Fruit Bats "Gold Past Life (Merge)"
“Fruit Bats makes existential make-out music, but you’re also welcome to dive into it deeper if you want. Good pop music should be sublime like that.” So says Eric D. Johnson of Fruit Bats in the PR for the excellent retro-pop blast that is Gold Past Life (Merge). This may be the feel-good record of the summer. With Eric’s unique falsetto and ‘80s George Harrison guitar vibes all over the place, it’s nearly impossible to wipe the smile off your face when the tunes kick in. So give yourself over to “The Bottom Of It.”
Hatchie "Keepsake (Double Double Whammy)"
We’ve been anxiously awaiting the full-length release from Hatchie ever since our buds over at Double Double Whammy released her EP Sugar & Spice. Well, the wait is over and Keepsake is everything we were hoping it would be. Expanding her sound to include some ‘80s new wave textures to her already intoxicating sonic palate, her sound is somewhere between the more shimmering releases from The Cure and Alvvays. Check out the soaring “Stay With Me.”
Titus Andronicus "An Obelisk (Merge)"
An Obelisk, the latest album from the beloved band Titus Andronicus, is a perfect storm of rock (hot off the heels of their now legendary sitcom pilot). Here on An Obelisk (Merge) we find the band in top form, being produced by the legendary Bob Mould and recorded at the legendary studio of Steve Albini. Titus is sounding lean and mean, with Bob stripping away almost all adornments-leaving us with the purest distillation of rock and roll this side of… uh… oh, I don’t know… just insert your favorite rock record here. Check out the epic “I Blame Society.”
wild Yaks "Great Admirer (Ernest Jenning Record Co.)"
For fans of a certain kind of ramshackle indie rock we don’t get much of these days (or for die-hard fans of bands that have appeared on Law And Order: SVU) word of a new Wild Yaks album is like manna from heaven (honestly, present company included in both the former and the latter). Great Admirer (Ernest Jenning Record Co.) sounds like the record Robert Bryn and Co. were born to record. Every song bursts forth like a beautiful conglomeration of friends, always teetering on the precipice-nearly cracking under the weight of good ideas, yet always managing to keep everything held together (there is a reason the band isn’t called Tame Yaks after all). Check out the effortlessly sing-a-long-able “Great Admirer.”