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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]