Ramona Falls "Coils"
If you have been anxiously awaiting the third LP from Ramona Falls then you might wanna sit down, because I have excellent news for you. Are you ready? Strapped in? Do you have your helmet on? Because Coils, the third Ramona Falls record is here, and it is fantastic! Brett Knopf, also of El Vy and Menomena) has packed Coils to the brim with quirky bounce and indie-pop touches to delight one and all (hey, I almost turned into a carnival barker there!) The whole thing combines the confidence of The Mountain Goats with the easy cool of Serge Gainsbourg and the musicality of Van Dyke Parks. Check out “Prayers.”
Twinsmith "Stay Cool (Saddle Creek)"
For their third LP, Twinsmith decided to strip things down. They had been continuously expanding their sound into a hazy surf sort of sound. For Stay Cool (Saddle Creek), the dudes went back to their roots. They recorded the whole thing in their dining room, using old synths and drum machines for a keyboard heavy take on their unique pop sound. Sounding at times like late ‘80s Beach Boys or even a little like Billy Ocean at his yacht-iest, but through a modern lens. Check out the buoyant “Boji.”
Waxahatchee "Out In The Storm (Merge)"
Look. It doesn’t get much better than a new Waxahatchee record. It also doesn’t get better than this line from Merge’s press: “Out in the Storm is the blazing result of a women reawakened. Her most autobiographical and honest album to date…” Also, there are few things in this world that makes us as happy as the words “At Agnello’s suggestion.” That’s right. This time around, Katie Crutchfield not only brought along her sis Allsion as well as the rest of the band to record in Philadelphia, but producer/engineer/podcaster extraordinaire John Agnello who convinced the band to record live, giving the whole record a vast richness, and leaving it more guitar oriented than her previous albums. Check out the would-have-been-right-at-home- on-college-radio-in-the-‘90s vibes of “Silver.”
Tristen "Sneaker Waves (Modern Outsider)"
Sneaker Waves (Modern Outsider), the third full length album from Nashville’s Tristen is full of songs, each one different. I know.. i know… Every album is full of different songs (now that we’ve moved past the cash grab-y remix albums of the ’90s) but this is different. You don’t really know what kind of genre tune you are gonna get next until each tune starts. Will the next tune be dream pop? Well, if you’re listening to “Got Some” then yeah. What about a tune that sounds like Dolly Parton covering Rick Springfield? Then you must be listening to “Alone Tonight”! There are tons of new genre surprises to be found here – (no ska-metal… I assume she is saving that for the next album) so let’s start with the aforementioned “Alone Tonight.”