New Releases for February 10, 2023
CDs + Vinyl:
Paramore – This Is Why CD/LP/Cassette (Atlantic)
Paramore make their long-awaited return with This Is Why, their first new music in five years. “On the band’s first release with Atlantic Records – after spending nearly two decades on Fueled By Ramen – Williams and company are tracking the emotional landscape of a post-lockdown world and attempting to provide some kind of semblance to what comes next,” writes Flood Magazine. “The record’s title track and lead single is a return to form and another instance of emo-slanting rock.”
Black Belt Eagle Scout – The Land, The Water, The Sky CD/LP+MP3 (Saddle Creek)
The Land, The Water, The Sky rises and falls, in darkness and in light, but even in its most melancholy moments it is never despairing. That is the beauty of returning home. When you stand on ancestral lands it is impossible to be alone. You feel the arms and hands that hold you up, unwilling to let you fall into sorrow or abandonment. In her songs Katherine Paul has channeled that feeling of being held.
Civic – Taken By Force CD/LP (ATO)
Taken By Force is Civic’s follow up to their critically acclaimed 2021 debut full-length Future Forecast – an album of songs that showcased the band’s frenetic, yet melodic sound coupled with introspective lyrics. Taken By Force picks up where their debut left off, seeing Civic joyfully obliterate the line between furious catharsis and unbridled fun.
Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley – Living In A Song CD/LP (Compass)
Featuring ten co-written tunes and focusing on a classic country sound, Living In A Song is an in-depth look at the wonderful interplay between two masters of their craft. On Living In A Song, Ickes and Hensley showcase their songwriting chops in a set of 12 songs, five of which they co-wrote with Grammy award-winning producer Brent Maher.
In Flames – Foregone CD/LP (Nuclear Blast)
Foregone, In Flames’ fourteenth studio album, combines the greatest aggressive, metallic, and melodic strengths of their landmark records with the seasoned songwriting of their postmodern era.
Kelela – Raven CD/2xLP+MP3 (Warp)
Raven is the long-anticipated sequel to Kelela’s impeccable studio debut. Kelela emerges from the tides of her higher self’s oceanic orbit with a fifteen-track, continuous play album exploring autonomy, belonging and self-renewal as healing.
Brad Mehldau – Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays The Beatles CD/LP (Nonesuch)
This live solo album features the pianist and composer’s interpretations of nine songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and one by George Harrison. Although other Beatles songs have long been staples of Mehldau’s solo and trio shows, he had not previously recorded any of the tunes on Your Mother Should Know. The album ends with a David Bowie classic that draws a connection between The Beatles and pop songwriters who followed
Pierce The Veil – Jaws Of Life CD/LP (Fearless)
The band Rolling Stone once described as “hyperactive, progressive post-hardcore,” returns with album number five, full of fuzzy guitars, massive melodic hooks, and PTV’s distinct emotional heart. The Jaws Of Life is Pierce The Veil at their most raw – crackling with urgency and immediacy. Never predictable, always engaging, Pierce The Veil continue to soar on the strength of highly potent energy, rich musicality, and a scrappy sense of authentic exuberant ambition that’s frankly unrivaled.
Quasi – Breaking The Balls Of History CD/LP+MP3 (Sup Pop)
Breaking The Balls of History is Quasi’s tenth record, landing ten years after their last record. Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss have become Pacific Northwest icons, and Quasi has always felt so steadfast – their enduring friendship so generative, their energy infinite, each album more raucous and catchier and ferocious and funny than the last.
Chase Rice – I Hate Cowboys & All Dogs Go To Hell CD/2xLP (Broken Bow)
New release from the country music singer/songwriter.
The Rolling Stones – GRRR Live! 2xCD/2xCD+DVD/2xCD+Blu-ray/3xLP (Mercury Studios)
The Rolling Stones celebrated their golden anniversary in 2012 and 2013 by embarking on the 50 & Counting Tour, a 30-show itinerary for North America and Europe. On December 15, 2012, the band took the stage at Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center for the final of four shows in the New York area. Featuring guest spots from The Black Keys, Gary Clark Jr., Lady Gaga, John Mayer, Bruce Springsteen, and Mick Taylor, the concert proved to be one of the most memorable shows in the band’s history.
Andy Shauf – Norm CD/LP+MP3 (ANTI-)
Hailed as “a gifted storyteller” (NPR Music) for 2016’s The Party and 2020’s The Neon Skyline, Andy Shauf writes albums that unfold like short fiction, full of colorful characters, fine details and a rich emotional depth. Under the guise of an intoxicating collection of jazz-inflected romantic ballads, his storytelling has become decidedly more oblique, hinting at ominous situations and dark motivations.
Tennis – Pollen CD/LP (Thirty Tigers)
Pollen is the sixth album from the acclaimed indie-pop duo Tennis. “We wanted to write a big album,” says Tennis’ Alaina Moore. “Instead of choruses with universal themes, I wrote with a specificity that was new to me, narrowing in on the smallest details of our lives. It is about small things with big consequences: a particle, a moment, a choice.”
Yo La Tengo – This Stupid World CD/2xLP+MP3 (Matador)
This Stupid World serves as the most live-sounding Yo La Tengo album in years. Times have changed for the band as much as they have for everyone else. And their time-tested judgment is both sturdy enough to keep things to the band’s high standards, and nimble enough to make things new. At the base of nearly every track is the trio playing all at once, giving everything a right-now feel.
The Bronx – The Bronx (IV) [Reissue/2013] LP (ATO)
Called their “most accomplished record” by Kerrang upon its release in 2013, The Bronx (IV) heralded a return to the band’s ferocious sound after two acclaimed Mariachi El Bronx records. This 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition is remastered with two bonus tracks and pressed on clear vinyl.
JJ Grey & Mofro – Country Ghetto [Reissue/2007] LP (Alligator)
First-ever vinyl availability for the best-selling title of JJ Grey’s career since its original release in 2007. JJ’s intoxicating blend of Dixie-fried rock, swampy blues and gritty R&B is at its peak in these compelling, literary songs brimming with outsized characters and soul-shaking music.
Knuckle Puck – Retrospective 12”+7” (Bad Timing)
Multicolor vinyl pressing. Retrospect features The Weight That You Buried and While I Stay Secluded EPs on a 12″ and Don’t Come Home EP on a 7″. It is a special gatefold package with silver foil.
Post Malone – Twelve Carat Toothache 2xLP (Republic)
Post Malone’s fourth studio album, Twelve Carat Toothache, is his most intimate and personal opus to date. Throughout the 14 tracks, Post takes us with him on his trials with fame, giving a glimpse into the irony of seemingly having it all, but feeling like nothing all at the same time.
