Fool’s Gold – Flying Lessons
Fool’s Gold bouncing, delightful third LP is a perfect summer album. Sounding like a mixture of Vampire Weekend and Remain in Light-era Talking Heads, Fool’s Gold blends African inspired rhythms with American pop sensibilities to create catchy jams. While the vocals of this release are disappointingly in English as opposed to the rumbling Hebrew of their first release, they still do well framed by the shiny guitars and organic sounding drums that make up the majority of the instrumentation on this record. All of this is complemented by excellent and airy production that lets each note ring out.
RIYL: Vampire Weekend, Talking Heads, Devo
Top Tracks: I’m in Love, Break the Cycle, Another Sun
Du Blonde – Welcome Back To Milk
Psychedelic folk star Beth Jeans Houghton has decided to completely ditch her odd sound acoustic tracks in favor of a new name and distortion driven rock songs. Mostly, it works. At its worst, Welcome Back To Milk can sound like something you would hear at 2 in the afternoon on a classic rock station when they only play 80s glam rock. At its best, however, Du Blonde proves she can write a really solid rock song.
RIYL: David Bowie, Beth Jeans Houghton, Glam rock
Top Tracks: Black Flag, Raw Honey, If You’re Legal, Mind is On My Mind
Andreya Triana – Giants
If you had to listen to Giants for any single reason, it would definitely be Andreya Triana’s voice. It manages to find that right mix of soulful but also slightly ragged and genuine (think Amy Winehouse). That being said, while Giants occasionally hits really good strides, it’s ultimately brought down from the heights of greatness as a result of it’s overly poppy arrangements and production.
RIYL: Amy Winehouse, Elle King, Alice Russell, Solange
Top Tracks: Gold, Paperwalls, Everything You Never Had, That’s Alright With Me, Giants
Joanna Gruesome – Peanut Butter
Joanna Gruesome packs a remarkable amount into their newest album, Peanut Butter, which somehow clocks in at only 22 minutes. The genre is listed as “Noisy Pop,” which is a pretty apt description. Almost all of their songs blend grungy, dissonant guitar and punk-y shouted vocals with moments of very sweet, bubblegum pop harmonies that you won’t be able to get out of your head. It’s a little weird, but it works.
RIYL: Courtney Barnett, Speedy Ortiz
Top Tracks: Last Year, Jamie (Luvver), Honestly Do Yr Worst, Hey! I Wanna Be Yr Best Friend
Michelle Blades – ATARAXIA
Dark swooning compositions waver between high and low energy. Her voice heaves and quavers, boils and simmers over assertive twangs. Sultry and subtle, she pulls you in and blows you away. High energy spastic melodies recall Man Man climbing the scales in a witch-y sorta way.
RIYL: Amanda Palmer, Angel Olsen, Jessica Lee Mayfield, Torress
Top Tracks: Subtropical Suburban, How Many Shadows Do I Lay On, Risk Fruit