Porter Robinson – nurture

★★★★

Released April 23rd, 2021 on Mom + Pop Records

Hyperpop with a bold willingness to scratch out the borders and inject some real heart into things. At first I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be feeling; by the end I was feeling everything.

Remember Sports – Like A Stone

★★★☆

Released April 23rd, 2021 on Father/Daughter Records

Yes, they sound like lots of other contemporary alt-rock bands led by women in the last ten years. They have a punkier edge to them, though, and Carmen Perry has, four albums in, proven herself to be an enduring songwriter of growing talent.

Bruno Pernadas – Private Reasons

★★★☆

Released April 23rd, 2021 on Pataca Records

A gorgeous little kitchen sink of an album that flags through the middle but manages to finish on a high note.

Alfa Mist – Bring Backs

★★★★☆

Released April 23rd, 2021 on ANTI- Records

Pianist/beatmaker/bandleader Alfa Mist leads a smooth, soaring collection of London nu jazz that explores the concept of community-building in strange new places. The secret weapon here is Johnny Woodham’s sublime trumpet.

Field Music – Flat White Moon

★★★

Released April 23rd, 2021 on Memphis Industries

Sixteen years into the British band’s career and they sound like they’re settling comfortably down into middle age. Which is fine, I guess, if you need a record to put on while you sip your decaf and read the morning paper.

Fog Lake – Tragedy Reel

★★☆

Released April 23rd, 2021 on Orchid Records

A mumbly slowcore record so fragile and mumbly that it threatens to collapse in on itself, leaving only tear-stained bedsheets.

Sir Sly – The Rise & Fall Of Loverboy

★★

Released April 23rd, 2021 on Interscope Records

Uh-huh. And you call this “indie rock” when it’s obviously on Interscope and is about as rock as Imagine Dragons.

Dreamer Boy – All The Ways We Are Together

★☆

Released April 23rd, 2021 on Harvest Records

Basic-ass song structures, boring drum patterns, and sub-Soundcloud autotune vocals ruin…actually, what the hell else is there?

Kaleo – Surface Sounds

★★

Released April 23rd, 2021 on Elektra Records

So this is what blues rock has been reduced to, huh? Interchangeable bands who thought “Take Me To Church” was a template.

Big Brave – Vital

★★★☆

Released April 23rd, 2021 on Southern Lord Records

Heavy, but with an odd fragility that belies the ponderous weight being thrown around on every track.

Alan Vega – Mutator

★★★★

Released April 23rd, 2021 on Sacred Bones Records

Alan Vega, most well-known as the avant-garde voice behind proto-electro-punk duo Suicide, died in 2016 at the age of 78. Mutator is a lost record that he did between 1996 and 1998 that for one reason or another never got released at the time. It’s a real shame, because it breathes with a fetid life of its own and really highlights the strengths of Vega’s particular style of noise-making.

Art D’Ecco – In Standard Definition

★★★

Released April 23rd, 2021 on Paper Bag Records

Canadians really hold a candle for glammed-up New Wave, as it turns out. All the moves are there, I just don’t know if an homage to forty years ago cuts it enough. I feel like you should put some kind of spin on it, or something more than Let’s Dance era Bowie pastiche.

Yellow Ostrich – soft

★★★☆

Released April 23rd, 2021 on Barsuk Records

It’s pretty one-note, but goddamn it’s a pretty good one note. Sad-sack indie rock that reminds me of many bands and yet of none.

Communions – Pure Fabrication

★★★☆

Released April 23rd, 2021 on Tambourrhinoceros Records

A dark, tense indie record that wins over on atmosphere and vocal styles.

Ki Oni – Stay Indoors And Swim

★★★

Released April 23rd, 2021 on sound as language

Like listening to the fish swim in a clear lake under the burning August sun.

Filthy Hippies – Departures

★★★★

Released April 23rd, 2021 on Mongrel Records

Heavy psych, the way it was meant to be played, with near-drone verse theatrics and squalling Iommi-style guitar passages. Shades of A Place To Bury Strangers and the Jesus And Mary Chain.

Lil’ Yachty – Michigan Boy Boat

★★★

Released April 23rd, 2021 on Quality Control Music

Yachty has such a non-flow it’s wrapped around to being a sublime flow. Vapid, but pretty good fun.

Huey Briss – Grace Park Legend

★★☆

Released April 23rd, 2021 on Briss Don’t Miss / World Oasis

Starts off strong but then doesn’t really go anywhere. Plus, that name, come on.

Moneybagg Yo – A Gangsta’s Pain

★★★

Released April 23rd, 2021 on Interscope Records

Solid and unpretentious, like a fastball tossed right over the plate.

Slim Thug – SDS Vibes

★★★☆

Released April 23rd, 2021 on Hogg Life Records

Slick, soulful, and above all pimpadelic southern rap.

Body Void – Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth

★★★☆

Released April 23rd, 2021 on Prosthetic Records

Crushing. If you want this album summed up in one word there it is. It has hints of noise, black metal, sludge, and doom, but “crushing” sums it up perfectly.

Capra – In Transmission

★★★☆

Released April 23rd, 2021 on Metal Blade Records

A lot of metalcore bands are cheesier than hell, but Capra sticks to what works: hardcore punk with squealy guitars.

The Marigold – Apostate

★★☆

Released April 23rd, 2021 on Trepannation Records

Look I like sludge as much as the next guy but this record seems to come across like tossed-off, rough-draft Tool more than anything else.