THE LOUDER STUFF
DEFTONES – Ohms
They’ve never made a bad album and “Ohms” is actually their best since “Diamond Eyes”. Heavy, chaotic but beautiful. (8)
ENSLAVED – Utgard
Pink Floyd with distortion pedals. In Viking costumes. (8)
LAURA JANE GRACE – Stay Alive
Songs originally intended (pre-Coronavirus) to be the next Against Me! album but recorded solo out of necessity, with just one guitar, over four days in Steve Albini’s studio. Basically sketches of punk rock anthems, I can’t wait to hear these fleshed out, with a full band. (7)
ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF – All Thoughts Fly
Instrumental album played exclusively on a church organ reinforces her status as the new Queen of Goths. (7)
BOB MOULD – Blue Hearts
A perfect amalgam of Mould’s career, “Blue Hearts” combines Husker Du’s ferocity with Sugar’s pop sensibilities and “Black Sheets Of Rain”’s anger/pessimism. (8)
THE OCEAN COLLECTIVE – Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic / Cenozoic
If you add a hint of Toolishness to some Isis karaoke, you end up with the new Ocean album which feels like it’s only slightly shorter than the 200 million-year period it’s named after. (6)
GREG PUCIATO – Child Soldier: Creator of God
First solo album by Dillinger Escape Plan’s Greg Puciato, plays all instruments except drums himself, sounds like Trent Reznor raping Mike Patton. (7)
COREY TAYLOR – CMFT
What’s recorded in Vegas, sounds like Vegas: Slipknot/Stone Sour frontman’s party rock record. (7)
THE OTHER STUFF
DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS – The New OK
Southern rockers can’t tour so here’s a second album in 2020. Some leftovers from the great “Unraveling”, some new stuff, as good as they’ve ever been. (8)
FLEET FOXES – Shore
A nice folk-ish rock record, but comparisons with ex-Fleet Fox Father John Misty are unavoidable and these guys lose. (7)
PJ HARVEY – To Bring You My Love: Demos
Polly Jean’s demos for one of the best albums of the last 30 years. Rawer without the strings and the pianos, it leaves more room for the lyrics to hit harder and makes for a chilling listen. A must-hear for all fans of the proper album. (9)
HEN OGLEDD – Free Humans
Second album by Richard Dawson side project, more indie-electropop oriented but still very weird and very English. (7)
DIANA JONES – Song To A Refugee
US folk singer releases touching song cycle dedicated to refugees around the world, inspired by a friendship with actress/activist Emma Thompson and a speech by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Guests include other left-leaning folkies like Richard Thomspon, Steve Earle and Peggy Seeger. (8)
LYDIA LOVELESS – Daughter
Four years, one divorce, one new record deal, one move from Ohio to North Carolina, and one occasion of coming forward with accusations of sexual harassment later, it’s no surprise her new album sounds very different: A bit more polished, a bit more mature, a bit more lived-in, a bit closer to Jason Isbell territory. (8)
MARC RIBOT’S CERAMIC DOG – What I Did On My Long Vacation
Ribot is Tom Waits’ guitarist from “Rain Dogs” onwards and he is also a regular John Zorn collaborator so he’s obviously not afraid to go to weird places, and his own band is a Venn diagram where no wave, free jazz, funk and noise rock overlap. (7)
SQUIRREL NUT ZIPPERS – Lost Songs Of Doc Souchon
New Orleans vintage jazz/swing/big band blues revivalists on fun new album combining covers and originals. (7)
RICHARD & LINDA THOMPSON – Hard Luck Stories 1972–1982
Practically everything that Britain’s Royal Folk-Rock Couple ever recorded before falling apart. 8-CD box set including one true masterpiece (“I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight”), three more really good albums, two duds, and a whole bunch of rare/unreleased tracks. A valuable addition to any record collection. (9)
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