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:
GA-20
Volume 2 EP
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “GA-20‘s Volume 2 EP features new members — vocalist and guitarist Cody Nilsen and Joshua Kiggans on drums — along with guitarist and founder Matthew Stubbs. This dynamic trio are poised to advance their artistic vision with a renewed focus on their interpretation of traditional song-based electric blues. Since 2018, GA-20 have been at the forefront of a traditional blues revival. The dynamic throwback trio have long been disciples of the place where traditional blues, country and rock ’n’ roll intersect. “We make records that we would want to listen to,” says Stubbs. “It’s our take on the song-based traditional electric blues we love. The focus for us has always been on the story, the melody, and on creating a mood. Traditional country and soul have all had these massive recent revivals. We want to be part of doing that for traditional blues music.”
Gringo Star
Sweethearts
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Gringo Star hit Atlanta in 2007, and they were widely known for their musical dexterity, the four members trading instruments song to song. Now with a fixed drummer, that continues but is less obvious. Characterized by high intensity, sweat-drenched performances, fans and critics alike have observed that every show the band leaves it all on the field. Over and over they have toured the country and Europe, playing night after night and never missing a beat! Over and over their albums have broken into the top 40 on the college charts. Founded by Nicholas and Peter Furgiuele, with guitarist/vocalist Josh Longino and drummer Mario Colangelo, they have been creating a unique sound since the beginning. With their eighth album, they take a sharp turn into the deeply romantic. Who can blame the band? In a world in which the divisions among us have become the rallying cries for many, isn’t it time we turn back to the love and deep emotions which bind us together?”
Jenny Hval
Iris Silver Mist
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Iris Silver Mist is named after a fragrance made by the nose Maurice Roucel for the French perfume house Serge Lutens. It’s described as smelling more like steel than silver. It is cold and prickly, soft and shimmering, like stepping outside on an early, misty morning, your body still warm from sleep. A perfume, with its heart notes and scented accords, shares its language with music. Both travel through air, simultaneously invisible and distinct. Rather than begin with music, Iris Silver Mist began with the absence of it. As the pandemic led to no live music, the smell of cigarettes, soap, and the sweat from warm stage lights and shared bathrooms was replaced by unphysical, algorithmic listening at home. Suddenly, and for the first time since she was a teenager, Jenny Hval found herself growing interested in perfumes. Smelling, reading, collecting, writing — she immersed herself with scent while her music was put on hold. It took her a year to understand what was happening, until she did: she was seeking another way of sensing physical intimacy. Where music had turned into a void, she filled it with fragrance.”
King Mala
And You Who Drowned In The Grief Of A Golden Thing
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “King Mala is an alternative pop artist based in Los Angeles. Born Areli Castro in El Paso, she is not afraid to spill her guts. Setting out with the hopes to spark confidence in both herself and her listeners, she creates music that will make you walk taller and speak louder. Both her music and visuals experiment with masculine tropes, sharing “There’s something about taking something traditionally masculine and wearing it as a woman that makes me feel really powerful.” These masculine threads weave throughout everything she does, hence King rather than queen and Mala, which roughly translates to “bad bitch” in Spanish. Sharing her feelings from the bottom of her heart King Mala encourages you to dig deep and connect with your inner-self. Life is messy and we shouldn’t feel ashamed to show our emotions and speak our mind.”
David Lowery
Fathers, Sons And Brothers
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Fathers, Sons And Brothers is David Lowery’s musical autobiography. It celebrates his youth, family, friends and the highs and lows of his lengthy career in the music business. For 40 years, Lowery has been detailing the idiosyncrasies of outcasts, losers, freaks and outliers in society in his two acclaimed, if not totally different, bands — Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven. Lowery lets his memory, and pen, traverse back to some of his earliest memories as a child in an English seaside town. He chronologically takes us through his youth and carries on through his coming-of-age period. He recalls moving away from his loving parents’ home, starting a band and then goes onto detail an early love that sadly disintegrated due to his own self-described anger and selfishness on, perhaps, the album’s most moving track. nThe album further delves into the ups and downs of his music careers with both groups. He recalls hooking up with his future ex-wife and details friends, family, children, divorce and more. By the end of this lengthy, insightful album, you get the feeling that you really know this artist, how he thinks, and have a good sense about who he really is… warts and all.”
Lowest Of The Low
Over Years And Overnight
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “A milestone for Lowest Of The Low, Over Years And Overnight marks the first time three of its 11 songs were co-written by all members — a testament to their deepening creative synergy. The album’s title, borrowed from Charles Yu’s novel Interior Chinatown, captures the paradox of time — how success can feel both like a slow burn and an overnight explosion. “How did the band go from a decade of searching for a scene to suddenly breaking out in the early ’90s?” singer-guitarist Ron Hawkins reflects. “Well… over years and overnight.” The single The Only One I See is a playful detour that underscores the record’s emotional core. “It’s the only one on the record that’s got a reggae/ska vibe,” says Hawkins. “We were doing much more of that on the last record. It’s about a person saying to their partner, ‘Among the billions of people in the world, you’re the only one I see.’ ”
Lucius
Lucius
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Lucius have returned to their roots, writing and recording their self-titled and fourth studio album themselves. In their own words: “Our fourth studio album is the four of us, just as we first started recording together as a band. In the last couple of years we’ve started setting roots, finding life partners, building families, growing gardens. We got dogs, (you can hear them in the background if you listen close). We wrote songs about life and relationships. We recorded them in our home studios. Danny produced and mixed it. We saw the beginnings and endings of life cycles while making this record, the beauty and fragility of the human experience. So it’s only fitting that this album is self-titled, it’s our story, who we are now and how we got here. Welcome to our living room.”
Briston Maroney
Jimmy
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “What do you get when you have a storied singer-songwriter introduced to the world of psychedelics reminiscing on the lives that surrounded his divorced-home childhood (the devil-may-care spirit of the north Floridians and the relatively privileged but pressured Catholic school student of Tennessee)? The answer is Briston Maroney’s guitar-heavy, explosive and engrossing new album, Jimmy. At its core, the new record has Maroney stepping into the minds of the two worlds he straddles between, and ultimately letting them meld to life’s true masterpiece: Simply being yourself.”
Model/Actriz
Pirouette
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Following the release of their critically acclaimed debut Dogsbody, Brooklyn quartet Model/Actriz’s sophomore album Pirouette lands sexually commanding and righteously diva-esque. Pirouette takes inspiration everywhere from Lady Gaga and Grace Jones to classical ballet and dissonant dance music. Like a well-oiled machine, Model/Actriz’s punk aggression surrenders to queer pop, arriving at stunning new ways to be free. Pirouette is both a natural progression and a calculated reset, a move toward reasserting their command as artists by peeling away the smoke and mirrors to become brighter, heavier, and more direct. The pop thread running throughout the album allows the crowd to witness thumping club music in the spirit of cabaret and manifest the catharsis that comes with hitting the dancefloor.”
Lael Neale
Altogether Stranger
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Lael Neale’s minimalist drone pop draws inspiration from the Transcendentalists, the alienation of modern life, and a rich array of musical influences — ranging from Dionne Warwick and John Lennon to primitive American gospel and Spacemen 3. Her expansive new record, Altogether Stranger, was written and recorded in the early morning quiet of Los Angeles. Clocking in at just 32 minutes, the nine-song LP covers an unexpected breadth of musical and lyrical terrain — from garage-rock nursery rhymes and creation myths to Motorik dance dirges and solitary Omnichord meditations. A brilliant lyricist, Neale has a unique ability to uncover the extraordinary within the mundane, tackling themes of polarity that recur throughout her work — country vs. city, humanity vs. technology, isolation vs. society. This album is her third collaboration with producer Guy Blakeslee, who helps expand the tonal palette while staying true to Neale’s commitment to the raw immediacy and hand-made intimacy of home recording.”
Pet Symmetry
Big Symmetry
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In early 2021, Pet Symmetry planned on promoting their album Future Suits, but found themselves with a problem: As the world tried to figure out how to live with Covid-19, their touring plans were put on indefinite hold. In true Pet Symmetry fashion, they saw this as an opportunity to really make the most of their downtime. They packed up their gear, booked a remote cabin in the woods of Makanda, Illinois and started working on a new album. Just the boys, some psychedelics, a whole lot of snow, a deck of cards, and a T-shirt prank. Big Symmetry was born. But let’s be clear: Our boys didn’t initially set out to write an album full of big love songs. At first they just wanted to hang out with each other and write an album that rocked. An album with big sounds, lots of energy, and songs that are fun to play. But leave it to Pet Symmetry to unintentionally create an album that radiates love. Love for each other, love for life, and for all the weird, wonderful connections that make living it worthwhile.”
