→ May 6, 2020
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Music update, April 2020.

A shorter-than-normal playlist this month as I think the pandemic has played havoc with release schedules and has obviously kept many artists out of the studio, but there are still some strong singles in advance of albums already planned for releases this summer and fall. As always, you can access the playlist directly if you can’t see the widget below.

Iceage – Lockdown Blues. Yep, he’s saying “Covid 19 lockdown blues/the only way out is through.” There have been some regrettable songs written and released during the pandemic; this one is actually good.

Space Above, So Below – Golden. Space Above is former The Naked & Famous keyboardist Aaron Short’s new project, with So Below (singer Maddie North) contributing vocals on many of their songs so far, including this darkly ethereal track.

Khruangbin – Time (You and I). This new single from the Texas-based funk/jazz trio features extensive vocals from Laura Lee Ochoa, a departure from their primarily instrumental work to date, and is the lead single from their third album Mordechai, due out next month.

Village of the Sun – TED. VotS is a new collaboration between Binker and Moses – as in Moses Boyd, whose Dark Matter is my favorite album of the year so far – and Simon Ratcliffe of Basement Jaxx. This track takes its name and inspiration from a song called “Dreamship” by the Ted Moses Quintet, which I only know from googling.

Talk Show – Petrolhead. I’ve enjoyed Talk Show’s snarling mix of classic post-punk sounds, more contemporary rock rhythms, and just a hint of the energy of dance music without heavy electronic elements.

The Wants – Clearly a Crisis. The Wants are pure post-punk, influenced by Gang of Four and other icons of the earliest new wave bands, and it comes through most successfully on this track and “Motor” from their debut album Container.

bdrmm – Happy. A five-piece shoegaze band from Hull, bdrmm released their debut EP If Not, When? in October, and have returned now with this subdued, swirling track that has some early Lush to it with a more upbeat tempo.

Everything Everything – In Birdsong (Edit). Lead singer Jonathan Higgs has described this song’s lyrics as an attempt to capture what it might have been like to be the world’s first self-aware human, although I find it more interesting for the highly textured keyboard layers below Higgs’ falsetto, crescendoing into a sort of wall of sound that seems almost tactile by the end of the song.

Jake Bugg – Saviours of the City. Bugg seems to have come back around to the Dylanesque sounds of his Mercury Prize-nominated self-titled debut album, eight years later, with this second single ahead of his fourth album, which is due out later this year.

The Naked and Famous – Blinding Lights. TNAF’s cover of the Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights,” from his new album After Hours, beats the original for me – not least because of Alisa Xayalith’s voice.

Asylums – A Perfect Life in a Perfect World. The Southend rock quartet have produced a song that sounds like it could have been recorded and released in 1994, and I mean that as a high compliment.

Ministry – Alert Level (Quarantine). I’m not as big a Ministry fan as you might guess from my age and musical tastes, as I find a lot of Al Jourgensen’s work with the band after their shift from new wave to industrial designed more to shock than to entertain. “Alert Level (Quarantine)” is still harsh and abrasive, but also has one of the best guitar riffs of any song in Ministry’s catalog.

Pure Reason Revolution – Ghosts & Typhoons. I don’t know how to categorize PRR’s music, with its peculiar mixture of progressive rock, electronic, and extreme metal elements, often in songs that run six to ten minutes in length, but their new album Eupnea, their first LP in a decade, has really grown on me this year thanks to songs like this and “Silent Genesis.”

Katatonia – The Winter of Our Passion. These Swedish prog-metallers started out as a death metal act but have shifted to clean vocals and doom sounds that sometimes incorporate metal aspects, but often don’t – if you heard this without knowing who the artist was, I doubt you’d call it metal. It’s one of the most accessible things they’ve done but retains the sophistication of their most recent albums.

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→ March 6, 2020
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Music update, February 2020.

February was absolutely loaded with great new music, including two albums that I think will end up on a lot of best-of-2020 lists and a bunch of new singles from artists I really like, including one I haven’t even thought about in 20 years. This post is a bit short because I have some non-work things to deal with today/this weekend but the playlist (here on Spotify) is 90 minutes and 23 songs long.

Grimes – Delete Forever. Grimes – or c, or whatever name Elon Musk told her to use this week – may be a bit out there at the moment, but Miss Anthopocene, her first album since 2015’s stellar Art Angels, is ambitious and smart and manages to be compelling even with a lot of tonal shifts from her prior work.

Waxahatchee – Lilacs. This is about as close to country music as I ever get. Katie Crutchfield’s upcoming album Saint Cloud is apparently about her decision to get sober. This is one of the best songs she’s ever done.

Tame Impala – Breathe Deeper. I need to listen to it some more but I think Slow Rush might be my favorite Tame Impala album. Kevin Parker really can’t help himself with the six-minute songs, though.

Soul Asylum – Got It Pretty Good. I really liked Soul Asylum up to and including Grave Dancers Union, but they went off the rails right after “Runaway Train” (which I never liked) became a hit. It’s been 28 years since that album came out, Dave Pirner is about to turn 56, and this song absolutely rocks.

The Mysterines – Love’s Not Enough. This Wirral, England rock trio is my sleeper pick for 2020, almost entirely because of Lia Metcalfe’s vocals.

San Cisco – Reasons. I was wondering just a few weeks ago if we were going to hear from this Australian indie-pop trio, and here they are with a great track that would fit right in on pop radio in just about any of the last four decades.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Be Afraid. Is this Isbell’s first appearance on my playlists? I believe it is.

Lauren Ruth Ward – Water Sign. There’s something vaguely menacing about Ward’s vocals on many of her songs, but it plays up even more over the doom-like guitars here.

Wild Nothing – The World is a Hungry Place. This is the best song they’ve done since 2012’s Nocturne, and also a return to the mood of that album.

Chromatics – TOY. This was a surprise single, since Chromatics just released their first album in seven years back in October, and this track wasn’t on it. There’s a serious MGMT vibe to the music under Ruth Radelet’s typical whispery vocals.

Working Men’s Club – White Rooms and People. The vocals here are definitely an acquired taste, but the build from the funk guitar work in the verse to the synth-heavy new-wavey chorus is intoxicating.

Talk Show – Stress. The London post-punk quartet’s debut EP, These People, is due out at the end of this month.

Purity Ring – stardew. The Canadian duo’s first new song in three years has a more upbeat melody than much of their music, which I think better suits Megan James’ often childlike vocal style.

Disclosure feat. Eko Roosevelt – Tondo. It’s a new song from the Grammy-winning duo, but it’s barely more than a remix of Cameroonian musician Roosevelt’s “Tondoho Mba,” which was released last year on a compilation by the French DJ Guts.

Christine and the Queens – I disappear in your arms. Less than two years after her acclaimed album Chris, Christine put out an unexpected five-song EP, La Vita Nuova, featuring this track, yet another pop banger with a sinister keyboard line behind a great vocal melody.

Jackie Venson – Make Me Feel. I found it impossible not to compare this song to the Janelle Monáe track of the same name, and think how Venson shows the musical ambition I wanted Monáe to bring to her last record. I will say the whispered “walk with him” part at the end is kind of creepy, though.

Glass Animals – Your Love (Déjà Vu). I either love Glass Animals tracks (“Life Itself”) or hate them (“Gooey”), but their percussion sounds are always interesting. This track is in the former category.

MICH – Ceiling Duty. I know next to nothing about this band other than that they’re from Amsterdam, there are four of them, and this song sounds like shoegaze meets jangly college rock from the early 1990s.

Do Nothing – Fits. They’re not quite punk, not really post-punk, definitely sneering, yet still give us a nod to melody in the chorus.

Sløtface – Passport. Sorry for the late reply is a bit more uneven than their debut but still has a few pop-punk standout tracks like this one.

Throwing Muses – Dark Blue. A bit of an obligatory inclusion, although I’m impressed that Kristen Hersh is still churning out music this dark nearly 40 years into her career.

Aktor – Bad Mirror. Very New Wave of British Heavy Metal here, although the rest of the album (Placebo) can veer into harsher territory.

Toundra – VI. Akt. Toundra’s instrumental, progressive metal is usually interesting but they’re asking a lot with their new album, Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari, a series of six ten-minute tracks that often slow the tempo down well beyond what we expect of this style of music.

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→ February 7, 2020
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Music update, January 2020.

I’ve been adding songs to this playlist for nearly two months now – since I wrapped up my top 100 songs of 2019 list – which, of course, led me to procrastinate writing and posting it, since it was getting long. I’ve trimmed it to a manageable level, and it’s more metal-heavy than most of my playlists, although those songs are (as usual) all at the end. You can listen to the Spotify playlist here if you can’t see the widget below.

The Naked and Famous – Sunseeker. One side of a single with “Bury Us,” the New Zealand group’s first new music since 2018, and their first since founding keyboardist Aaron Short (now of The Space Above) left the band.

Ten Fé – Heaven Sent Me. Ten Fé are absurdly prolific; they’ve released two albums in the last two calendar years, then put out another two-track single with this and “Candidate” right before Christmas.

Pure Reason Revolution – Silent Genesis. I’ve included the edited version of this track, which runs over 10 minutes on the prog-rock duo’s upcoming album Eupnea, their first since they reformed in 2019 after an eight-year hiatus.

Tame Impala – Lost in Yesterday. Kevin Parker’s fourth studio album, The Slow Rush, comes out on Valentine’s Day, featuring this rather poppy track and all the singles Parker released last year, including “Borderline.”

The Districts – Cheap Regrets. The Districts’ songs to date have mostly been garage rock tracks, but this has an undeniable electronic dance influence that makes it the most interesting thing they’ve put out so far.

Working Men’s Club – Teeth. This Manchester trio released this first single since they signed with a record label back in November, and it marks a turn towards darker new wave sounds akin to Joy Division or Sisters of Mercy.

of Montreal – Polyaneurism. I haven’t liked much of what I’ve heard from of Montreal’s latest album, UR FUN, but this song is a bouncy, faintly ridiculous indie-pop track, even with Kevin Barnes’ weirdly annoying vocals.

Grimes – 4ÆM. I think we’re just going to have to see what c, formerly known as Claire Boucher, has in store for us on Miss Anthropocene, due out in two weeks; the five singles she’s released so far have been a mixed bag.

Sløtface – Tap the pack. These Norwegian punk-popsters just released their second album, Sorry for the Late Reply, full of more energetic bangers with clever lyrics.

Khruangbin with Leon Bridges – C-side. This collaboration is one of four tracks featuring the Texas avant-garde trio and singer Bridges on the Texas Sun EP, released today.

Artificial Pleasure – Into the Unknown (Pt. Two). I had to move this away from the Working Men’s Club track because they mine such similar darkwave territory.

HUMANIST feat. Dave Gahan – Shock Collar. Yep, that is indeed Depeche Mode frontman Gahan on Rob Marshall’s HUMANIST project.

The Amazons – Howlin. Introducing … The Amazons is a new 12-track record with B-sides, acoustic versions, and three previously unreleased tracks, including this one, which would have fit well on their last album Future Dust.

Thematic – Dirt and Chains. Progressive metal in a digestible song length! How novel. Their new album, Skyrunner, occasionally devolves into full-throated extreme-metal screaming, but when they avoid that the music is pretty compelling.

Toundra – I. Akt (edit). I’mprettymuch all in on anything this Madrid instrumental/progressive metal act releases, even when the songs are eight minutes long.

British Lion – The Burning. British Lion is the side project of Iron Maiden bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris, and this song is a definite throwback to Maiden’s heyday musically, although it’ll never really sound like Maiden without Bruce Dickinson or a facsimile thereof.

Demons & Wizards – Diabolic. Another side project, this one with members of Iced Earth and Blind Guardian, with a name taken from a Uriah Heep song. It’s also eight minutes long, but there’s some great vintage ’80s guitar riffing once you get through the slow open.

Carcass – Under the Scalpel Blade. The greatest melodic death metal band ever is back, with their first new music in seven years, although this lead single isn’t as precise as 2013’s Surgical Steel and sounds a bit more like pre-Heartwork Carcass.

Testament – Night of the Witch. The Pete Best of 1980s thrash bands, Testament is still going with their own blend of vintage speed metal and elements of more contemporary extreme metal; I’m just here for the riffing.

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→ November 1, 2019
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Music update, October 2019.

October may have been a weak month for new music, but it’s also quite possible I was too busy with finishing up the first draft of The Inside Game, going to the Arizona Fall League, and watching the playoffs to find new tracks as often as I usually do. I’m definitely behind on some promising albums that came out in the last few weeks, but here’s my list of the best new songs I heard this past month. If you can’t see the Spotify widget, you can access the playlist here.

Sleater-Kinney – ANIMAL. A non-album track from the now-duo, who I saw this past week in Philadelphia. They were great live, and rocked a lot harder than I expected given their sound on records.

Michael Kiwanuka – Rolling. The Guardian named KIWANUKA, the third album from this English singer/songwriter, one of the best albums of the decade, which got my attention. If you played me this soul/rock/funk song cold, I’d guess it was from 1972, and I’d wonder why I’d never heard it before given how fucking great it is.

Mourn – Jumping Someone Else’s Train. This Barcelona trio released Mixtape, an EP of covers from indie-rock artists who recorded before these women were born, including tracks by Come, dEUS, Chris Bell (of Big Star), and this song by the Cure.

White Reaper – Hard Luck. The world’s greatest American band released their third album, You Deserve Love, a week ago, but I haven’t had time to get into it yet. I’ve liked the songs I’ve heard so far, which very much follow the same punk-influenced, upbeat alt-rock pattern of their first two albums.

LIFE – Niceties. Tough name in the Google era, but LIFE are Brighton punks who are appropriately angry at the world, and who just released their second album A Picture of Good Health, which has a lot of songs that push the boundary into outright abrasiveness (or push right through it). This and “Hollow Thing” are the standout tracks.

CHVRCHES – Death Stranding. The Scottish trio’s contribution to the soundtrack of the video game Death Stranding is better than anything off their last album.

MisterWives – the end. MisterWives, which is really a vehicle for charismatic lead singer Mandy Lee, are really a pop band who’ve been mislabeled an alternative act because they haven’t broken through yet. I thought “Machine” might do the trick a few years ago. Maybe this very catchy, poppy track will be their breakthrough.

Foals – Like Lightning. I think my ultimate verdict on Foals’ two albums this year, Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost, Parts 1 and 2, will be that they had enough material for one incredible album but spread the best tracks across two uneven LPs instead.

Great Grandpa – Bloom. My favorite track from the quintet’s new album Four of Arrows, “Bloom” has a little of all of the sounds Great Grandpa usually incorporates, but doesn’t skimp on the main hook or let the tempo flag (as on “Digger”).

Maisie Peters – Look At Me Now. By my count, the now 19-year-old Peters has released 17 songs across two EPs, including the new It’s Your Bed Babe, It’s Your Funeral, over the last three calendar years, although she’s received virtually no press or airplay in the U.S., which I think is a damn shame. This track, from the new EP, is a good example of her style, although it’s not quite as immediate as “Place We Were Made” or “Best I’ll Ever Sing.”

Tei Shi feat. Blood Orange – Even If It Hurts. I’m just so-so on the song as a whole, but good luck getting this chorus out of your head.

Floating Points – Anasickmodular. It was tough to pass up on “Bias,” also from Floating Points’ new album Crush, but I think this is a better track from neuroscientist Sam Shepherd’s latest album of electronica.

Longwave – If We Ever Live Forever. Longwave returned from a decade-long hiatus with last year’s “Stay With Me,” and they’re now back with a new album, with this as the title track. It’s more guitar-driven than last year’s song, but still has some of the bass/synth underpinnings that recall ’80s new wave and alternative.

Potty Mouth – Favorite Food. A battle with an intransigent record label forced Potty Mouth to go six years between its first and second albums, with the latter, SNAFU, dropping this past March, but they’re already back with another punk-pop single that just came out this morning.

Highly Suspect – Canals. The Grammy-nominated trio have just enough of a blues rock/metal foundation to keep pulling me in even when they seem to be actively trying to piss their listeners off. I love the guitar work in this one, which reminds me a lot of Royal Blood.

Alcest – Les jardins de minuit. This two-man French “blackgaze” (what a dumb term) metal project is back with Spiritual Instinct, a harder album than 2016’s superb Kodama and I think their heaviest since Écailles de Lune in 2010. There’s some blast-beat silliness on here, but the soundscapes Alcest creates through the rest of the track are immersive with brief moments of brooding heaviness.

Wilderun – O Resolution! This is some Blackwater Park-level shit, right down to the superfluous death growls, but I am totally here for it. I’m even getting a little Candlemass out of the backing vocals.

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→ October 2, 2019
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Music update, September 2019.

I’m still catching up on some albums from the last month, although I did listen to the Vivian Girls’ latest (nothing new to include) and still need to finish listening to Chelsea Wolfe’s challenging Birth of Violence. As always, if you can’t see the widget below you can access the Spotify playlist here.

Temples – Holy Horses. The best track on their very good new album Hot Motion features what might be my favorite guitar riff of the year. The album features a lot of throwback psychedelic rock but manages to still sound fresh, with this, the title track, “Context,” “You’re Either On Something,” and “Step Down” the strongest songs on the record.

Oh Wonder – Hallelujah. Earworm of the month, and one of the catchiest songs this duo has ever done, whether you like it or not.

Supergrass – Next to You. These ’90s Britpop stalwarts are back after a nine-year breakup with a greatest-hits record that includes this cover of the first track on Outlandos d’Amour, the first album by the Police.

The New Pornographers – Colossus Of Rhodes. I feel like I underappreciate the New Pornographers because they’re so consistent. This new album doesn’t quite have the highs of Brill Bruisers or the critical acclaim of Twin Cinema but still has several solid singles.

TVAM – No Silver Bird. This two-minute track was originally released for Record Store Day and just appeared online last month. It’s a cover of this track by a band of which I’d never heard until TVAM covered it.

Foals – The Runner. I’m very much here for Foals’ big guitar-laden lead singles from upcoming albums. Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 2, their second LP this year, drops on October 18th.

Lower Dens – Hand of God. This Baltimore-based band released its fourth album The Competition on September 6th; it’s somewhere between a meditation and a polemic on late-stage capitalism, led by the 2016 single “The Real Thing.” “Hand of God” has that new wave-y vibe for which I shall always remain a complete sucker.

Bombay Bicycle Club – Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You). They may never come close to 2011’s “Shuffle,” which will certainly appear on my top songs of this decade list (planning that for December), but this lead single from their upcoming LP Everything Else Has Gone Wrong, due out in January, is my favorite track of theirs since their big hit.

She Drew The Gun – Trouble Every Day. I assume this third single from the political post-punk Wirral group just this year presages an upcoming album

Night Dreamer – Another Life. Night Dreamer comprises the Smashing Pumpkins’ guitarist Jeff Schroeder and keyboardist/singer Mindy Song of Wam Dingis, with a clear late-90s indie-rock sound beneath lyrics that at least try to get philosophical, although I don’t know if they quite hit the intended target.

Bat For Lashes – Desert Man. Natasha Khan’s fifth album, Lost Girls, is more accessible than 2016’s The Bride, although like most of her work I’ve found it improves on multiple listens.

FKA Twigs featuring Future – holy terrain. It’s been five years since FKA Twigs’ debut album, with just two original songs in the interim, but this collaboration with Future marks the second single in advance of the October 25th release of MAGDALENE.

Corinne Bailey Rae – Jersey Girl. Another cover, this one of a Tom Waits song that was also covered previously by Bruce Springsteen. CBR’s voice is still mesmerizing and beautiful 13 years after “Put Your Records On.”

Grimes featuring i_o – Violence. Grimes’ Art Angels was my #1 album of 2015, but her last single “We Appreciate Power” felt like a huge regression; this new track, possibly from her upcoming album Miss_Anthr0pocene, starts slow with Boucher overusing that childlike vocal from “Oblivion” but rallies quickly with a hypnotic beat from i_o. The video is interesting but feels like it’s a chapter of a longer book.

Danny Brown – Best Life. Here because it’s produced by Q-Tip, although I don’t get the sense The Abstract appears on the record itself.

That Dog – If You Just Didn’t Do It. That Dog had a moment in 1997 with “Never Say Never,” not to be confused with the bigger Romeo Void hit of the same name; I don’t remember this band at all from their first iteration, but they’ve been back together for a few years now, and will release their first album in 22 years, Old LP, on Friday.

The Mysterines – Bet Your Pretty Face. I included “Gasoline” on a playlist this summer; both tracks come from the Wirral punk-rock trio’s four-song EP Take Control, released in August – and yes, that’s two bands on this list from Wirral, which was not intentional.

Just Mustard – Seven. Full-on throwback shoegaze from this Irish quintet who would could have opened for Ride in 1992 with this sound.

Alcest – Sapphire. I prefer this to Alcest’s previous single, “Protection,” as it’s closer to the shoegaze/extreme metal blend they showcased on 2016’s Kodama, without the black metal trappings of their early work.

Syberia – Empire of Oppression. These Spanish prog-metal instrumentalists are new to me, but they’re about to release their second album, Seeds of Change, on October 4th. There’s a lot packed into this six-minute track, with tonal and temporal shifts that alternate intense bursts of swirling guitars with moments of relative quiet, ramping up the pace for a big finish.

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→ August 5, 2019
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Music update, July 2019.

I always feel a bit disappointed when my monthly playlists are on the short side, like this one is, as if I didn’t look hard enough for good songs. There is so much music released each month that it seems like even a “bad” month should still have at least twenty or so great songs, right? I did look, though, and stalled out with this list, which probably includes a song or two I might have omitted had the list been longer (including a cover and an unreleased track from the 1980s). Anyway, as always, you can access the Spotify playlist directly if you can’t see the widget below.

Prince – Holly Rock. Prince wrote and produced the original “Holly Rock” for Sheila E., whose version appeared on the Krush Groove soundtrack, but this is the first time that his own recording of the song – which is more polished than the demos his estate has been releasing this year – has appeared in official form. It’s vintage Prince with a heavy funk influence and Sheila E.’s ornate percussion work.

Ride – Repetition. I wonder if it’s even fair to call them shoegazers any more; their sound across two albums and a few singles since their return from a 17-year hiatus has been far more upbeat and accessible. It’s a positive evolution, though; I liked their early stuff but have connected more with their post-hiatus output.

Lauren Ruth Ward and Desi Valentine – Same Soul. A very bluesy duet from one of my new favorite singers in Ward and a classic R&B singer in Valentine, who had a modest hit in 2016 with “Fate Don’t Know You.”

Of Monsters and Men – Róróró. The Icelandic band’s third album Fever Dream dropped two Fridays ago, and it’s a definite shift in their sound, with more electronic elements, a mixed bag of a handful of tracks that showcase Nanna Hilmarsdóttir’s voice and others that lose her amidst generic drum machine sounds and weak melodies. This, “Alligator,” and “Wild Roses” are among the highlights.

Frank Turner – The Death of Dora Hand. Turner’s new EP No Man’s Land has three very intimate acoustic tracks that almost feel like Americana (interesting, since he’s English) rather than his usual folk/punk style.

Ceremony – In the Spirit World Now. Ceremony’s transition from hardcore punk band to direct descendants of Joy Division continues with this title track from their forthcoming album, due out August 23rd.

White Reaper – Real Long Time. White Reaper’s punk-pop sound hasn’t failed me yet – they have a real knack for strong, new hooks that always sound just a little bit familiar to me.

DIIV – Skin Game. This is DIIV’s first new track since founder/singer Zachary Cole Smith spent six months in rehab for addiction.

Ben Gibbard – Keep Yourself Warm. This is easily my favorite track from Tiny Changes: A Celebration Of Frightened Rabbit’s ‘The Midnight Organ Fight’, a cover album in memory of the Scottish band’s lead singer Scott Hutchison, who took his own life in May of last year.

Floating Points – Coorabell. The B side to his single “LesAlpx” is also brilliant – another pulsing, driving electronic track that stays accessible despite its experimental leanings.

Just Mustard – October. Speaking of shoegaze, this Irish band’s music might have fit better in that early 1990s movement than it does today.

Vivian Girls – Sick. The Vivs are back together … okay, I didn’t really know their work prior to bassist Katy Goodman’s solo project La Sera, but they’ve now reunited after a five-year absence with their pre-hiatus lineup.

The Struts – Pegasus Seiya. This song doesn’t sound like anything the Struts, who are kind of a glam/pop band with hard rock trappings, have done before – it’s like a strange homage to Judas Priest-era British metal, and I can’t get the thing out of my head.

High on Fire – Bat Salad. This instrumental, part of a three-song EP that includes covers of Celtic Frost and Bad Brains, first appeared for record store day in April, and just hit digital last month. It’s outstanding, and a good track for folks who like heavy guitar riffing but can’t deal with Matt Pike’s yelling vocals.

Opeth – Heart in Hand. Maybe my favorite song of the month, “Heart in Hand” (also released in a version with lyrics in their native Swedish) is a nine-minute prog metal opus that seems to draw equally on the complex progressive styles of 1970s icons like King Crimson while providing more 1980s-level thrash and metal riffing than Opeth has given listeners in their last two albums.

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→ April 2, 2019
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Music update, March 2019.

March was a big month for new albums, but I’d say just average for new singles. I had included a bunch of other tracks by groups like Hotel Lux and FEET and Sad Planets and Blood Cultures but decided to move the bar up a little bit and keep this playlist tighter. As always, if you can’t see the widget below you can access the Spotify playlist directly here.

Dinosaur Pile-Up – Thrash Metal Cassette. Dinosaur Pile-Up made has one appearance on my monthly playlists, landing at #28 on my top 100 songs of 2016 with “Nothing Personal,” a hard-rocker that reminded me of peak Nirvana. This song is catcher and much snottier, and I love it, even the screaming in the chorus, because it seems to perfectly capture a mood and a moment that I remember but I can’t believe these English lads – all a good bit younger than I am – actually do.

Crows – Wednesday’s Child. I’ve gotten halfway through Crows’ new album, Silver Tongues, and so far it’s really strong, best categorized as post-hardcore but with some wiggle room in that label. The title track is also strong.

Foals – In Degrees. Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost is shaping up to be my favorite Foals album ever

Talk Show – Fast and Loud. This is not the Stone Temple Pilots side project of the same name, but a new quartet from London’s Peckham district with members who seem too young to be producing music that would fit alongside early post-punk icons like Gang of Four (who appear below) and Wire.

Big Thief – UFOF. These folk-rockers were critical darlings in 2016 around the release of their debut album Masterpiece, but I found the songs off that album and its followup Capacity too tame and uninspiring. This title track from their forthcoming third album is my favorite song by the group so far.

Anteros – Let It Out. Anteros’ singles so far have mostly been power-pop gems, but this is a slow burn of a track with backing strings, a huge crescendo, and a showcase for singer Laura Hayden.

The Faint – Source of the Sun. I’ve heard a lot of songs over the last fifteen years from The Faint, but I’ve found their music more interesting than memorable; other than “Southern Belles in London Sing” I don’t think I would recognize any song you played for me from the band. They’ve also turned to a completely different sound with this new album, Egowork, or at least I never thought of them as this sort of indie-electronic outfit. The droning hook in the chorus puts this one over the line for me, and I appreciate the dark, almost gothic feel to the sparse backing music.

Two Door Cinema Club – Talk. 2DCC can be too poppy for me, but this is just the right amount of poppy.

Ten Fé – Coasting. Ten Fé’s second album in two years, Future Perfect, Present Tense, is full of more soft-rock gold, including this song, “Won’t Happen,” “Echo Park,” “Here Again,” “Not Tonight,” and the ballad “To Lie Here is Enough.”

Modest Mouse – Poison the Well. I have a very clear line when it comes to Modest Mouse songs – I like them or I can’t stand them. I like this one.

Honeyblood – Glimmer. I didn’t realize until I wrote up this post that Honeyblood is a solo project – it’s guitarist/singer Stina Tweeddale, who parted ways with her drummer Cat Myers in February and decided to continue on her own. The indie-rocker, who writes with a strong sense of melody, will release her third album under the Honeyblood name, In Plain Sight, in May.

Gang Of Four – Change The Locks. If you’d told me after 2011’s Content that Gang of Four would continue without singer Jon King, I would probably have said thanks, I’m good, but new singer John Sterry has filled in admirably and guitarist Andy Gill has managed to keep enough of the band’s signature song while also evolving so they don’t sound dated. None of this will make you forget Entertainment! but this is another very credible, catchy single from the band, this one ahead of their crowdfunded album Happy for Now.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Boogieman Sam. If you’re one of those people who told me I was wrong to denigrate Greta Van Fleet as a Kingdom Come cover band, well, I was right, but also, here’s proof I don’t mind bands that quaffed deeply of the blues-rock icons of the 1960s and 1970s – but King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard do so without sounding so derivative.

Freddie Gibbs with Madlib & Agent Sasco – Bandana. Gibbs is one of the best MCs I’ve heard in contemporary American rap, both for flow and lyrical content (warning, this ain’t for the kids), although some of his more adventurous projects since Pinata haven’t hit my ears the same way. “Bandana,” however, is scorching. Agent Sasco is the Jamaican DJ formerly known as Assassin. Yes, I had to look that up.

Jafaris – Stride. Ever heard an Irish rapper before? Jafaris is indeed from Dublin, a person of color from a country with a population that’s just 1% black, although I’d never guess his Irish roots from his flow. His debut album, also called Stride, just dropped last week.

Skryptor – Raga. Progressive, instrumental metal from three industry veterans, whose debut album Luminous Volumes has seven songs ranging in length from 58 seconds to over 9 minutes.

Diamond Head – Belly of the Beast. I had no idea these NWOBHM stalwarts had a new lead singer and released an album in 2016, but they did, and now they’re back with this lead single from what will be their eighth studio album in forty years, going back to 1980’s seminal Lightning to the Nations, which gave us “Am I Evil?” and “The Prince.”

Fury – Angels Over Berlin. This relatively new hardcore act from Orange County just put out this two-sided single, with this the B side but more accessible than the more grating A-side “Vacation.”

Amon Amarth – Raven’s Flight. Amon Amarth do very competent, safe – I know it’s odd to use that term in this context – melodic death metal with Viking lyrical themes. I tend to like just about all of their riffing, but would probably put them in the second tier, not up with groups like Tribulation, Children of Bodom, and At the Gates.

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→ October 31, 2018
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Music update, October 2018.

Huge month for new tracks – thirty strong this time around, ranging from indie rock to dance to metal to two tracks that are somewhere in the country/folk range. As always, if you can’t see the playlist below you can access the Spotify playlist here.

Joy Williams – Canary. The former member of the Civil Wars has a new album, Front Porch, due out early next year, with this the A-side of a new single (with “The Trouble With Wanting” the B-side), featuring a strong melody and her always amazing voice.

HAERTS – Fighter. Now a duo, HAERTS released their long-awaited second album, New Compassion, on October 5th to very little fanfare or attention, but it’s almost as good as their debut – the sound is similar but it doesn’t quite have the standout tracks of their self-titled first album.

Hatchie – Adored. One of two songs on this playlist from Adult Swim’s series of singles is the latest from Aussie singer-songwriter Hatchie, who continues to occupy this ethereal space that recalls early Lush and the Cranberries.

Radkey – Rock & Roll Homeschool. I’ve been waiting for this trio to put out another rocker like this since 2013’s “Cat and Mouse.” More of this, please.

Drenge – Autonomy. The title track from this duo’s new four-song EP that also features the song “Outside,” which appeared on my September playlist. I assume there’s another album coming soon, since their last came out in 2015.

The Struts – Fire (Part 1). A guilty pleasure of mine, although I recently told a friend I thought the Struts were just the Discount Arctic Monkeys. This is the best song on their latest album, which tends too much to the bombastic side of alternative pop for me.

Khruangbin – Maria También. If this sounds familiar, it’s the opening music to the Crimetown podcast series. Khruangbin avoid labels for their music but it’s definitely some sort of indie rock/funk with influences from various world music genres.

Port Noir – Old Fashioned. I don’t know what to make of this song, which veers a little close to rap-metal for me, but the chorus is tremendous and I love the dark tone of the music throughout the track.

Speedy Ortiz – DTMFA. The other Adult Swim single on this list is probably 95% of typical Speedy Ortiz but that’s still good enough for me.

Django Django – Sand Dunes. Django Django put out an album, Marble Skies, back in January, but they’ve since released a six-track EP of songs recorded before (or maybe during?) those sessions, including this mid-tempo track that really would have fit quite well on the longer album.

Ian Brown – First World Problems. New single from the Stone Roses’ lead singer, not his best but definitely featuring his typically snarky lyrics.

Ten Fé – Won’t Happen. The lead single from the soft-rock band’s upcoming sophomore album, Future Perfect, Present Tense (due out in March), is more of the same as their first album provided – and that’s good.

Swervedriver – Mary Winter. Swervedriver returned in 2015 with their first album in 17 years – the same hiatus that Ride and Slowdive took, in fact – but it was unremarkable without any strong hooks or remotely memorable songs. This new single has that certain something, and I think it’s their best song since the title track from their last pre-breakup album 99th Dream.

The London Suede – As One. I didn’t love The Blue Hour, their latest album, because it was overrun with dirge-like tracks, but this wildly dramatic song is one of the few standouts for me.

Maisie Peters – Details. I have no idea why this 18-year-old British singer/songwriter hasn’t become a global star. Her voice is adorable, her lyrics clever, her melodies catchy.

Keuning – Restless Legs. That’s Dave Keuning, founding guitarist of the Killers, with his first solo track. He’s announced his first solo album, Prismism, will come out next year.

Arkells – Hand Me Downs. Arkells, like the Struts, are a bit too pop-oriented for me overall but occasionally hit enough of a melodic high point for me to overlook the commercial production. “Relentless” is the best track on the new album; this would be my second-favorite.

The Beths – You Wouldn’t Like Me. New Zealand quartet The Beths dropped their first full-length album, Future Me Hates Me, in August, featuring this very ’90s punk-inflected power pop single.

Christine and the Queens – 5 dollars. The French singer/songwriter Héloïse Letissier has received universal praise for her latest album, Chris, which is certainly one of the smartest and most inventive pop records of the year. If there’s a US hit single to be had here, this is it.

White Lies – Believe It. Much better than anything off White Lies’ last album, comparable to my favorite track from them, 2013’s “There Goes Our Love Again.”

Hinds – British Mind. I’ll include anything this Spanish quartet releases, obviously. I don’t think any band sounds like they’re having as much fun as these four women do.

Allie X – Little Things. Allie X had posted an older song called “Sculpture,” which was on this playlist earlier in the month but has since disappeared from Spotify and isn’t on the EP she just released last week, Super Sunset. That does include this track; “Science,” one of my favorite songs from the summer, and the solid “Girl of the Year,” which I just find a little hard to listen to because of the chorus.

Longwave – Stay With Me. I was totally unfamiliar with Longwave, who put out four albums between 1999 and 2008, until hearing this song, which appears to be their first new single since they reunited, but this song has a great ’80s new wave vibe at its core, like the best work of White Lies.

TVAM – Porsche Majeure. TVAM’s album Psychic Data is probably going to end up on my top albums of the year list, featuring multiple strong mostly-instrumental tracks like this one, with Joe Oxley creating swirling electronic hooks that evoke all manner of emotions – this track feels especially menacing to me.

Greta Van Fleet – Lover, Leaver. Everyone compares Greta Van Fleet to Led Zeppelin, but I think the better comp is Kingdom Come – it’s derivative rather than paying homage, still occasionally catchy or interesting enough to merit further listens (as on this song or “When the Curtain Falls”), but on the whole it’s nothing we haven’t heard a hundred times before.

Cloud Nothings – Another Way Of Life. I’d grown a bit tired of Cloud Nothings’ sound, which never seemed to evolve, but this closer to the band’s short new album (35 minutes, with one track accounting for almost a third of that) seems to point to at least some small change in their style.

Toundra – Cobra. Instrumental, progressive metal from Madrid, musically similar to early Opeth but without vocals.

Haken – Puzzle Box. I’ve known of Haken for years but never put them on a playlist before this track, which I think gives us the prog metal band’s strongest melody to date.

High On Fire – Spewn From The Earth. You kind of know what to expect from High on Fire at this point, I think.

Behemoth – Bartzabel. I’ve always thought of Behemoth as a bit of a joke – the music was fine, but they so thoroughly covered themselves in the juvenile trappings of black metal that they verged on self-parody … but I have to admit this song is quite good if you can get past the death growls.

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→ October 3, 2018
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Music update, September 2018.

September wasn’t a great month overall for new singles, perhaps because it was so loaded with albums that had already spent their best tracks in teaser releases, so I have a first for these playlists – three of the tracks are covers, which I believe is the most I’ve ever included. You can access the playlist here if you can’t see the Spotify widget below.

Black Honey – Crowded City. I’ve featured Black Honey tracks on playlists here for two years now, and their self-titled debut album finally came out last week, debuting at #33 on the UK albums chart. The record includes five songs I’ve included in past posts, but omits “Somebody Better” (#32 on my 2017 top 100) and “All My Pride” (#81 on my 2016 top 100) while including my favorite track from them so far, “Hello Today” (#21 in 2016) as well as this new uptempo banger. UPDATE: The whole damn album is good.

San Cisco – When I Dream. This Australian quartet has a knack for incredibly catchy melodies, hitting my year-end top 20 twice with “Awkward” and “Too Much Time Together,” but their 2017 album The Water fell short of previous efforts because it didn’t have the same hooks. This new single has one.

Jungle – Smile. Jungle’s second album, For Ever, dropped in September, and this track’s pseudo-African percussion line opens up the record, which has a better balance of dance tracks and slow jams than their debut did.

Gunship – When You Grow up, Your Heart Dies. I get a sort of White Lies vibe out of this track, which clearly descends from the same new wave evolutionary branch.

Metric – Now or Never Now. I’ve liked the occasional Metric song but wouldn’t call myself a fan of their catalog as a whole; this has the right sound and a decent hook, although I fear it doesn’t have the staying power of some of their previous hits.

Alain Johannes Trio – Luna a Sol (featuring Mike Patton). Yep, that’s Faith No More & Mr. Bungle frontman Mike Patton singing in Johannes’ native Spanish. Johannes’ name isn’t familiar, but he’s worked with a slew of bands you know in the hard/alternative rock space, including QotSA & affiliated acts, Arctic Monkeys, Mark Lanegan, Jimmy Eat World, and recently PJ Harvey, as a musician, engineer, and producer. This hypnotic, psychedelic hard rock track might be held back from airplay because it’s in Spanish but the sound is very post-grunge.

Speedy Ortiz – Blood Keeper. Speedy Ortiz is touring with Liz Phair, so the talented Sadie Dupuis and company covered this track, an outtake from Phair’s Whitechocolatespaceegg record that was never officially released.

Radkey – St. Elwood. It looks like this trio of brothers are gearing up to finally release their sophomore album, four years after their debut Dark Black Makeup appeared, with this single out now and another, “Rock and Roll Homeschool,” out this Friday.

Van William – Pictures Of Me. Friend of the dish Van Pierszalowski released this one-off single, a cover of an Elliott Smith track from the late singer/songwriter’s 1997 album Either/Or.

Sarah Chernoff – Crime. The B-side to the single “You’re Free” that Chernoff, ex-Superhumanoids chanteuse, released at the end of August is just as strong as the lead single. Her voice is among my favorites in music today and I think it marries especially well with this kind of ethereal electronic backing.

Death Cab for Cutie – Summer Years. DCFC’s Thank You for Today came out in late August and reminds me quite a bit of their preceding album in tone, theme, and production style, with “Gold Rush” still my favorite single from the album (and one of my favorite songs of the year so far) and this one somewhere in the mix for #2.

BROCKHAMPTON – HONEY. This Texas music collective calls itself a “boy band,” although I think that’s a too-cute way of avoiding trying to categorize their music, which incorporates many different styles including hip-hop, alternative rock, and electronica. What they really aren’t is pop, which is what marks boy bands (and makes them rather disposable), but they appear to be popular, as their new album Iridescence debuted at #1 this week and sold over 100,000 units.

Purple Heart Parade – Lonestar. Shoegaze dream-pop from Manchester, as if it’s still 1995 and we’re all still tripping balls.

The Magic Gang – Getting Along. “The Magic Gang” sounds like the name of a fictional kid’s show from the late 1970s that would get worked into an SNL sketch, much like the fake sitcom “Switcheroo.” This very real band, from southern England, has that classic indie blend of hooks, harmonies, and something that’s just a little too rough around the edges for the mainstream. Their self-titled debut album is out now, with this my favorite song.

YONAKA – Wish You Were Somebody. YONAKA’s songs all have an early Joan Jett sort of sneer that contrasts nicely with the hooks that show up on all of their tracks. “You can kiss my ass goodbye/I’m with some other guy” seems like it should the angry breakup anthem of the season.

FIDLAR – Too Real. This song, FIDLAR’s first in over two years, starts out as a weird trance-like “is this really a FIDLAR song” thing that eventually transforms into a profanity-filled rage track with a lot of screaming. I like it but you’ve been warned.

Drug Church – Strong References. Punk that might stop just short of hardcore to stay just accessible enough for a broader audience – including me. It’s heavy and a little grating at times, but Patrick Kindlon (of Self Defense Family) and company mix in some alternative elements and hints of a melody to keep this from becoming just another forgettable hardcore track.

Pallbearer – Run Like Hell. Yep, that’s a cover of the Pink Floyd classic. I’ll be honest – I go back and forth on whether I like this reimagining of a fairly iconic song from The Wall.

Riverside – Acid Rain. Progressive metal from Poland, with Wasteland, their latest album, dropping a week or so ago, featuring clean vocals and a mixture of metal sounds that wouldn’t be out of place in Gothenburg with latter-day Opeth-style prog passages. If you like this kind of sophisticated metal, I also recommend “Wasteland” and the nine-minute instrumental “Struggle for Survival,” which avoids some of the tweet vocals that pop up elsewhere on the album.

Horrendous – Devotion (Blood for Ink). Horrendous is the best extreme metal band going right now, producing highly technical, progressive, challenging metal, with growled vocals (meh) and occasional blast beats (bleh) but brilliant, intricate fretwork. Their fourth album, Idol, just came out a week ago, and continues the trend that started with 2014’s Ecdysis and continued with 2015’s Anareta, as they moved from straight-up melodic death metal to this frankly exciting blend of OSDM, classic thrash, and thoroughly modern, progressive metal.

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→ September 2, 2018
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Music update, August 2018.

I believe this is the longest monthly playlist of new music I’ve ever posted, running 30 songs and just shy of two hours, thanks in large part to a huge spate of new album releases in the last four weeks. Even at that I could have included more tracks and have more songs and albums I still want to check out, but the calendar had other ideas so I decided to call it a day and post this before October loomed. You can access the playlist directly here if you can’t see the widget below.

The Wombats — Bee-Sting. The Wombats put out a new album in February, a solid record but a little bit of a letdown after the amazing Glitterburg, so the appearance of this new single last week was both a big surprise and a huge boost to a month already replete with great new songs.

Thrice — Only Us. Thrice, featuring friend of the dish Riley Breckenridge on drums, will release its new album Palms on the 14th, with this the second very strong single already to appear from the record.

Art Brut — Wham! Bang! Pow! Let’s Rock Out!. I remember a reader (Bill S., I believe) recommending Art Brut to me about a decade ago, but at the time I found their sound a little too out there, almost deliberately non-musical in certain ways, including the vocals. This song seems written to address everything I didn’t like about their earlier stuff, and has a sort of Wombats/Arctic Monkeys vibe to the lyrics and music.

Nation of Language — Reality. This Brooklyn-based quartet appear to have fallen asleep in 1982 and just woken up without recognizing anything has changed in the world of music – and, as someone who came of age during that synth-heavy era of New Wave, I love it.

Broods — Peach. I adore Georgia Nott’s voice, so hearing her get autotuned up in the pre-chorus here is a bummer, but the hook in the chorus itself is tremendous and we do get to hear her sultry voice in its natural environment during the verses.

Ten Fé — Not Tonight. Ten Fé’s album Hit the Light was my #10 record of 2017, and they’re back now with more of the same ‘70s soft-rock sound just slightly updated with the technology of contemporary music.

Black Honey — Midnight. I might be the biggest Black Honey fan going; I think I’ve liked every single they’ve released so far over the last three years, and now we get their first full-length album, called Black Honey, on the 21st. This is on the poppier end for the group, but I’ve liked their stuff more when they keep this upbeat tempo.

Eric B. & Rakim — I Know You Got Soul ( The Double Trouble Remix ). I waffled a little on including this track; it’s a circa 1988 remix of the song I’ve named the greatest rap song of all time, and it’s not as if you could improve on perfection. But the remix is by Norman Cook, better known as Fatboy Slim, and Danny Poku, better known as D-Mob (“We Call It Acieed”), and backs up Rakim’s vocals with the music of the Jackson Five’s “ABC,” with Kool & the Gang’s “Funky Stuff” in the interludes. It works shockingly well.

Wild Nothing — Shallow Water. If you wanted Wild Nothing to revisit the sound of Nocturne, this track is for you.

Spirit Animal — World War IV. Spirit Animal’s album Born Yesterday is a strange mix of bold, almost bombastic rockers like this one and “The Truth,” and songs that seem like Twenty-One Pilots impressions. (I was going to say “bad Twenty-One Pilots impressions, but that seemed redundant.) If these guys stick to big, macho riffs in traditional rock sounds, they could be huge.

Foxing — Nearer My God. These St. Louis indie-rockers released their latest album, with this the title track and the best song I’ve heard from the record, on August 10th. Conor Murphy’s vocals really shine here as he hits notes I couldn’t hit if I took a football to the groin.

Drenge — Outside. I loved this British duo’s debut album, which took forever to show up in tHe U.S. even though they’d found some success in England, but thought they changed their sound too much for their follow-up record. This sounds more like their first LP – straight-up guitar and drum heavy rock with a little British snarl to it.

Alkaline Trio — Demon and Division. Alkaline Trio’s album Is This Thing Cursed? just dropped on Friday, the 31st, so I haven’t gotten into it yet, but this song, released a few weeks earlier as a single, is another strong power-pop (don’t call it “emo!”) single from Skiba & co.

Death Cab for Cutie — Northern Lights. Thank You for Today dropped on August 17th, with “Gold Rush” still my favorite off the record but this upbeat “Soul Meets Body”-ish track among my favorites from the rest.

Allie X — Science. Alexandra Hughes, who records as Allie X, covers a wide range within electronic indie-pop, but she has a knack for sweetly dark melodies, like this one on the third single from her upcoming album Super Sunset. If you like Sia’s music and vocal style, Allie X is the better version, without the commercial trappings or the wig.

St. Lucia — Bigger. I’m optimistic about St. Lucia’s upcoming third album, Hyperion, which is due out on the 21st, given how bouncy and fun the three singles have been – maybe not as impactful as the singles from his debut, but I think stronger than most of the material on 2016’s Matter other than “Dancing on Glass.”

YONAKA — Teach Me To Fight. I loved this British quartet with a feisty-voiced female lead singer’s track “Wouldn’t Wanna Be Ya” when it came out last year, and they’ve had a few singles in a similar post-punk, snarling vein, including this one, where Theresa Jarvis drops what should be an anthem for young feminists.

CLOVES — Hit Me Hard. CLOVES’s voice stunned me when I first heard her on “Frail Love,” a top ten song for me in 2015, but she was never going to find an audience just doing vocals and piano ballads, so a move into more pop territory was probably inevitable. I’m just glad she’s doing so with solid hooks and without surrendering any of her vocal power or the endearing way she articulates certain sounds.

Sarah Chernoff — You’re Free. Chernoff was the lead singer for the Superhumanoids, a sadly underappreciated dream-pop/electronica band that crafted gorgeous, textured music behind Chernoff’s soaring vocals. Her debut solo album was much more mellow, more in the style of torch songs than pop, but this new track splits the difference and I think provides the perfect platform for her vocal operatics. (I saw Superhumanoids live on their last tour, and met the band after the show. I can vouch for her singing prowess – this is exactly how she sounds in concert.)

Arkells — Relentless. These Canadian indie-rockers will drop their new album on October 19th, and this feels like it should be their breakout single here in the U.S., a danceable rock tune that’s easier than the preceding single “People’s Champ.” I just don’t understand why they used the keyboards from “La Macarena” in the background (sorry, you’ll never unhear this).

The Kooks — Kids. We got two new singles from the Kooks this month, this and “Chicken Bone,” with their new album, Let’s Go Sunshine, appearing on the 31st. I don’t think their sound has changed much at all, but I’m fine with that — Britpop itself may be dead but it’s not necessarily out of it as long as the Kooks are around.

Interpol — If You Really Love Nothing. Yet another album that appeared at the end of August (the 24th) that I still need to listen to, Marauder is Interpol’s sixth and so far has at least given us more hooks on its singles than El Pintor had on the final record.

Cullen Omori — Happiness Reigns. Omori, formerly of the Smith Westerns, just released his second solo album, The Diet, which I have seen compared to early Oasis but to me sounds a lot more like the aforementioned Kooks with a little Wild Nothing thrown in. This was my favorite track off the album.

Ovlov — The Best of You. Stoner rock with a Pinback vibe, most notable on this two-minute track off their latest album, TRU.

The Skull — Ravenswood. More doom metal from three former members of Trouble, still rocking the same Sabbath-ish vibe but with a crunchier, less metal guitar sound.

High On Fire — Electric Messiah. Sleep returned from a 19-year hiatus this spring with a new record, The Sciences, but front man Matt Pike didn’t ditch his primary band, High on Fire, whose music is hard and fast like ‘80s thrash or speed metal but with some stoner or sludge metal elements. This is the title track from their upcoming eighth album, due out October 5th.

Riverside — Vale of Tears. Polish progressive rock with a lot of Opeth to their sound with some shredding in the instrumental sections. Their new album Wasteland, their first since the death of founding guitarist Piotr Grudzi?ski, will drop on September 28th.

Voivod — Obsolete Beings. I’ve spelled out my concerns about Voivod’s new output before — it’s hard to accept anything without the late Denis D’Amour’s songwriting or guitar work as ‘real’ Voivod, and their forthcoming album The Wake (September 21st) will be their first record since 2006’s Katorz to exclude founding bassist Jean-Yves Thériault. But damn does this sound like peak Voivod circa Dimension Hatröss.

Omnium Gatherum — Refining Fire. Add one more album to the list of those that came out on August 31st that I need to listen to, Burning Cold, the latest record from this Finnish melodic death metal act. I did also like “Rest in Your Heart” from the same album, the music of which wouldn’t have been out of place on a pop-metal album in the late 80s with its huge synth lines and downtempo power-chord riffing.

Horrendous — The Idolater. I’ve been a big proponent of Horrendous, a Philly-based technical/progressive death metal band, even with their guttural, indecipherable vocals, because their music is intricate, experimental, and utterly fascinating. Their second album, 2014’s Ecdysis, was like nothing I’d ever heard before, and their follow-up, Anareta, wasn’t far behind. The first two tracks from their fourth album, Idol, which drops September 28th, are both absolute beasts of technical work, but this song feels like their songwriting has become more sophisticated since their last album. I could do without the blast beat, though.

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