Juno Recommends Rock / Indie / Folk / Metal / Punk / 50s / 60s May 2020

Review: Just when you thought all hope was lost along come The Strokes to fulfil the promises they made way, way back with their startling debut 'Is This It'. That was 17 years ago, and while the outfit have made plenty worthy of note in the years between then and now, we'd be surprised if we're the only ones thinking this latest is their best effort since that inaugural outing. Confident but also hungry, rather than bloated and lazy, there's plenty here that you won't be able to get away from in a hurry. 'Brooklyn Bridge To Chorus' might define the package best, delivering some powerful pop energy in an all-round homage to and critique of the 1980s, an era revisited again on 'Bad Decisions', which owes plenty to Billy Idol's Generation X classic, 'Dancing With Myself', with tracks like 'Why Are Sundays So Depressing' diverting to a synthdom route and 'Not The Same Anymore' throwing crooner styles into the mix. Exceptional stuff.

Review: In many ways, the debut solo album from Ed O'Brien could have sounded like anything - the Radiohead guitarist has been involved in plenty of sonic experimentations with that outfit, while comrade in arms Thom Yorke has managed to triumph both on the indie rock and electronic club music circuits, elements that could easily have found their way onto this record. The truth is 'Earth' doesn't really sound like Radiohead, or most contemporary electronic permutations. You could almost argue there is an air of nostalgia running through the release, certainly 'Shangri-La' feels that way, shades of Madchester and the great indie-dance crossover days are more than audible. From there we have lo-fi pop edginess ('Banksters'), the sweet and innocent acoustic job 'Long Time Coming', and the breathy, loose, broken and floaty 'Olympik'. In short, it grooves, grows, ebbs and flows in a way that shows a true master at work.

Review: Whether you opt to use the abbreviation - Pigsx7 - or say the band name in full, one thing is certainly abundantly clear about the swine-inspired sludge-rockers from Newcastle, UK. They make very loud and very powerful 'proper' rock music, make no apologies about it, and have been pretty damn consistent since they first squealed onto the scene with riffs blazing. 'Viscerals' does not break from that remit. Having managed to simultaneously win over die hard heavy metal types and BBC 6 Music listeners alike, they deliver this as their latest offering to the music hungry populace, and it's pretty much business as usual. Exceptional guitar innovation, propulsive rhythms and commanding atmospheres, with the only real change being the track lengths - with these arguably their most succinct to date, but as overwhelming as anything that has come before.

Review: As with so many albums, there is a story behind 'For Their Love', arguably the best from Other Lives since 2011's debut 'Tamer Animals'. It involves songwriter Jesse Tabish relocating from liberal and open-minded Portland to the backwaters of Oregon, moving into a rustic rural home surrounded by the unfathomably vast United States wilderness. A setting that's audible throughout this record. The slow, plodding introduction of 'Sound Of Violence' has more than a few shades of Wild West about it, not least when the track opens into soaring strings invoking great adventure. 'Lost Day' is an altogether darker effort, in many ways capturing the zeitgeist of America's New Wave cinema movement, which often set its scenes in almost-uncharted outback of this vast nation. Musically impressive, thematically challenging - touching on everything from hope to the role of the state in society - it's a huge piece of work to say the least.

Review: The follow up to 2017's critically-acclaimed long form outing, 'This Is Eggland', has certainly had fans chomping at the bit since its release was announced. The Eggs continue to beguile, mystify, entertain and impress in equal measure, and have been unveiling some truly captivating singles - complete with equally captivating sleeve design - in the run up to this grand unveiling, whetting appetites no end. So here it is, then, the promise and the proof. 'I Am Moron' cements the British band's position as fiercely independent in attitude and irreverent in style, calling on experimental, psyche, indie and punk to deliver a devastating commentary on the country the outfit calls home - from the plight of working classes to the beastly hypocrisy of those higher up the salary and food chain. Not to be missed, not that you needed us to tell you that.

Review: Genuine honesty is pretty rare in music today - even when artists claim to bare their soul it's often calculated. For Brian Christinzio, AKA BC Camplight, though, nothing could be further from the truth. His work is aurally exploratory and adventurous, and he makes no secret of real feelings, even if those feelings risk making the audience feel a little uncomfortable. Take the intro to 'Ghosthunting' here - the man in question delivers a pseudo-standup route discussing his mental health issues. It makes how enjoyable the track is, and the album overall, somewhat jarring. This is clearly a work of some personal struggle. Nevertheless, enjoy we must as it's pretty near perfect. Beautiful electronica, dark synth wave stuff, and commanding, No.1-friendly pop with real bite. Overlook at your peril.

Review: It's not without good reason that people have been likening Peel Dream Magazine to My Bloody Valentine, Stereolab and Yo La Tengo. Helmed by Joe Stevens, one of New York's finest contemporary players, the outfit makes music that's tender but savage, powerful but delicate and packed with beautiful discordance hiding its sumptuous melodies. 'Agitprop Alterna' is their second full-length release and it certainly adds fuel to the argument that people need to take this lot very seriously. In addition to the aforementioned, here it nods to Velvet Underground (notice the tripped out, opiate-hazed interludes throughout the album) and krautrock-leaning art pop. The record drones, drives, grooves and perplexes on its course, but most of all it unarguably impresses. Or at least that's what we've got to say on the matter.

Review: Just when you thought all hope was lost along come The Strokes to fulfil the promises they made way, way back with their startling debut 'Is This It'. That was 17 years ago, and while the outfit have made plenty worthy of note in the years between then and now, we'd be surprised if we're the only ones thinking this latest is their best effort since that inaugural outing. Confident but also hungry, rather than bloated and lazy, there's plenty here that you won't be able to get away from in a hurry. 'Brooklyn Bridge To Chorus' might define the package best, delivering some powerful pop energy in an all-round homage to and critique of the 1980s, an era revisited again on 'Bad Decisions', which owes plenty to Billy Idol's Generation X classic, 'Dancing With Myself', with tracks like 'Why Are Sundays So Depressing' diverting to a synthdom route and 'Not The Same Anymore' throwing crooner styles into the mix. Exceptional stuff.

Review: Brian Fallon is one of those artists who truly endears themselves to their fan base, and pretty much anyone else who comes into earshot. Frontman of seminal group The Gaslight Anthem, we've watched, or more accurately listened closely as he has grown up, expanded his horizons in terms of sources of inspiration and matured in so far as ability to reflect and re-evaluate the past to better inform the future. A guy who has come of age, you might say. Of course in many ways 'Local Honey' adds to the side of his oeuvre that has been reined in by the march of life itself. Long-since a father, many of the heartfelt but huge guitar tracks on here are focused close to home, and therefore close to the bone, but this is not an artist who has lost relevance to younger listeners. In fact far from it.

Review: Minimal Wave is proud to present The Sound of Indifference, a rare cassette released in 1981 by Aural Indifference. Aural Indifference was a post-punk studio collective from Sydney, Australia. The two principal members were Brian Spencer Hall (the M Squared in house producer) and Kevin Purdy. The cassette album, The Sound of Indifference, was released in 1981, featuring tracks such as "Theme", "Park, and "Man Am I Progressive". Their sound ranges from minimal synth, to post-punk to quirky guitar-driven electronic folk music, some of it resembling John Maus. "Theme" appeared as the closing track on The Minimal Wave Tapes: Volume Two compilation and "Park" appeared on The Bedroom Tapes compilation. Here for the first time, we are offering a reissue of the original cassette, remastered from the master tapes and complete with original artwork, limited to 300 copies.

Review: Say the words 'soft rock' to most people and they won't necessarily conjure images of cool bands making edgy statements with sophisticated sounds. And that's why most people are wrong, or have at least failed to strike up a relationship with Montreal outfit Tops. Since 2012 the troupe have been making music exactly like that, and with 'I Feel Alive' the recipe proves particularly potent. You could identify shades of Fleetwood Mac on more than one occasion here - the disco hues of 'Direct Sunlight' is one example, while 'Colder & Closer' makes light work of throwing some synth pop into the mix further down the line. Ultimately, though, it's as much about sharp lyricism as anything else, with tales of adultery, the relentless drag of casual sex and more making for quite the poignant take on modern life.

Review: Ask Vatn Strom, Eskild Myrvoll and Ingvald Vassbo are hardly the kind of trio you can take lightly. The Norwegian heads blew many of us away with their 2018 debut album, 'Windborne', and seem intent on continuing to deliver the same powerhouse fare on this next long form offering. Psychedelic progressive rock fusion is one label that has been used in the past, and we'd struggle to summarise the work better. Comprising six grand and ambitious tracks, it's easy to start reaching for jazz-y references given the freeform feel of this collection.'"Shades Of Yes' are just about audible on opener 'Worlds Together', the appropriately titled 'Mountain' is a huge affair that grows and builds to a staggering scale, while the likes of 'Worlds Apart' reveal Kanaan's ability to deliver bonafide steel and concrete heaviness with those guitars.

Review: This might be the eleventh album from Car Seat Headrest, or the third. It all depends on how you judge things. Either way, 'Making A Door Less Open" is a confident return for the outfit, who haven't released any new material since 2016, and something of a bold technological achievement. Without getting too bogged down in details, the record was created in a three stage process; songs laid down with guitars, drums and bass, then re-recorded in a MIDI environment before the two versions were combined to emphasise different elements on different tracks. Hence the beautifully compressed beats, heart-warming and stomach-rumbling low ends, and overall sense of depth and sonic scope. Stylistically, it's a cunning mixture of box-fresh garage pop-rock and lo-fi electronica, packed with funk, fraught emotion and polished details.

Review: 'Fanfare For Effective Freedom' might be one of the most beguiling things we've heard in quite some time. Opening the scoring on this very impressive outing from Horse Lords, it's a staccato but somehow smooth ode to the beauty of plucked guitars and layered arrangements, acting as a magnificent gateway to what follows. To call this psychedelic would be misleading, it's more likely to fit in with people's ideas of progressive rock combined with a kind of loose indie, but then none of these really hit nails on heads either. Repetitive loops bring about a feeling of hypnosis, tracks like 'People's Park' gathering elements as they move, creating the kind of build usually reserved for electronic dance music. A truly special five-tracker from a band you'd do well to make further investigations into.