THE NATIONAL Laugh Track (4AD) — Matt Berninger, the frontman and main lyric writer for the National, talked openly about a relatively recent bout with writer’s block that put the future of the band in doubt. He evidently had quite … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Laugh Track; Black Rainbows
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
Coffee for Two 