Artist: JunipTitle: FieldsRelease date: September 14Label: MuteI admit to being one of those swept up in Jose Gonzalez fever in the wake of that TV ad (circa 2003) with all the colorful balls bouncing all over San Francisco. My then-fiancée bought Veneer, the debut album by the Swedish guitarist, and…
Artist: Kelley StoltzTitle: To DreamersRelease date: October 12Label: Sub PopSan Francisco’s recent resurgence in the world of garage-y indie rock (Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Fresh & Onlys, Sonny and the Sunsets) is probably in some part due to the work of Kelley Stoltz, who’s been dabbling in mid-fi ’60s-influenced…
Artist: Kings of LeonTitle: Come Around SundownRelease date: October 19Label: RCAI think it’s funny that people are getting all bent out of shape over the supposed “selling out” of Kings of Leon, saying their new record sucks worse than that sucky one that sold a bajillion copies a few years…
Artist: The Extra LensTitle: UndercardRelease date: October 19Label: MergeIn “Cruiserweight,” John Darnielle (best known for his work with The Mountain Goats) sings “I get better as I get more worn down.” You’ve gotta love anyone growing old in the rock ‘n’ roll game who can make such a statement — and…
Artist: Sufjan Stevens Title: The Age of Adz Release date: October 21 Label: Asthmatic Kitty The new record by indie-music deity Sufjan Stevens is an hour-and-12-minute endurance test, one who’s raison d’etre is revealed in the closing seconds of the record’s final song, “Impossible Soul.” As that 25-minute suite comes…
Artist: The Corin Tucker BandTitle: 1,000 YearsRelease date: October 5Label: Kill Rock Stars Who else loves Sleater-Kinney and was disappointed to hear they’d gone on indefinite hiatus after the release of one of their best records, The Woods, in 2006? In my opinion, we’re one of the finer bands of…
Artist: The MoondoggiesTitle: TidelandsRelease date: October 12Label: Hardly ArtWell, well, well, whaddaya know? There is something called the “rock canon,” and it’s right here in one handy bound volume. There’s also this less-formal version, which is mostly the favorites of the white old guard. But we’ll get back to that…
Artist: Belle and SebastianTitle: Write About LoveRelease date: October 12Label: MatadorSometimes, after a hard day spent arguing with co-workers about which records people who write about music should be exposed to, you just want something breezy, something feel-good. Enter the new record by longtime indie darlings Belle and Sebastian. Write About…
Artist: The Old 97’sTitle: The Grand Theatre, Volume OneRelease date: October 12Label: New WestThe Old 97’s hold a special place in my heart. Back in 1998, they very nearly singlehandedly shook me out of post-breakup depression. After a couple of months of moping, I drove to Chicago from my home…
Artist: DeerhunterTitle: Halcyon DigestRelease date: September 28Label: 4ADLove this record. Totally unfamiliar with the band’s previous output but was under the impression they were a confrontational, noisy, quasi-experimental outfit. Turns out, Deerhunter are pure pop. Granted, it’s art-damaged pop, but it sounds fantastic. Like a thousand other bands you’ve heard…
Artist: The WalkmenTitle: LisbonRelease date: September 14Label: Fat PossumIt hit me about halfway through my first listen of the new album by The Walkmen: The singer sounds a lot like Billy Squier. You know who I’m talking about, right? He sang “The Stroke” and “Everybody Wants You” and danced around…
Artist: The Gay BladesTitle: SavagesRelease date: October 5Label: Triple CrownFans of Foxy Shazam, take note: I’ve just heard a Foxy-lite act that you may wind up loving just as much as you do FS. They’re called The Gay Blades, and they bill themselves as “an NYC trash pop duo,” but…
Artist: GrindermanTitle: Grinderman 2Release date: September 14Label: Anti-Most of the indie rock I’ve heard this year (well over 200 records and counting, with 11 weeks to go in this series) is really pretty toothless. Even the harder-rocking stuff, with its big drums or wall-of-sound guitars or garage-rock aesthetic, seems relatively…
Artist: The VaselinesTitle: Sex with an XRelease date: September 14Label: Sub PopIf you’re a small-time indie band looking for an opinion leader to lift you from obscurity, you can do no better than Kurt Cobain. That’s the position Scotland’s The Vaselines found themselves in when Nirvana covered a couple of…
Artist: John Legend & The RootsTitle: Wake Up!Release date: September 21Label: ColumbiaThe new collaboration between neo-soul singer John Legend and ace hip-hop band The Roots is a lark dressed up as an important record, given the source material, mostly cover tunes from the Civil Rights Era.Fans of John Legend and/or…
Artist: No AgeTitle: Everything in BetweenRelease date: September 28Label: Sub PopAfter two weeks of total Best of Phoenix immersion, a time during which I worked a whole lot and listened to very little music, the new record by No Age is a welcome blast of noise.Some of that noise created…
Artist: SuperchunkTitle: Majesty ShreddingRelease date: September 14Label: MergeI can’t the say the new record by Superchunk is as great as their seminal first couple of records — released two decades ago, if you can believe it — but Majesty Shredding sure sounds good to these ears. Mostly because the North…
Artist: JP, Chrissie, & the Fairground BoysTitle: FidelityRelease date: August 24Label: La MinaSure, Chrissie Hynde hasn’t been a vital artist since the late 1980s, but she’s never been — I don’t know, what’s the word? — unwelcome. Is that too harsh? Maybe not, especially after hearing this record, a project…
Name: InterpolTitle: InterpolRelease date: September 7Label: Matador The good news is that in the battle of 2010 Joy Division acolytes, Interpol’s new record is miles ahead of the one released earlier this year by Editors. The bad news is, that ain’t sayin’ much. Editors seem to copying Joy Division’s sound…
Artist: Ryan Bingham & the Dead HorsesTitle: Junky StarRelease date: August 31Label: Lost HighwayRyan Bingham is one country artist that I’m pulling for. I’d heard his first LP (later repackaged and expanded as Mescalito in 2007) and suitably impressed. On that record, Bingham’s youth was apparent yet he still sounded…
Artist: Sonny and the SunsetsTitle: Tomorrow Is AlrightRelease date: August 31Label: Fat PossumFrom the Best Coast school of stoner pop comes Sonny and the Sunsets, a California band with a pop sound so casual that it feels almost tossed off. The beauty in Sonny and the Sunsets’ music is its…
Artist: Ra Ra RiotTitle: The OrchardRelease date: August 24Label: BarsukIf you like Vampire Weekend, you’ll probably like Ra Ra Riot, a prim-and-proper chamber pop band that sounds more suited to a country club function than a night out at the rock club. These guys are vaguely danceable and indebted to…
