THE LOUDER STUFF
BEARTOOTH – Pure Ecstasy
Nothing against the guy coming out, but this is softer/poppier than the last couple of very good albums. (7)
JOHN CARPENTER – Cathedral
He goes metal at almost 80 years old. But in some sense he was always metal. (8)
CRUMBLING GHOST – Four
English folk meets doom metal, and it kicks ass. (8)
MASTODON – Marrow Deep
You know the backstory so let’s not dwell on that. Is it good? Well, it’s not “Blood Mountain”, but it’s better than “Emperor Of Sand”. (8)
CHELSEA WOLFE – The Dark
Her most accessible and, ironically, brightest record is positioned somewhere between Evanescence and The Cure, this is goth pop/rock off the top shelf. (9)
THE OTHER STUFF
THE AFGHAN WHIGS – Soft Control
Contemporaries of the grunge scene and signed to Sub Pop but always an outlier, still going strong with their unique blend of hard alternative rock and classic soul/r’n'b. There never was anyone else like them, and there never will be. (8)
ALABAMA SHAKES – I Must Be Dreaming
A welcome return for their sweet soul music with a psychedelic rock edge. The lyrics are a bit angrier nowadays, but of course that’s expected in the midst of Trump version 2.0 – Obama was still President the last time they released an album. (7)
PHOEBE BRIDGERS – Lost Weekend
Bridgers has wrangled a great album out of her personal life’s turmoil – lots of catchy melodies, enhanced by deep but often very funny lyrics. This one will be near the top of many lists comes December. (8)
LIAM HAYES – Dancing Backwards
I never liked Steely Dan so who would’ve thought I’d like lo-fi Steely Dan. (8)
JULIA HOLTER – Materia
Experimental ambient pop, a companion album to 2024’s “Something in the Room She Moves”. If you liked that one, you’ll like this one too. (7)
RAY WYLIE HUBBARD – Reel 2 Reel 4 Real
If this octogenarian is supposed to be an outlaw country artist, then why does this album sound more like early '70s Stones doing a swampy Delta Blues thing? (8)
ICE-T – Criminal Migraine
Strong start, strong finish, sagging a bit in the middle – would’ve benefited by trimming the 24 tracks down to 16 or 18 or something, but at his age it would be too much to ask for the manic energy and bravado of “O.G. Original Gangster” (possibly the best rap record of all time). Still, thumbs up. (8)
LAMBCHOP – Punching The Clown
Kurt Wagner strips it down – no electronics, no Auto-tune on the vocals, just his nicotine-stained voice, a guitar, banjo provided by Bon Iver, and… choirs? Listbait for music critics in their 50s. (8)
MIKE D 5D – Thank you
Former Beastie Boy returns to making music and he’s got his two sons with him. I’m sure he’s having lots of fun, but I won’t be giving this one too many spins. (6)
TY SEGALL – Chrome
Jammy, fuzzy psychedelic garage rock, this is one of his heaviest – and best. (8)
BILLY STRINGS – So Much For Goodbyes
Hadn’t paid much attention to this guy until now, basically because the stage name turned me off (a guitarist calling himself Billy Strings is like a chef calling himself Johnny Moussaka or an accountant calling himself James Balance-Sheet), so this one came as a revelation – not so much the virtuoso bluegrass playing and his crack backing band, which I expected, but the songwriting. A masterpiece. (9)
