Stream Two Album Of The Year Candidates, Taste Two Distinct Flavours Of Badass

-
With one of the year's most exciting Tuesdays just five days away, this week I was reminded again of just how much times have changed.  Rather than painfully wiling the days away and pining for that release date to come so I could listen to the albums I wanted most badly, and rather than deal with the impatience and guilt of pirating said albums when they leak, the internet has given us a most happy medium in the way of streams.

Long a practice reserved for fringe artists, the advance album stream has become increasingly common.  And this week, we've been given the chance to sink our teeth into not one but two fantastic records that see official releases next week.

Even with all of his well-documented non-White Stripes extracurricular activity over the years, anticipation was high for the first album to ever be released simply as a Jack White solo album.  Blunderbuss doesn't disappoint; its success is measured in equal parts White Blood Cells muscle, Get Behind Me Satan eccentricity, and Consolers of the Lonely groove.  iTunes is hosting the stream here; it's annoying in its presentation as a single 44-minute file, but it's not like you'll care since the album flows so well you'll gladly take it all in one go. 


If you've seen my previous posts, you'll know that I'm also excited to get my hands on Harmonicraft, the third album from Torche (and first since 2008's stellar sludgefest Meanderthal).  Well, thanks to Spin, you can give Harmonicraft a... er, spin, right this way.  As you submit to the awesomeness that's evident all over this platter, you can check out what bassman Jonathan Nunez has to say via track-by-track commentary.

Whether or not Torche have topped Meanderthal is not for me to say without giving it a few more good, thorough listens through headphones once I own the album.  But, judging from the quality of the tracks they've whipped up, I can safely say that if it doesn't top their last album it still stands a chance to top a list or two come December.

Both albums are in stores* Tuesday.

*(good luck finding Torche at Wal-Mart)

Comments

  1. Kent FackenthallApril 20, 2012 at 10:13 AM

    Thanks for the link. Holy shit this Torche record is good.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IN REVIEW: Surf Curse - "Magic Hour"

-
Image
  After a slow ascent that saw them self-release their first three albums over the course of six years, Surf Curse found fame in the way that so many young and hungry bands do in this modern age; Freaks , written in 2011 and originally released on their debut Buds in 2013, found itself a sudden smash after soundtracking memes on TikTok in 2020, eventually garnering over 200 million streams and earning the group a major label contract.  The first album following their breakthrough, Magic Hour finds plenty of changes in store for fans; now expanded to a four-piece, this album immediately sets itself apart from previous releases based on the fuller sound in the songs alone. Couple that with a step away from the lo-fi aesthetic that played a part in earlier releases and this is obviously going to be a different experience than people may have hyped themselves up for. That said, the crunchy, energized Arrow and the lush, dreamy Cathy combine for a very strong start even as they fly in the
Read more

Gallantly Streaming: Avenged Sevenfold Go Full On 90's With Familiar, Stunning Results

-
Image
Stream Avenged Sevenfold's Hail To The King here , courtesy iTunes. As uncool and un-hipsterish as it may be for me to admit on a blog, I'm a fan of Avenged Sevenfold. Their breakthrough album City of Evil and its blistering lead single Bat Country sucked me in, and their varied, multiple era sprawling attack kept me around waiting for more. Their 2007 self titled effort was just as strong in its shameless genre hopping, planting their feet firmly in the technical metal that endeared them to so many while reaching out to explore new sounds. With that said, I felt 2010's Nightmare was a step back; while it had some genuinely thrilling moments, it overall lacked some of the adventurousness that made them so interesting. Upon listening to Hail To The King 's title track for the first time, I was admittedly disappointed by its trite lyrics and (mostly) simplistic musicianship. However, repeated exposure has helped the track age well; once you get past the lyrics
Read more

Year in Rock 2023: Honorable Mentions

-
Image
  Well, well, well. If it isn't Sound Bites temporarily coming back to life, suspiciously close to the end of the year. That must only mean one thing; well, aside from the author being supremely lazy and neglectful to his blog yet again. Yes, dear reader, it's time for Year in Rock. Look, I'm out of excuses as to why I can turn from cranking out content at a record pace to a full year of radio silence; suffice to say, this blog certainly isn't a priority in my life (which I have been rebuilding since my last post, but that's all personal stuff I have no desire to steal bandwidth from more deserving and important things). Sound Bites will continue to exist as a mausoleum for my personal music tastes, but it's not pivoting into self-help territory, nor is it roaring back to full-time status. I'll check in periodically, so as to say when there's something worth sharing. It might be once a year, it might be more frequently, but I definitely won't be gett
Read more