Mgmt, the Naked and Famous, Royal Bangs

Posted on the 16 September 2013 by Thewildhoneypie @thewildhoneypie
Week’s Top Releases
The Albums You Need to Know About Every Week

It’s that time again! This week, Australia’s Cloud Control release their second record, Dream Cave, which was literally recorded in caves of Kent, England’s countryside. The result is a lush, fully danceable collection of songs falling between psych-pop and prog rock that are going to squeeze into your brain and hang around. Crystal Stilts have been together for a decade now and are releasing their third moody rock record this week, which finds the band reaching for a more cosmic, dreamy sound. Another solid rock release comes from Toronto’s The Darcys, who drop their third art-rock record this week full of darkly textured soundscapes.

LA’s scraggly, sweet pop quintet, Grouplove, are difficult to dislike, especially after watching them perform live. This infectious energy bleeds through on their sophomore effort containing track after track of heavy-hitting hooks. Islands, another LA-based band (originally Montreal), are releasing their fifth full-length that Nick Thorburn has said is “a melting pot” of all the sounds from previous records put together. Awesome. Also, it should be noted that the cover art for Ski Mask is nothing short of disturbing. I stared for a second before making it go away, then looked it up again to get a full grasp but — nope. Disturbing (awesome).

Keep Shelly In Athens is a dream-pop duo from Greece dropping their dancey, electronic debut this week. And, OMG, MGMT is back with their third most experimental album yet. VanWyngarden says: “I don’t even know if it’s music we would want to listen to. It’s just what’s coming out of us. We didn’t make a single compromise.” Interesting, honest, and ballsy for sure.

Knoxville’s Royal Bangs are finally beginning to get some of the attention they deserve with their fourth full-length, a record produced by Black Keys’ drummer Patrick Carney who also released their first two records on his label and has proclaimed Royal Bangs are one of his favorite bands. They’re currently on tour opening for Ra Ra Riot, so you’re definitely going to want to give them a listen if you haven’t yet.

Said The Whale present their newest hook-heavy rock record this week complete with explosive energy and beach vibes. Then there’s Sebadoh, who are back with a new record — their first since 1999! Their sound hasn’t changed since their last album, though, and we are so glad — grungy, honest 90s rock, please and thank you! Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin’s latest is more of their effervescent, upbeat pop that takes me back to the days when Death Cab for Cutie and The Shins ran the (indie) world. This is a good thing and so is their latest.

Last is Auckland’s The Naked and Famous, who drop their second pop-noir record where every track is an anthem. Moody and heavily textured, I predict In Rolling Waves is aiming for a specific audience who is going to eat this one up.

CLOUD CONTROL – DREAM CAVE

CRYSTAL STILTS – NATURE NOIR

THE DARCYS – WARRING

GROUPLOVE – SPREADING RUMOURS

ISLANDS – SKI MASK

KEEP SHELLY IN ATHENS – AT HOME

MGMT – MGMT

ROYAL BANGS – BRASS

SAID THE WHALE – HAWAII

SEBADOH – DEFEND YOURSELF

SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU BORIS YELTSIN – FLY BY WIRE

THE NAKED AND FAMOUS – IN ROLLING WAVES