If It's Too Loud...

Album of the Week : Artist : Julia Jacklin Album : Crushing Quick Description : New album from a favorite around these parts. Why You Should Listen : If there's any justice in the world, Jacklin will be much more well-known by the end of this year. Overall Thoughts : While everyone was busy looking at the Dacus/Bridgers/Baker triumvirate of up-and-coming singer songwriters last year, Julia Jacklin was quietly pulling up in the left lane and is poised to own 2019 if her second album is any indication. I had an inkling that Phantastic Fernature, her more rocking side project, might be a little instructive, but I will say that this new album works in a lot of ways her already-solid debut album may not have. The first two songs grabbed my attention , and hearing lead single “Pressure to Party” in the context of the full album gave it some extra heft I didn’t hear in my initial listens. One of the best, if not the best, of the week, and is almost certain to make a number of yea...

With 20 albums to cover this week, I think it's worth splitting this into two posts. So here is day one! Co-Album of the Week : Artist : Mothers Album : When You Walk a Long Distance You Are Tired Quick Description : Haunting independent rock. Why You Should Listen : An album that is just going to stick with you from the start and make you wonder when you can listen again. Overall Thoughts : With so much good music this week, it's hard to point to just one thing that stands out, but we have two. Ken said this is already an album of the year candidate for him, and he's not wrong in the assessment. This album demanded my attention almost immediately, and it's the perfect mix of accessible and complicated that I tend to look for in my indie rock these days. I can't say enough about this album, so just listen to it already. Recommendation : One of the best releases of the year. Artist : School of Seven Bells Album : SVIIB Quick Description : Final albu...

I really don't know what to make of this week: Lagwagon - Hang : Our 90s-tastic release week begins with a new album from Lagwagon, their first in nearly a decade. My teen years had a ska phase, but I could never really embrace the punk side, and Lagwagon is firmly there. If you've been missing out, there might be a lot here for you to love, but for me, this wasn't quite it. The Twilight Sad - Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave : An album I queued up because I thought they were a different band (probably the Twilight Singers), this was actually a pretty high quality dour indie rock record. The vocals are really distinctive and the songs memorable as they sort of lodged themselves into my brain. I will definitely seek out more of their stuff, but for now, this new album deserves a listen in a somewhat thin week. Lily & Madeleine - Fumes : Lily & Madeleine are fairly prolific, with their third album they definitely expand their sound a little ...

So sue me, I decided to go to bed early on the last off-day for the World Series instead of share this week's new releases early. Like it matters, you're only listening to one of the new things this week anyway... Arcade Fire - Reflektor : The last Radiohead album I really truly enjoyed was Amnesiac , although Hail to the Thief had its moments. A year after Hail to the Thief , Arcade Fire released Funeral , which was one of those indie albums that really served as a launchpad for a new indie movement and pushed the artsy Arcade Fire to unexpected heights. Reflektor is the fourth album from the band, and it feels really Big and Important, which is all well and good, but it's kind of interesting that the band has kind of taken the "somewhat accessible artsy indie sensibility" torch away from Radiohead in the last decade. Each of their albums feels a lot more grandiose than the last, and Reflektor , technically a double album in a world where that means very ...