ALVVAYS Blue Rev (Polyvinyl/ Transgressive) — Rev is a reasonable potent alcopop that’s been a staple of questionable choices for Canadian youth since the turn of the millennium. The beverage is offered in a range of colors, including blue, presumably … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Blue Rev; Desperately Imagining Someplace Quiet

THE BETHS Expert in a Dying Field (Carpark) — Elizabeth Stokes, frontwoman for the Beths, describes her band’s output as ““sweetly sung melodies and super-depressing lyrics.” That’s not only a very suitable description of the Beths’ material, particularly on the … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Expert in a Dying Field; Cool It Down

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS Bleed Out (Merge) — Presumably, John Darnielle has somehow eradicated the need for sleep. A Nobel is surely forthcoming. How else to explain the amazing output in recent years from the previously prolific and now practically omnipresent … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Bleed Out; 2007; Natural Brown Prom Queen

SYLVAN ESSO No Rules Sandy (Loma Vista) — On their prior albums, it was sometimes difficult to discern whether Sylvan Esso wanted to master or deconstruct pop. They decisively elide that question on their fourth studio full-length, No Rules Sandy, … Continue reading Medium Rotation — No Rules Sandy; In My Car

AMANDA SHIRES Take It Like a Man (ATO Records) — There’s a lot of backstory that can be weighed when listening to Take It Like a Man, the eighth solo album from Amanda Shires. By her own accounting, Shires was … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Take It Like a Man; Surrender

SOCCER MOMMY Sometimes, Forever (Loma Vista) — For her third full-length album as Soccer Mommy, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Sophie Allison enlisted fairly unlikely help from Oneohtrix Point Never’s Daniel Lopatin as producer. Her earthy, moody material seems somewhat at odds with … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Sometimes, Forever; Beatopia

HORSEGIRL Versions of Modern Performance (Matador) — It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that Versions of Modern Performance, the debut album from the Chicago band Horsegirl, starts exactly as it should: Gigi Reece’s thumping drums all alone for a few … Continue reading Medium Rotation —Versions of Modern Performance; Farm to Table; Remember Your North Star

FANTASTIC NEGRITO White Jesus Black Problems (Storefront Records) — Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz has a new story to tell on White Jesus Black Problems, his fifth studio album under the name Fantastic Negrito. Some impromptu examination of his family tree yielded … Continue reading Medium Rotation — White Jesus Black Problems; Big Time

THE BLACK KEYS Dropout Boogie (Nonesuch) — On their eleventh album, Dropout Boogie, the Black Keys are still finding fresh ways to make meaty magic with an endless variety of blues licks, thumping rhythms, and lyrics that howl out about … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Dropout Boogie; Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky

SHILPA RAY Portrait of a Lady (Northern Spy) — Now seems like the ideal time for a take-no-shit woman howling lyrics of feminist dissatisfaction, doesn’t it? If Shilpa Ray doesn’t quite go full riot grrrl on Portrait of a Lady, … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Portrait of a Lady; Endless Rooms; A Bit of Previous