American Football "American Football (LP2)"
It has been 17 years since Polyvinyl released what would eventually become the classic self-titled debut from American Football. As you probably know, what happened after that is the stuff of rock legend. The band broke up only having played a handful of small shows. It was only after the band didn’t exist that the record went on to become “one of the single most influential rock records of it’s time” (quote from Noisey, but a sentiment expressed by countless media quote makers). Thankfully, the legendary 2014 reunion shows went as well as they did, because (and I can’t believe I’m writing this) American Football are back with a new self-titled LP! (make sense of THAT discogs!) The same emotionally resonant lyrics tugging at nostalgic heartstrings, the math rock syncopation, the swirling emo interplay, and now Mike’s bro Nate Kinsella laying down the bass. Even more surefooted and (of course) mature then the last time around, this is gonna get you just like the first one did. Prepare for a rush of turn-of-the-century emotions with the first single from the album “I’ve Been So Lost For So Long.”
Shana Falana "Here Comes The Wave"
Oh man. This new Shana Falana. If you liked the dreamy, gaze at your shoes, sludgedelica of her last album, then get ready to adore Here Comes The Wave (Team Love). The guitars are thick and crunchy, the ‘80s indebted drums adding to the mystery, with Shana’s reverb-soaked vocals just out of reach. The benchmarks of the first album are here, Siouxsie and The Banshees-esque hooks mixed with goth-leaning sludge rock,it’s the kind of record that makes you regret every band practice you ever skipped, because boy oh boy does it sound like they are having the time of their lives making this record. You’ll have quite the time yourself checking out “Cool Kids.”
Holy Sons "In The Garden"
I’m not the first person to compare Emil Amos to Jim O’Rourke. Like O’Rourke, Amos has nearly countless bands, Holy Sons here (plus Om, Lilacs and Champagne, Grails) and solo outings and guest turns. Much like the last release from Jim O’Rourke as well, In The Garden (Partisan) appears to be both a forward thinking love letter to the easy rocking ‘70s, as well as a song cycle that is the culmination of a lifetime spent listening to and recording music. A swan song? Well, no. It’s way too early for that. But definitely a high water mark (having the lovely and talented John Agnello in the studio sure doesn’t hurt.) Check out the Cure covering Phosphorescence sounds of “Robbed and Gifted.”
Dillinger Escape Plan "Dissociation"
Dillinger Escape Plan threw everything they had left into Dissociation, their farewell album. Thankfully, everything they threw stuck too. The mathy syncopations, the operatic shifts in dynamics, the screaming, the searing licks, the Apex Twin-esque sidebars. Seriously, almost every song on this tremendous album has more shifts in style than most artists’ entire catalogs. Guitars stretch as far as they can, while all the while vocalist Greg Puciato channels the simultaneous auras of Mike Patton and Ozzy Osbourne. Check out the as close to a ballad as you’ll get from this record with “Symptom Of Terminal Illness.”