Juno Recommends Rock / Indie / Folk / Metal / Punk / 50s / 60s: April 2024

Review: Legendary emo indie outfit The Cure have played all over the world in their decorated careers but back in 1996 when they headed to Brazil, it was the first time they had been to the country since 1988. They were there for the 1996 edition of the Hollywood Rock Festival which they headlined in superb fashion and wowed their Latin American fans. Live Lullabies & Other Bedtime Stories is a special recording of that night that comes on nice yellow vinyl and features the likes of signature anthems like 'Boys Don't Cry,' 'Friday I'm In Love,' 'Just Like Heaven' and many more.

Review: The fourth studio album from '90s pop-punk-ish alt rock band Del Amitri, Twisted followed 1992's Change Everything, and amounted to a classic among the greats in their discography (though it was the last to feature the guitarist David Cummings). The album's bright, car-mixed songs - 'Roll To Me', 'Never Enough', 'Start With Me' - heard the band retain their omnipresent melodics, though it also marked a shift towards an even sunnier and heartfelt direction than the preceding album, not to mention serving as a sonic companion to the nascent Britpop craze, albeit not directly influenced by it.

Review: Beautifully arranged, elegant and wistful, Dream Talks is a set of ten carefully crafted classic songs; From the autumnal opener 'Today is the Day' to the hot summer night finale of 'Turquoise Moon', Still Corners have created a sound that is focused, stylish and seductive. Written in various places - the south of France, East Sussex, UK and Woodstock, New York - the album is matchingly riven both in style and subject matter, with the former spanning ethereal electronica and crystal-clear dream pop, and the latter moving to themes of obsession to reality to "ships in the night".

Review: Contemporary indie icon St. Vincent's (Anne Erin Clark's) seventh full-length record All Born Screaming follows up 2021's The Nowhere Inn, and contrasts to that record with its intense introspective plunging of the personal depths, to find what Clark deemed her own sonic vocabulary. Arriving at a distinction she dubbed 'post-plague pop', All Born Screaming centres on a crooked and menacing sound with a reckless spirit, with lead cuts like 'Broken Man' giving raw Knife-like instrumentation and masc monarchic ironies on the lyrics, as if to suggest a significant patriarchal downfall to come. That line is said to be representative of the album's mood as a whole; "that lustre and swagger that you feel right before things go terribly wrong!"

Review: For the first time in over 26 years, much-loved metallers Pearl Jam finally topped mainstream rock airplay charts in the US with the first single off their latest album. That came some 1000 days ahead of the album itself which has now finally arrived and has soon won over fans. That single, 'Dark Matter', became Pearl Jam's first No. 1 on the chart since 'Given To Fly' led for six weeks all the way back in January-February 1998. The rest of the album is full of just as much gold as that, with plenty more of their signature riffs and potent grooves all topped with Eddie Vedder's legendary lung-busting vocals.

Review: As part of a new looking back on German art rocker Nico's esteemed career by the indie label Domino, Desertshore chronologically follows The Marble Index, and is her third album, following the prior project's establishing her as an avant-garde artist with one foot in the mainstream, in stark defiance of the the prejudiced poo-poohs that followed her first (baroque pop) album, Chelsea Girl. Desertshore is more of a reconciliation of her prior two projects, bringing back the initial western pop sensibility while now firmly basking in a newfound weirdness-and-she-knows-it. From the opening dark waves of 'Janitor Of Lunacy' to the piano-balladic injection of sadness that is 'Afraid', this is another avant-garde masterpiece by the musician, never justifiably passed over.

Review: Just when you thought you'd heard Robert Smith and The Cure every which way but bad, we discover more from their huge back catalogue. This time in the form of World War, a compilation of rare demos that takes its name for the band's seminal early single, which appears in a particular raw and unfettered, grinding version on this collection. A sound that defines the overall aesthetic. Rough and ready but packed full of energy, the huge landmark 'Boys Don't Cry' feels more intimate as a result, 'Fire In Cairo' arguably more punk, 'M' more New Romantic, and 'Heroin Face' less compromising than ever before. If all that sounds like bullshit talking, we implore you to take a listen and see what you think - the smart money is on us agreeing in the end.

Review: Leeds indie stars English Teacher serve up a fantastic debut album here with 'This Could Be Texas'. Preceding hits 'The World's Biggest Paving Slab', 'Nearly Daffodils' and 'Mastermind Specialism' have all topped BBC 6 Music playlists and helped build the band quite the following. Their rise continued to soar after they appeared on Later With...Jools Holland, and they have since played a sold-out UK and US tour. Lead singer Lily Fontaine's vision for the album was "an odyssey to space, revealing Doncaster's likeness. It's about navigating in-betweens, cherishing home, and tracing Desire Paths." Fontaine reflects on being mixed-race in post-Brexit several times throughout the album and it comes here on lovely green vinyl.

Review: It All Comes Down to This is the album latest release from Manchester icons A Certain Ratio, and it's a record that is helmed by producer Dan Carey from Speedy Wunderground. Somewhat returning to their origins, the record presents ten concise tracks with a hint of the group's signature electronic flair. Notably, it's the first recording featuring the core trio of Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop, and Donald Johnson, without any additional collaborators. From their celebrated 1982 album and right up to their dynamic last EP in 2023, this album shows the band's still evolving and still committed to new musical advancements. A testament to their enduring legacy, It All Comes Down to This solidifies A Certain Ratio's place among Manchester's finest.

Review: The 18th album from James, whose career spans over four decades, emerging in the C86 era of indie, coming to prominence as part of the Madchester movement but establishing and holding onto a loyal fan base and critical acclaim with their unique blend of alternative rock and dream pop. The band work in unique ways to keep things fresh and this is no exception, bringing us "the tracks that didn't make it to the next stage" before now. A significant milestone in their musical journey, showcasing the band's continued evolution and creative prowess, it encapsulates a wide range of emotions and themes, exploring personal experiences, societal issues and the human condition. James' distinct songwriting style is evident throughout, with thoughtful lyrics and introspective reflections, while musically, the album features the band's signature atmospheric soundscapes, ethereal melodies and intricate guitar work.

Review: According to Guided By Voices frontman Robert Pollard, Same Place the Fly Got Smashed is at the apex of the band's creative output. In the James Greer Biography, Guided By Voices: A Brief History: Twenty One Years of Hunting Accidents In the Forests of Rock and Roll he says this record has some of his all-time favourite songs on it, and 'Pendulum' is home to his finest lyrics. Originally released in 1990, the fourth studio album from Guided By Voices is certainly potent stuff. The opening sample tells us to "get ready for excitement and adventure", then the raw mood of 'Airshow '88''s riff marks the beginning of an epic journey. From the muscular 'Order For The New Slave Trade', to the tender acoustic heartbreak on 'When She Turns 50', the gritty hypnosis invoked by 'Ambergris', and psychedelic folk-pop on 'How Loft I Am?', resistance remains impossible, 34 years on.