ALLISON RUSSELL The Returner (Fantasy/Concord) — It’s phenomenally fitting that Joni Mitchell inspired the title of Allison Russell’s sophomore full-length, The Returner. After being a firsthand witness to Mitchell’s transcendent 2022 comeback performance as one of the musicians onstage, Russell … Continue reading Medium Rotation — The Returner; Hox; Careful!
SLOWDIVE Everything Is Alive (Dead Oceans) — Like a lot of folks, the members of Slowdive have come through a tough couple of years. There were the usual lockdown woes to be sure. They also faced down the deaths of … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Everything Is Alive; Relentless
BE YOUR OWN PET Mommy (Third Man Records) — There was a time, not so long ago, when bands that made a mighty racket were expected to hang up their well-weathered Chucks when they reached a certain age. Stepping away … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Mommy; Jump for Joy
MARGARET GLASPY Echo the Diamond (ATO) — Echo the Diamond is Margaret Glaspy’s third album, but it feels like the proper follow-up to her sterling 2016 full-length debut, Emotions and Math. Between those two outings, Glaspy released Devotion, which held … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Echo the Diamond; Haunted Mountain
GUIDED BY VOICES Welshpool Frillies (GBV Inc.) — Many bands standing before the monolith of a big-number anniversary would understandably take the occasion to press a grand statement to record, some collection of songs steeped in nostalgic and pummeled by … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Welshpool Frillies; The Loveliest Time
CABLE TIES All Her Plans (Poison City/Merge) — The Melbourne, Australia trio Cable Ties comes into their third album with a fine fury. All Her Plans opens with “Crashing Through,” which skews close enough to vintage Sleater-Kinney to flap anyone’s … Continue reading Medium Rotation — All Her Plans; I Inside the Old Year Dying
FEEBLE LITTLE HORSE Girl with Fish (Saddle Creek) — For Feeble Little Horse’s first studio album recorded under their pact with Saddle Creek (their previous LP was reissued by the stalwart indie label), the Pittsburgh band unleashes a torrent of … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Girl with a Fish; Time Ain’t Accidental; Joy’All
BULLY Lucky for You (Sub Pop) — Now four albums deep into this boisterous Bully enterprise, Alicia Bognanno sure knows how to put together a crackling, crunchy rock record. For her second outing as as essentially a one-woman band, Bognanno … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Lucky For You; The Age of Pleasure
ARLO PARKS My Soft Machine (Transgressive) — How does an artist follow up a debut that achieved the level of acclaim of Collapsed in Sunbeams. The first full-length outing from the British-born Arlo Parks raked in awards like they were … Continue reading Medium Rotation — My Soft Machine; Roach
CATT Change (Listenrecords) — A musical polymath raised in Northern Germany and currently based in Berlin, Catt might be uniquely calibrated to accept change. At least that’s how she comes across on the new album Change. Change can be rough, … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Change; The Chicago Sessions; The Answer Is Always Yes
Coffee for Two 