My Top 5 New Releases :: Week of June 15

1. Everybody Wants :: The Struts

Three-Sentence Review: I am a huge fan of glam rock, and often long for that same glittery grind and shake that came from T-Rex, Bowie, Queen, Sweet, and others circa Seventies. There have been a few bands that have pushed through with some of that sensibility (Placebo, The Darkness), but they are often few and far between – The Struts new album has it though, that glam rock magic that I love, blended together with some newer alt-rock sounds (think Bastille, Against Me!) and I am enjoying the hell out of it. I want want want to see this band play live.

Initial Favorite Track(s): Could Have Been Me, She Makes Me Feel and Where Did She Go

Rating (1-5 Stars): 5+

Could Have Been Me

2. Restless Ones :: Heartless Bastards

Three-Sentence Review: Heartless Bastards are a band I keep hearing about, and reading their name places, but had not heard any music from until today (I feel like I’ve been missing out). A little Avett Brothers and National with a harder edge, maybe with a dose of The Black Keys and Alabama Shakes for good measure, but harder still – the music gives off a punk rock sensibility, even if it seems to dance more in the alternative, at at times folk rock, genre universe. The album was recorded at Sonic Ranch in El Paso, and you can hear it in the music, the landscape, the air, the feel of El Paso, all throughout the songs.

Initial Favorite Track(s): Gates of Dawn, The Fool and Tristessa

Rating (1-5 Stars): 5

Gates of Dawn

3. Harder to Lie (single) :: David Ramirez
from the upcoming album, Fables

Three-Sentence Review: Reminiscent of the classic country my Aunt used to love and listen to when I was a child, mixed up and shaken with a little of Ryan Adams and Ryan Bingham, this first single has me in restless anticipation for the full album, Fables. I’m so glad I was told to listen to David’s music (THANKS BREE) because I am falling hard for the storytelling style songs and the emotionally deep and moving vocals. I love the lyrical deconstruction of the “fables” (see what I did there?) we all construct when trying to win someone else’s love, and how eventually those stories fall apart, for better, or for worse.

Initial Favorite Track(s): N/A (single)

Rating (1-5 Stars): 5

No video available – but you can listen here on Spotify

4. The Fool :: Ryn Weaver

Three-Sentence Review: I hear a little Kate Bush and a little Bjork in this album, some of the songs coming across the left of center, with a spark of wonderful weirdness, infused with a surge of electro-pop energy (some songs are more mainstream, but I prefer the eccentrics in the bunch). This was not what I expected from this album, or from Ryn, proving the old adage that one should never judge by covers, or in this case, album covers/promotional photography. This is music that makes me want to move and sweat, and dance.

Initial Favorite Track(s): Runaway, OctaHate and New Constellations

Rating (1-5 Stars): 4

OctaHate

5. Vol. 4 :: Dog Party

Three-Sentence Review: A little Josie Cotton, a little Go-Go’s, a little Le Tigre, a little Skating Polly and a little Screaming Polly, and a whole lotta fun, Vol. 4 is a surefire Summer album that is going to get a lot of play in my car, I can already tell. This album requires being turned up LOUD.

Initial Favorite Track(s): Dead Guy, Be My Friend and I Can’t Believe That You’re Real

Rating (1-5 Stars): 4

No videos available, but you can stream all of Vol. 4 here on Spotify