I already voted in the federal election. And I paid my taxes weeks ago. So next week is pretty wide open for me. Good thing — I’m going to need all that free time to listen to these great new albums. Here are my (and your) plays of the week:
Aawks
On Through The Sky Maze
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Solar System is in motion around the Milky Way galaxy, while the planets in the Solar System are in orbiting motion around the Sun. As a result, from an observer’s perspective outside the Solar System, planets will appear to move in a helical motion… something that looks more like a massive jelly fish than a flat Frisbee. On Through the Sky Maze explores themes of paradoxes, life and death, time, possession, the power of perspective and our individual paths and how things don’t matter at all but also completely and totally matter. It also takes a darker path exploring themes of the occult, life and death, the conjuring of spirits and demonology. With the addition of new bassist/vocalist Ryan “Grimepup” Mailman, the new album showcases a heavier version of the band. There are still plenty of heavy riffs, grooves and moments of psychedelic exploration, but this time Ontario’s Aawks are more focused on the wee hours, the shadows, alone in a forest, near a swamp or going to battle with otherworldly beings.”
Jon Allen
Seven Dials
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Jon Allen is a London singer, songwriter and producer who is influenced by the classic sound of British bands like Free and The Faces, with a nod to the songwriting of Van Morrison and Elton John. A gifted songwriter with a soulful whisky-soaked voice that has become his trademark, Allen’s career took off with his critically acclaimed Dead Man’s Suit album. This led to an appearance on Later With Jools Holland. He returns with his highly anticipated seventh album, Seven Dials, a raw and captivating exploration of the darker corners of London’s Covent Garden in the 18th century. Known for his soulful voice and well-crafted songs, Allen delves into the heart of a time when the streets were teeming with vice and debauchery, painting a vivid picture of the struggle, sin, and survival that defined this notorious district.”
Black Honey Cult
Black Honey Cult
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Drawing inspiration from pioneers like The Velvet Underground and psychedelic icons The 13th Floor Elevators, Black Honey Cult infuse their sound with shades of early goth, post-punk, and krautrock. The result? A hypnotic, genre-defying blend of dark, atmospheric psychedelia that transports listeners to another plane — like dropping LSD on Mars. The band’s sound was brought to life by the legendary Paul Roessler (of Screamers and 45 Grave fame) at Kitten Robot Studios, a perfect match for their haunting and transportive vision. Black Honey Cult stand as a testament to years of collaboration, creativity, and perseverance, offering an immersive experience for those ready to step into their enigmatic world.”
Bleak Magician
No Fireball Show
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Bleak Magician are a band from Baltimore. The founding members are Srogi Mroczek, Weirding Batweilder and Dirt Boucher. Their homegrown debut full-length How The Disappearance Appeared To Us was released digitally and on cassette on Dec. 6, 2024. Details regarding the full-length followup No Fireball Show are sketchy. Srogi and Weirding are brothers. They began working together in 2019 — with Srogi as audio engineer and Weirding as songwriter — on albums by the avant-metal band Bornwithhair and again on two full-length releases by the vampiric black metal project Vinterdracul. Srogi and Dirt also play together in Mephistophilizer — something of a latter-day homage to the Neat Records catalog. The trio started working together as Bleak Musician in late 2023, after the long and unexplained sudden disappearance and reappearence of Batweilder. Bleak Magician’s sound is informed by the brothers’ songwriting and recording techniques. “We map everything out on synthesizers,” said Weirding. “Then we go in with guitars and drums and start to destroy everything.”
Blondshell
If You Asked For A Picture
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Blondshell’s second album, If You Asked For A Picture, expands on the visceral songwriting and wit that made her 2023 self-titled debut a critical sensation. Sabrina Teitelbaum explores themes of control, relationships, and self-reflection, gesturing towards an even deeper autobiographical story. Reunited with producer Yves Rothman, she embraces a confident sonic range, blending colossal hooks, layered textures, and bold, traditionally masculine aesthetics ripped from Queens Of The Stone Age and Red Hot Chili Peppers. The result is a collection of songs from an artist now at the peak of her powers that brim with an urgency, ambition, devastating potency only hinted at until now. If You Asked For A Picture’s title borrows its title from a 1986 poem by American writer Mary Oliver, titled Dogfish. In it, Oliver grapples with the idea of telling one’s own story: How much to share, how much to keep for oneself — all questions Teitelbaum asked herself while writing the LP.”
Car Seat Headrest
The Scholars
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Scholars is the first studio album from Car Seat Headrest in five years. From Shakespeare to Mozart to classical opera, Car Seat Headrest’s Will Toledo pulled from the classics when devising the lyrics and story arc of The Scholars, while the music draws, carefully, from classic rock story song cycles such as The Who’s Tommy and David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust. “One thing that can be a struggle with rock operas is that the individual songs kind of get sacrificed for the flow of the plot,” Toledo notes. “I didn’t want to sacrifice that to make a very fluid narrative. And so this is sort of a middle ground where each song can be a character and it’s like each one is coming out on center stage and they have their song and dance.” While Car Seat Headrest started as Toledo’s solo project, the four-piece is now fully a band. “What we’ve been doing more of in recent years is just taking the pulses of each other.” says Toledo. “It didn’t really feel to me like things got in sync in an inner feeling way until this record, with that internal communal energy. And it’s become that band feeling for me in a much more realized way. That’s been a big journey.”
Eric Church
Evangeline Vs. The Machine
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Eric Church, one of country music’s most fearless storytellers, marks another ambitious and sonically rich chapter in his groundbreaking career with Evangeline vs. The Machine. A self-proclaimed “album artist,” Church has always championed the power of cohesive storytelling, and Evangeline vs. The Machine is no exception. “An album is a snapshot in time that lasts for all time,” Church shares of the creative approach behind the new project. “I believe in that time-tested tradition of making records that live and breathe as one piece of art — I think it’s important. I’ve always let creativity be the muse. It’s been a compass for me. The people that I look up to in my career and the kind of musicians I gravitate to never did what I thought they were going to do next – and I love them for it. I never want our fans to get an album and go, ‘Oh, that’s like Chief or that’s like this.’ Painstakingly, I lose sleep at night to try to make sure that whatever we do creatively, they go, ‘Wow, that’s not what I thought.’ I think that’s my job as an artist.”
The Clinger Sisters
Havin’ A Good Time
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In the mid-’60s, rock ’n’ roll was almost exclusively a man’s world. The Clinger Sisters, four Mormon sisters, dared to challenge the pre-conceived notion that rock music was a dark and dangerous place that had little space for women. The Clingers’ angelic beauty, shining harmonies, uncompromising virtue and ferocious ambition were a light in the often-tumultuous Los Angeles music industry. They attracted top music producers excited about the possibility of something new and unheard. It also attracted those who sought to exploit their talent and take advantage of their naivete. The Clingers were four daring sisters who had the courage and conviction to break stereotypes. They were church girls with guitars who never understood exactly why the devil should own rock ’n’ roll.”
Club Night
Joy Coming Down
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Club Night’s sophomore album Joy Coming Down is an ode to loss and what follows. The record borrows its title from the Fred Thomas lyrics “Til you find yourself found with the graves in the ground / Tears rolling out of the eyes wet as a cloud / but it’s only the sound of your joy coming down.” This is the logic of Joy Coming Down: Things transmute. Tears become clouds become the joy and pain of our forebearers. Energy can never be lost, only transformed. We are lifted into a reverie, twinkling and quiet, only to be jolted awake and knocked around into quick, triumphant celebration. We’re all invited to the party. And we’re celebrating grief. There is a platitude that grief doesn’t shrink, and that instead, we must grow around it. Joy Coming Down grows around it, a trumpet vine proliferating violently on a north-facing wall.”
Samantha Crain
Gumshoe
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “When multiple car wrecks rendered Samantha Crain injured and bed-ridden for a year and a half — an experience that was explored within her last album A Small Death in 2020 — followed by the pandemic immediately afterward, the Oklahoma singer-songwriter finally slowed down. Having lived within something of a nomadic, solitary existence for as long as she can remember, she’s sprinted from city to city on tour while leaving love, consequences and tough conversations behind for the past two decades. Coming off the road has given her more time to reflect, more time to connect with the people in her life, and more time to let her curiosity blossom — as revealing and challenging as it has been. The experience has been a crash course in humanism, as she continues to question what it means to be a friend, a partner, a piece of a community. It’s explored throughout the entirety of Gumshoe — her forthcoming seventh studio album and first in half a decade, with an apt title that evokes the sense of mystery-solving she’s welcomed these last several years of staying put.”
The Earwurms
Plonk
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Plonk is the new album of the Amsterdam conceptual punk band The Earwurms. With help from crowdfunding and subsidized funding they could record their first studio album in Schenk Studio at the end of 2024. The studio environment offered new ways to explore their sound. The focus being on writing songs which connect rock and alternative music with experimental music. Plonk stands for the plonky sounds produced by the instruments that will nestle in your ears to stay on repeat. The songs cover topics from grilling to facism to heartbreak, all the concepts stuck in the brain of a modern woman.”
