hip-hop group seems to fall well short of the mark.

San Cisco – RUN. Their 2013 track “Awkward” was my #18 song of that year, and released a full-length album, Gracetown, early last month. The disc is solid with a number of upbeat, Aussie-pop gems, including this track and “Too Much Time Together,” yet another band leading the giant wave of great indie-pop acts from down under.

Modest Mouse – The Ground Walks, with Time in a Box. I was disappointed in Modest Mouse’s album, Strangers to Ourselves which finds them kind of stuck in neutral, maybe even sliding backwards without Johnny Marr’s pop-rock sensibilities to keep Issac Brock from veering on to the shoulder. When the tempo’s up and Brock’s lyrics come at you like a deluge from an open fire hydrant, Modest Mouse’s music becomes fascinatingly bizarre, as in this track, which seems to be constantly spinning rather than moving in the typical linear fashion of a pop/rock song, running six solid minutes of strangeness.

Death Cab for Cutie – Ingenue. Death Cab’s latest album, Kintsugi, marks their first album since guitarist/producer Chris Walla left the band, although his work appears on the album. The sound is different, however, more distinctly a Ben Gibbard record, with Gibbard’s trademark earnest lyrics and delivery but lacking something – a little acidity, or a pinch of salt – to balance out the preciousness he can emote when his voice is mixed to the front of a track. The flip side is that the album feels more accessible, perhaps even a bit more commercial, because Gibbard’s hooks stand out so much more.

Of Monsters And Men – Crystals. The new album is due June 9th. I can’t wait, but I’m also concerned we might just get more of the same, the way Mumford & Sons underwhelmed with their second album.

Black Rivers – The Ship. The other two-thirds of Doves have formed their own group, and their sound is more like that of their original band than the solo work of singer/bassist Jimi Goodwin. The Williams brothers bring some electronic elements into their music, more than we ever got on any Doves album, but whichever brother is singing isn’t quite up to the task.

Courtney Barnett – Elevator Operator. I reviewed her amazing debut album last week, and this opening track is one of my favorites, both for the story she tells in the lyrics and the way the music announces the shift in her style to a heavier, more rock-base dsound.

Lower Dens – Société Anonyme. Pitchfork loved this album, Julia from Sirius XM loves this album, but I do not love this album. It’s pleasant but tame, too light on hooks. “To Die in L.A.,” the lead single, is its best track (with its most memorable riff); this song, the final track on the album, was my second favorite.

Tame Impala – Let It Happen. Good song, but really, Kevin, seven freaking minutes? Who do you think you are, Opeth?

Grimes – REALiTi (Demo). It doesn’t have The Drop of her dubstep hit from last year, “Go,” but Grimes seems to have learned how best to deploy her childlike soprano over the electronic eclectica of most of her discography. This song is a demo from her fourth album, which she has reportedly scrapped but might still release some day. She should, if this song is any indication of what it’s like.

Westkust – Swirl. Pitchfork comped Westkust to shoegaze, but the vocals are way too clear for that comparison to hold much water, and there’s more of a California tinge to their melancholy than the Oxonian sound of Swervedriver or Ride. The Swedish band’s debut album is due here in the U.S. in “early summer.”

Speedy Ortiz – The Graduates. I’ve reached the point where Speedy Ortiz could release a cover of John Cage’s “4’33″” and I’d put it on a playlist.

Joy Williams – Woman (Oh Mama). Williams was the singing half of The Civil Wars, and also the attractive half, but that group dissolved in apparent acrimony (you’d think the name would have tipped them off) last summer. Williams was a solo Christian contemporary artist before going alt-country in the Civil Wars, but this lead single from her album Venus is more like smart pop, a feminist anthem just waiting to be discovered.

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→ April 2, 2015
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Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit.

My latest boardgame review for Paste covers NanoBot Battle Arena. I also have an updated top 50 prospects ranking up for Insiders.

Courtney Barnett’s two singles from 2014, “Avant Gardener” and “History Eraser,” were both on my top 100 tracks of the year primarily for her clever, witty lyrics, which told complete stories with inventive wordplay and a willingness to break out of standard meters and rhyme schemes. Her first true full-length album, Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit, more than delivers on the promise of those earlier songs, with better hooks and more upbeat rock sounds while maintaining the high standard of wordsmithing she’d already set for herself.

Led by two stomping tracks, “Elevator Operator” and lead single “Pedestrian at Best,” Sometimes I Sit… is a tour de force of finding humor in despair and setting it to a guitar-rich soundtrack; it harkens back to the halcyon days of the Smiths, where Johnny Marr could get you off the couch and Morrissey would send you to the therapist’s. The opener tells the story of a disaffected white-collar worker who has had enough of cubicle life and reveals that all he ever wanted was to be an elevator operator; the second track comes at you like a shouted-word (rather than spoken-) statement of purpose, with a chorus that candidly offers, “Put me on a pedestal and I’ll only disappoint you/Tell me I’m exceptional and I promise to exploit you.” Barnett has no use for the typical tropes of the female pop artist, and instead asserts herself in juxtaposition with statements of insecurity or even occasional self-loathing.

Barnett is too young to remember the ’80s but there are hints of that decade’s strain of British new wave artists who built their hooks around guitars rather than synths and employed wry irony that often went over listeners’ heads throughout the album. “Debbie Downer” sounds like the descendant of an Aztec Camera tune, shockingly upbeat for its title (where, indeed, she’s told by a somewhat older woman to quit frowning, only to inform her target, “Don’t stop listening, I’m not finished yet”). “Aqua Profunda!” revisits a common theme in Barnett’s lyrics, that of the embarrassing incident, this one where she’s swimming in a lap pool, notices the guy in the next lane, and tries to impress him, only to have the whole thing go awry. “Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go to the Party” is true.

Barnett’s slower songs have always fallen short of the mark for me because she’s not a singer; she talk-sings, and her lyrics would largely work as spoken-word offerings anyway, but without solid music behind her the unmusical nature of her voice is exposed. Sometimes I Sit has two long, meandering bluesy tracks, “Small Poppies” and “Kim’s Caravan,” that clock in at just about seven minutes apiece and couldn’t hold my attention that long. When she reduces the tempo, it works better with more storytelling; “Depreston” starts out as an ennui-scented trip to buy a house in the suburbs, only to turn dark when she sees signs of the previous owner’s life in some of the house’s features and décor. The story evolves so that the languid pace of the song never becomes an obstacle for the listener. Plus she points out in the lyrics that by making coffee at home she’s saving $23 a week; we should all admire such thrift. “Dead Fox” is one of the album’s catchier songs, but it’s a rare case of Barnett’s lyrics – a critique of consumerism (including the feel-good variety) – feeling forced.

Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit is the best debut album I’ve heard so far this year, and one of maybe a half-dozen albums I can think of so far this decade that I’d recommend on the basis of its lyrics alone. Barnett’s ideas threaten to spill out of the speakers, and the quality of her music is already improving. She’s probably destined to remain on alternative stations because of her quirky delivery and too-cerebral lyrics (you have to pay attention to them), but she deserves a wide enough audience to keep her producing this kind of art for many more albums.

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→ March 1, 2015
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February 2015 music update.

I’ve got a new draft blog post up on Kyler Murray, Ke’Bryan Hayes, and AJ Minter.

February started weakly for new music, but I ran into a number of new releases towards the end of the month that gave me enough to fill out an hour-long playlist, which is usually my goal for each of these posts. March should be very strong, with new albums due from Purity Ring, Modest Mouse, Lower Dens, and Death Cab for Cutie.

Saint Motel – My Type. Definitely my song of the month, as it’s this wildly exuberant funk-infused pop gem that just appeared on my radar a few weeks ago (thanks to increasingly heavy rotation on Sirius XM’s Alt Nation) but that hit #2 in Italy at some point in 2014. They’re an American quartet from LA with an album and a few singles/EPs to their credit, but this was my first exposure to them. The follow-up single “Cold Cold Man” isn’t up to this level but is also solid enough to be a hit in its own right.

Rose Windows – Glory, Glory. Psychedelic rock with a hint of doom metal that reminded me of early Trouble (the Metal Blade/Def American years), but with a female lead singer and more of a rock stomp to the chorus. I’m not sure there’s enough of a market for this kind of music any more, as it sits somewhere in the grey space between several different subgenres, but there certainly should be.

The Wombats – Greek Tragedy. Somehow these Liverpudlians keep churning out hilarious, poppy singles that avoid grating like the novelty songs they would otherwise appear to be, from “Let’s Dance to Joy Division” to “Your Body is a Weapon” to this track, which comes from their upcoming April release Glitterbug. Their hooks are their main strength, but the wry lyrics of all of these songs elevate them above the field of generic songwriting even within indie pop.

Chromatics – Just Like You. Chromatics have changed their sound so often that I don’t know how to characterize them; this particularly track, available as a free download (at least right now) on soundcloud, is sort of ambient synth-pop that’s light on the pop and heavy on the ethereal elements, like a quiet monk’s chant over a faint electronic beat.

Blur – Go Out. Britpop is dead, but Blur will release their first album in twelve years this April. I wouldn’t say I love this song, but I’m cautiously optimstic that we’ll get something akin to the classic Blur sound now that Graham Coxon is back in the fold.

The Little Secrets – All I Need. Another Liverpool act, this one a duo, The Little Secrets just put out this debut single, a bright and shiny bit of classic pop with a vocalist who sounds quite a bit like Sarah Shannon of the ’90s power-pop act Velocity Girl.

Life in Film – Get Closer. I thought these guys were from Australia between the lead singer’s accent and the band’s peculiar sound, but they’re actually from Hackney, England, so I guess you could call them hackneyed. This track reminds me a bit of classic English Beat right down to the lead singer’s vocal resemblance to Dave Wakeling.

The Bots – Blinded. A couple of brothers who haven’t even reached legal drinking age, The Bots just put out their debut album in October, an eclectic mix of stoner and garage-rock tracks that often sounds very young in its lack of discipline. Lead single “Blinded” is more focused than most of the album with a heavier groove-metal feel behind the vaguely White Stripes/Drenge-ish aesthetic.

ELEL – 40 Watt. The newest project of Ben Elkins, formerly of Heypenny, the eight-piece ELEL released this debut single late last year, with a promising, unusual sound that incorporates some faintly Caribbean rhythm elements behind an earworm chorus.

Speedy Ortiz – Raising the Skate. Speedy Ortiz is an acquired taste with their deliberately dissonant noise-rock sounds, but their music particularly appeals to me because it alludes heavily to a style that became very popular around the time I was in college, especially the band Helium.

Wolf Alice – Giant Peach. It’s grunge-ish, but simultaneously heavier and poppier than most of that genre, with heavy guitar riffs that wouldn’t embarrass Tony Iommi in the song’s tremendous outro. Wolf Alice’s debut album, My Love is Cool, is due on June 22nd and is already one of the LPs I’m most looking forward to hearing this year.

BOOTS – I Run Roulette. I missed this track when it came out in November, one of the first singles from singer/producer Jordan Asher, whose biggest musical contribution to date is his production of most of the album Beyoncé in 2013. “I Run Roulette” has an industrial feel to the music, but the vocals are almost gentle in contrast, resulting in a more accessible song that sounds like it could have come from Trent Reznor’s mind but not his mouth.

The Mowgli’s – I’m Good. Not as good as “San Francisco,” their debut single and best song to date, but if you like their general sound, sort of a hippie revivalist vibe where all seven members seem to be singing at once but without the depth you’d expect from that many voices in harmony.

Waxahatchee – Under a Rock. Everyone seemed to love her previous single, “Air,” but me; this song is more my speed, a mid-tempo jangle-folk track that uses her voice’s softer qualities (think Alexandra Niedzialkowski from Cumulus or Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir from Of Monsters & Men) to create contrast to the amped-up guitar lines.

Hot Chip – Huarache Lights. They’re never going to create another “Over and Over,” a single to which all of their other world will inevitably be compared (by me, at least), but this is a step up from 2012’s “Don’t Deny Your Heart,” due to both a slightly heavier instrumentation and more layering, producing a more sophisticated sound that’s still accessible but less cloying.

Purity Ring – Begin Again. Their second album, another eternity (iTunes), comes out on Tuesday the third, with lead single “Push Pull” already one of my favorite songs of the year. “Begin Again” isn’t as strong, lyrically or musically, but makes great use of Megan James’ waif-like voice over undulating electronic beats that wax and wane over the song’s three and a half minutes.

Apocalyptica – Cold Blood. I love Apocalyptica because they’re so bizarre – a metal act with three classically-trained cellists that began its existence as a Metallica cover band and now produces highly melodic hard rock. They’re almost too commercial for me, but there’s something unapologetic about their sound that I like even when I don’t like the songs themselves. I suppose if this isn’t hard enough for you, Napalm Death’s thirteenth studio album, Apex Predator – Easy Meat, which came out in late January, might be more your speed. (I found it totally unlistenable, but your mileage may vary.)

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→ February 18, 2015
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Range Anxiety.

My review of the boardgame Evolution went up on Tuesday over at Paste. I’ll hold my first Klawchat of February on Thursday at 1 pm ET.

The Twerps hail from Australia, where weird indie music seems to be quite readily accepted as normal. I described them recently as pleasantly annoying, which is much better than annoyingly pleasant, and that phrase fits their second album Range Anxiety (in addition to their eight-song 2014 EP Underlay, which included “Heavy Hands,” #42 on my list of the top 100 songs of last year) as well as everything that came before. The quartet craft short, catchy jangle-pop songs around a single hook each, and their singing styles are the polar opposite of the sanitized auto-tuned music that fills American pop radio playlists – to a fault, sometimes, as the Twerps don’t care if they’re a bit off key.

The Twerps frequently cite Australian indie heroes the Go-Betweens and Dunedin Sound propagators The Clean as major influences, both quite obvious in their music, which also reminded me of American jangle-pop act Let’s Active and perhaps even early Aztec Camera – all of it from another era of alternative music entirely. Their own sound is a bit more stripped-down than even their earliest influences, minimal without becoming experimental, which fits their one-hook-per-song formula, a formula that works best when the Twerps keep things to about three minutes – true of all but two songs on the album, with one of those exceptions the lead single, “I Don’t Mind,” one of the worst tracks on Range Anxiety and not at all representative of what the band is capable of producing.

I’ll direct your attention instead to “Back to You,” a more upbeat, jangly tune in line with “Heavy Hands” that introduces its point straight off with the line “Somebody out there is doing better than me.” The song has one riff, and about enough humor in the lyrics to sustain it for two and a half minutes – another thirty seconds and the song would have felt overlong. Julia McFarlane takes over lead vocals for the Sambassadeur-like “Stranger,” another three-minute gem that leads into “New Moves,” which sounds a bit like another Aussie indie-pop band, the Darling Buds, with a sunny guitar riff that contrasts with the muted vocal medley. McFarlane returns to the lead later in the album on the waltz “Shoulders,” the most successful downtempo track on the album – primarily because of the strength of her strong yet understated vocals. “Cheap Education” thrives off a simple guitar riff that gave me the sense that the whole song was spinning in circles, which I’d like to think was the whole point given the wordplay in the lyrics.

The annoying part of their sound does take over from time to time, in large part because the male vocalists don’t like to stay on key very well, such as the positively irritating “Love at First Sight,” where I can only assume the band was trying to create some irony by layering fingernails-on-blackboard vocals over a pretty if slightly standard ballad. “Adrenaline” has the same problem – you should almost expect a Twerps song with that title to be more like a dirge – while closer “Empty Road” runs about two minutes longer than it should have; although their attempt to build a song with multiple hooks and layers is admirable, it just doesn’t work out over five full minutes.

Range Anxiety truly isn’t for everyone – it’s the kind of album I would probably have rejected on first listen a decade ago, when I was much more closed-minded about music in general (I knew what I liked and didn’t see much reason to listen to anything else). It’s an album that rewards a little patience and the willingness to overlook the moments when the Twerps outfox themselves by overdoing the irony or singing out of tune, with solid payoffs in a half-dozen tracks that are minor pop jewels.

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