Devon Sproule The Gold String (Tin Angel) After time in Texas and England, Devon Sproule’s return to central Virginia was rightly celebrated by local fans of the Canada-born, Twin Oaks-raised singer-songwriter. On The Gold String, Sproule weaves stories rich with touching details (“Here we are, curled in the dark / The last two spoons left […]
Kendrick Lamar DAMN. (Aftermath) After the world-beating To Pimp a Butterfly and the casual but satisfying demo album untitled unmastered., anything Kendrick Lamar put out in 2017 would have drawn scrutiny; signs of falling off would have been magnified—even a sequel to Butterfly could have been slammed as predictable, lazy. DAMN. is neither. Released on […]
Sneaks It’s a Myth (Merge) Sneaks is 19-year-old Eva Moolchan. She’s from Washington, D.C., but don’t look for political rage or go-go on It’s a Myth. It’s sinewy, minimal pop you can dance to, albeit briefly—there are 10 songs in 19 minutes. And Moolchan doesn’t sound too bothered about anything—she sounds like ESG doing warm-up […]
Thundercat Drunk (Brainfeeder) Thundercat (né Stephen Bruner) is a top-shelf guest artist, having loaned his six-string bass and falsetto to Kendrick Lamar, Kamasi Washington and Flying Lotus. With his solo albums, Thundercat has also carved out and completely inhabited his own patch of land, creating something distinct and stable within pop’s ever-shifting world. The opening […]
Novella Change of State (Sinderlyn) Perilous are the genres doggedly loyal to form in some way, like the blues or reggae. Just follow the chord progression, or chunk the guitar in a characteristic rhythm—and voilà: doing it. But what percentage of overall attempts to make reggae music have been horrific? Ninety? Novella courts disaster on […]
Spiral Stairs Doris and the Daggers (Domino) After eight years, Scott Kannberg, aka Spiral Stairs, sounds rested and rejuvenated. Doris and the Daggers kicks off with “Dance (Cry Wolf),” a flashing ’80s glam jam. When Kannberg’s baritone comes in like a countrified Ian Curtis, it’s a little startling, and on the chorus he sounds like […]
Neil Young Peace Trail (Reprise) Despite his 1980s stylistic wanderings, Neil Young is one of rock’s great dependables. His output is perpetual (Peace Trail is his eighth album in 10 years); his voice eternally a thin warble; his grooves bump along like a wagon. When every record carries such strong and specific flavors, it gets […]
Foxygen Hang (Jagjaguwar) I missed Foxygen’s last show in town: Some proclaimed it amazing; others, a joke. One friend threaded the needle, reporting that frontman Sam France came out blazing across the stage so intensely that you knew it couldn’t last. That description echoed while I listened to Hang, a masterful album that somehow feels […]
Rebel Kind Just For Fools (Urinal Cake) The band name and green-black-yellow-red color scheme may suggest reggae, but Rebel Kind is straight lo-fi from the fertile indie scene of Ypsilanti/Ann Arbor. The band is led by guitarist/singer Autumn Wetli, one-time drummer for Bad Indians, and includes bassist Shelley Salant (Swimsuit, Tyvek) and drummer/keyboardist Amber Fellows […]
Real Numbers Wordless Wonder (Three Dimensional) Minneapolis’ Real Numbers declares its twee intentions from the first moments of “Frank Infatuation,” the leadoff track on Wordless Wonder. Brisk, strummy guitar chords make a bed for a bouncy, melodic bass before drums rush in along with a rudimentary but game-as-hell lead guitar line. Singer Eli Hansen enters […]