King Tuff “The Other” (Sub Pop) Didn’t King Tuff used to rock? Last year, an exhausted Kyle Thomas paused to recover and reflect—and he’s clearly going for some kind of contemplative statement on “The Other,” (yes, the title carries those pretentious quotes). But whether about alienation on the titletrack or about toxic technology on “Circuits in […]
King Tuff “The Other” (Sub Pop) Didn’t King Tuff used to rock? Last year, an exhausted Kyle Thomas paused to recover and reflect—and he’s clearly going for some kind of contemplative statement on “The Other,” (yes, the title carries those pretentious quotes). But whether about alienation on the titletrack or about toxic technology on “Circuits in […]
The Voidz Virtue (RCA) Albert Hammond Jr. Francis Trouble (Red Bull) It seemed the Strokes had already endured the breathless-hype-into-vicious-backlash cycle even before its debut full-length, Is This It, dropped in 2001. The band’s momentum, attitude and simply perfectly simple songwriting blew through that milestone with authority. But since then, the band’s output has been […]
Van Hunt Popular (Blue Note) The “great lost” album by the vastly undersung Van Hunt is no longer lost, but it’s pretty great. The Ohio savant caught notice in 2004 with his self-titled debut and Grammy-nominated single “Dust,” then took a leap forward with On the Jungle Floor, and its agile mix of soul, funk, […]
First Aid Kit Ruins (Sony) Stockholm’s Klara and Johanna Söderberg have lived a charmed life. In 2007, Swedish state radio turned one of their demos into a summer hit. In 2008, their video of Fleet Foxes’ “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” went viral, and their 2010 debut won rave reviews—all while they were still teenagers. On […]
Kyle Craft Full Circle Nightmare (Sub Pop) Portland’s Kyle Craft is about to rock, and you may salute him. Craft writes perfect nü-classic rock songs with pounding piano, pealing slide guitar, and sucking-in-the-’70s horn charts—all present on “Exile Rag,” naturally. And a ubiquitous musical element that also happens to describe Craft’s constant state of hot […]
Xylouris White Mother (Bella Union) “Goats are mothers, Zeus was raised on Amaltheia’s milk, Black Peak is Mother Earth. …Mother Earth is the mother of everything.” Giorgos Xylouris thus explains his duo’s third album, the first two being Goat and Black Peak. It’s inscrutable and suitable. Cretan lutenist Xylouris and heavy-duty drummer Jim White (of […]
Camila Cabello Camila (Sony) I don’t exactly follow Fifth Harmony, and I missed the controversy surrounding Camila Cabello’s split with the group. Hope I’m not supposed to hate her because this is just great pop—glossy but not oversaturated—“All These Years” and “Real Friends” are even borderline minimal. And Cabello is a compelling, versatile performer worth […]
Girlpool Powerplant (Anti-) Philadelphia-by-way-of-California duo Girlpool released Powerplant in May, and it was probably a great summer heartbreak album, all intertwining guitars and fragile voices. Opener “123” comes in like a lamb and revs up to lion level at the chorus—but it’s a sweet, sad lion. The soft/loud ratio remains pretty constant throughout Powerplant, and […]
Des Demonas Des Demonas (In the Red) I’m not a subscriber to the “worst times spawn the best punk” school of thought—after all, times are always bad on some level—and perhaps because the underlying rot has always smelled the worst in the nation’s capital, great punk has always come out of D.C., no matter who’s […]
Open Mike Eagle Brick Body Kids Still Daydream (Mello) Chicago’s late-but-beautiful bloomer Open Mike Eagle moved to L.A. in his mid-20s, joining underground hip-hop collective Project Blowed and founding the trio Thirsty Fish before releasing his solo debut in 2010. Since then he’s authored an NIH study on the cognitive effects of freestyle rapping (!) […]