Jack White, Suckers, Toro y Moi [week's Top Releases]

Hopefully your haul from Record Store Day is enough to keep your ears abuzz with new music for the coming weeks. If you’re like me, though, and weren’t successful at grabbing all the limited edition 7-inches on your list, there are plenty of releases today to keep you busy and satisfied.

Pretty much everyone, regardless of gender, has a crush on Jack White (@thirdmanrecords). Undoubtedly a future rock and roll hall of famer, it’s hard to believe that Blunderbuss is White’s first solo album (unless you count the six White Stripes albums, because come on). After working behind the scenes with a impressive range of artists — from Wanda Jackson to Insane Clown Posse – White has finally taken time to concentrate on a more personal project.  Certainly the life changing events White has experienced recently (the dissolution of The White Stripes and his divorce from Karen Elson) had a huge influence on the songs present on Blunderbuss, a debut solo album from the man whose releases will eternally be part of the week’s best.

Turn on the Sunshine – Suckers // Buy

Brooklyn weirdos Suckers (@sssuckersss) released their sophomore album on Frenchkiss Records today. The glam vocals and intricate arrangements that characterized their debut Wild Smile are equally present here, but Candy Salad’s songs seem more intentional rather than spontaneous. The saturated, psychedelic jams are carefully-calculated and sometimes over-flourished, but somehow they seem natural and have that dose of quirkiness that make Suckers such an interesting band.

Dead Pontoon – Toro y Moi // Buy

The new album from Chaz Bundick, or Toro Y Moi (@toroymoi), isn’t exactly new. June 2009 contains 10 songs supposedly cut during the month of the title. Because these tracks capture Bundick at an understandably less polished and more broadly focused period of his musical career, June 2009 may be an album best liked by Toro Y Moi’s most faithful fans. Here, Bundick experiments with different instrumentation and displays how the Toro Y Moi sound first materialized.

Country Mile – Diamond Rugs // Buy

Gimme a Beer – Diamond Rugs // Buy

Diamond Rugs (@diamond_rugs) could probably be called a super group. Main members include John McCauley and Robbie Cromwell of Deer Tick as well as Ian St. Pé from The Black Lips, Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, and Bryan Dufresne of Six Finger Satellite. Deer Tick has the greatest influence on this alt-country themed, self-titled debut album, though, as the material is rough, raw and uninhibited.

I Am Not A Game – Ty Segall & White Fence // Buy

Garage rockers Ty Segall (@tysegall) and Tim Preseley, or White Fence, got together for a one-off collaboration titled Hair that they released this week. The pairing is seamless and results in a well-crafted album full of 1960s psychedelic touches.