SOUND BITES

Butch Walker's eighth solo album (I still hold the torch for Marvelous 3 and their three records from 1997-2000) has many ambitions. For those familiar with his career to this point, the first ambition is to surprise; after building his formidable discography with sugary, nostalgic hard rock and introspective folk, American Love Story is his vision of a rock opera complete with spoken word segués, so many references to classic rock songs it's dizzying, and a loose narrative following a small town redneck learning to love and accept the differences in his life. It also aims to start a conversation in America, which is made plain by the incessant repetition of "are we having a conversation?" in The Singer , which serves as the album's introduction; it gets a bit grating, but effectively hammers the point. From there, strap in if you're a fan of classic rock radio; this album is described by Walker as being "wrapped up in a soundtrack that sounds like the F

When last we got an album of new music from Car Seat Headrest, it won my Album of the Year award; 2016's Teens of Denial took a '90s indie throwback approach and infused it with Will Toledo's witty songwriting to create an album that was simultaneously nostalgic and of the moment. It was a thrilling record that won Toledo accolades and immediately put him (in the minds of many fans and critics, at least) at the forefront of the indie rock movement. To me, Teens of Denial was a fresh and reassuring record, one that proved that rock was in good hands. When the decision was made to re-record one if his bedroom classics as Twin Fantasy (Face to Face) , it too was well received and, even if it wasn't a proper follow-up, it eased anticipation for what was due to come after such an excellent album as Teens of Denial . Now, success in music is kind of subjective, especially in these modern times, and responses to success can vary wildly depending on the artist. In the case of

The wait for Man Man's sixth album has been excruciating for fans of the group; it's been nearly seven years since the release of On Oni Pond , and Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In-Between has been about four years in the making. This is also the band's first record for esteemed indie label Sub Pop and, as such, there's an air of importance surrounding this record. There's also a little uncertainty coming into this for fans, as the long gestation period combined with the side projects Honus Honus embarked on during the down time and the general "anything goes" sonic attitude that Man Man possesses make for a situation where there was no telling what we were getting from this record. What we ended up getting was a beautiful, slightly haunted, often funny, sometimes heartbreaking and naturally unpredictable listening experience. The ride is, as to be expected from a Man Man record, wild; listeners of pre-release single Cloud Nein are treated to a fake

Eighteen albums might not seem like a lot to review in four months, but that running tally for 2020 does fill me with a little pride; even with a global pandemic and some time off work allowing me to spend much more time with music, averaging about one review per week is more than I thought possible considering how much procrastination (and, at times, outright ignorance) has played into my work ethic around here in recent years. That said, there has been so much more released already this year that's worth talking about. So, I decided to go ahead and reinstate the gimmicky but fun haiku reviews I used as a cop out when catching up last year leading up to Year in Rock. This doesn't mean these albums don't warrant more thought out reviews, I just didn't get to them in a timely enough fashion. It also doesn't mean these albums aren't good enough to devote more time to; in fact, in a year where Fiona doesn't just decide to release a generational masterpiece, a