Willow Butler + Sister Squares "Will Butler + Sister Squares"
From the Brooklyn Vegan:
Will Butler and his band Sister Squares (Miles Francis, Julie Shore, Will’s wife Jenny Shore, and Sara Dobbs) will release their new self-titled album on September 22 via Merge. “After Generations, I considered making a weird solo record,” says Will of the new album. “Me alone in the basement, etc, etc. Mostly I realized that what I wanted was the opposite.”
“I had quit my band Arcade Fire very recently, after 20 years—maybe the most complex decision of my life,” Will says of the circumstances leading up to this album. “I had spent the preceding two years at home with my three children. I was 39 years old. I was waking up every morning and reading Emily Dickinson, until I had read every Emily Dickinson poem. I was listening to Morrissey, to Shostakovich, to the Spotify top 50. I had unformed questions with inchoate answers. But, honestly, I was feeling great about the record.”
Danko Jones "Electric Sounds"
From Napalm Records:
In the last ten years, DANKO JONES have visibly shifted up a few gears. Since frontman Danko and bassist JC joined forces with drummer Rich Knox, the band’s creative fire has blazed brighter than ever. A string of albums has led to even more intense touring and tireless dedication to the cause of rock. “Electric Sounds” is the best proof that even a global pandemic couldn’t stop DANKO JONES.
The McCharmlys "The McCharmlys"
From Hi-Tide & NuTone Recordings:
Debut LP from The McCharmlys, five-piece combo from Santa Ana, Calif., currently taking the scene by storm with their stylish blend of doo-wop, surf, beat & 60s style rock ‘n’ roll. LA Weekly called the band “an absolute joy” as they “recall sounds from past while adding a contemporary edge that is attractive to punk, new wave and rockabilly fans.”
Taking their name from a obscure Beatles interview, the band was assembled by band leader & primary songwriter Angie Monroy in 2018, carefully selecting key players from the Santa Ana scene. Monroy writes music every day, with influences ranging from The Ramones, Roy Orbison & The Beach Boys. The band’s lush sound is rounded out by layered harmonies & instrumentation that has captivated audiences on stage alongside Jason Joshua, The Delta Bombers, Josie Cotton, Slim Jim Phantom, Los Yesterdays & more.
Abby Johnson "Abby Johnson"
With fresh energy and bright intuition, Abby Johnson’s confident self-titled debut (due in late 2021) offers timeless folk songwriting teeming with a classic Nashville golden-era sheen. Johnson draws upon genre-spanning influences and wrangles them effortlessly into her own expression: “I want my songs to sound familiar, but tell you something new,” she says. The duality of Laurel Canyon nostalgia and indie rock blend effortlessly in her songs, polished further by the airtight backing band of fellow Nashvillians, Ornament (and produced by the band’s drummer, Ryan Donoho).
Raised in North Carolina on the earnest mythos of Taylor Swift, she describes her first songs as “diary entries — playing guitar alone in my bedroom until I was twenty three.” Moving to Nashville for college introduced her to an immersive musical community, where she steeped in the influence of folk-and-country stalwarts like Emmylou Harris and Bonnie Raitt in equal proportion to more contemporary indie songwriters like Phoebe Bridgers.