I've done variations on this theme several times in the past, usually after a long period of time during which I abandon my responsibilities around here and allow unreviewed releases to pile up high. Now that my "reviews" are shorter and without much deep thought involved, I kind of figured we wouldn't get to this point again so soon; and yet, here we are.
Anyway, here are some albums I've checked out over the summer but not yet shared my opinions on; I could have done haiku just as easily as dropping one or two sentences as I have below, but it turns out I'm too lazy to even arrange this shit into the proper lines and syllables. Shrug.
MONDO COZMO
New Medicine
June 12, 2020 • Last Gang
Highlights Black Cadillac • Upside Down • Come On
For his second album as Mondo Cozmo, Josh Ostrander got help from some heavy hitters; Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Peter Hayes features heavily, both as a guest guitarist and co-producer, and previous single
Come On was co-written by Semisonic's Dan Wilson. The results speak for themselves, a surer and rockier offering than his debut
Plastic Soul or interim EP
Your Motherfucker.
LAMB OF GOD
Lamb of God
June 19, 2020 • Nuclear Blast
Highlights Memento Mori • Gears • Reality Bath
The tenth studio album for metal icons Lamb of God is all about new beginnings; a new label and choice of making a self-titled album both speak to this, and yet the majority of this record finds them in more or less familiar sonic territory. I guess when you're a revered metal band, the safest move is usually to not stray too far outside your cage.
HAIM
Women in Music, Pt. III
June 26, 2020 • Columbia
Highlights The Steps • Gasoline • Leaning On You
Third albums are often referred to as "difficult", the point at which many artists try new things whether they're comfortable or not. Haim's third album uses their well-received first two albums as a jumping-off point to their most intensely personal and artistically satisfying album yet.
July 10, 2020 • Sleepless
Highlights Life of the Party • Pay For It • The News
Take the last sentence of my Haim write-up, but replace "Haim" with "July Talk", "intensely personal" with "stubbornly subdued" and "artistically satisfying" with "relentlessly lethargic". You know how their first two albums gave you visions of July Talk joyously bringing the house down live? This is the opposite of that.
BUSH
The Kingdom
July 17, 2020 • BMG
Highlights Flowers On a Grave • Quicksand • Undone
Somehow, Bush's eighth album suffers from rocking too much; while that sounds like a good problem to have (and I have no problem at all with it in small doses), the relentless, chugging hard rock riffage that permeates nearly every second of
The Kingdom is fatiguing and doesn't recall Bush's triumphant '90s material so much as it sounds like something they may have released as a last ditch attempt to fit in on rock radio in, say, 2003. When they finally stop trying to proving how hard they are and give in to the urge to create
Glycerine IV: The Bush Master Undone, they make something utterly contrived seem like a breath of fresh air, which might be the greatest trick of the mind any band will play on me this year.
CREEPER
Sex, Death & the Infinite Void
July 31, 2020 • Roadrunner
Highlights Be My End • Cyanide • Thorns of Love
Holy shit, is this album fun; while their horror-punk roots aren't completely gone, there's a far greater debt to be paid to glam rock pioneers like Bowie and T. Rex, as well as contemporary glam worshipers such as MCR than the Alkaline Trios and AFIs of the world. Hell, the album's midsection goes even further back, playing out like a haunted sock hop. By the time we get to the last track, it starts to sound like The Killers, which should honestly be more surprising than it is.
FONTAINES D.C.
A Hero's Death
July 31, 2020 • Partisan
Highlights I Don't Belong • Televised Mind • I Was Not Born
Just last year, Fontaines D.C. burst onto the scene with
Dogrel, their highly acclaimed debut; their follow-up is a little darker and a lot more expansive, which makes for a listen that can be both engaging and tedious, especially on some of the album's more repetitive tracks.
BLUES PILLS
Holy Moly!
August 21, 2020 • Nuclear Blast
Highlights Low Road • Kiss My Past Goodbye • Longest Lasting Friend
Coming six years after their head-turning debut and four after the soul-infused misfire of their follow-up, Swedish blues rockers Blues Pills return with an album that splits the difference in styles while wisely keeping the focus on incredible vocalist Elin Larsson. That said, the ballad-to-rocker ratio is a little high, making for an uneven listen that drops the energy a little too often.
BULLY
Sugaregg
August 21, 2020 • Sub Pop
Highlights Add It On • Where To Start • Like Fire
Bully's third album is ostensibly a solo record by Alicia Bognanno, who dismissed her band prior to Sugaregg's production; the resulting album is just as fiery as we've come to expect from Bully, but this time the more personal nature of the lyrics and singular force behind the performances make for a much more intimate experience.
COLD WAR KIDS
New Age Norms 2
August 21, 2020 • CWKTWO
Highlights Who's Gonna Love Me Now • Somewhere • Across the Divide
The obvious second volume in an ongoing trilogy of releases by the once indie darlings turned mainstream almost-darlings,
New Age Norms 2 proves just how adept Cold War Kids have become at penning smash hits in the fifteen years or so since their debut put them on people's radars; that they've come close but not quite struck gold is all but a running joke at this point, and this eight-song serving certainly has its share of surefire inclusions on a best-of playlist.
ANGEL OLSEN
Whole New Mess
August 28, 2020 • Jagjaguwar
Highlights Whole New Mess • (New Love) Cassette • Chance (Forever Love)
The stripped-back companion to last year's lush and triumphant
All Mirrors,
Whole New Mess likely won't challenge as anyone's preferred album between the two; still, the stark and intimate versions of these tracks do allow for another perspective that often can only be imagined by listeners.
METALLICA/SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY
S&M2
August 28, 2020 • Blackened
Highlights The Day That Never Comes • Halo On Fire • All Within My Hands
I mean, if you've heard the first one, you know what you're getting here; hell, half of the songs present here were also on the first volume in 1999, which means about half of
S&M2 are just the same songs played by a band that's twenty years older. Some of the newer songs getting their symphonic debut are interesting listens, especially on longer songs that felt bloated on their original albums; these benefit the most from the extra instrumentation (and, in the case of
All Within My Hands, a proper snare).
PIG DESTROYER
The Octagonal Stairway
August 28, 2020 • Relapse
Highlights The Octagonal Stairway • Cameraman
By now, Pig Destroyer fans should expect as much restless exploration as relentless grind from the band, and their new EP is no exception; the lead trio of tracks are as brutal as anything they've done in recent memory, and should send naysayers critical of some of their slower tempo offerings scrambling to the floor to pick up what's left of their jaws. The second half, however, is all electro-gonzo nightmare fuel, culminating in the droning 11-minute
Sound Walker. Even if there's little incentive for repeat listening of its B-side, this EP at least proves that Pig Destroyer are capable of both laying waste and diving headlong into the unknown.
THE FLAMING LIPS
American Head
September 11, 2020 • Warner
Highlights Will You Return/When You Come Down • Flowers of Neptune 6 • Mother Please Don't Be Sad
I've mostly tuned out on The Flaming Lips for the better part of the last decade; their sixteenth record, as pleasant and down-to-earth as it is in parts (especially compared to some of their recent forays into stubborn weirdness), doesn't do much to bring me back. Infusing their trusty psych-rock with tender grooves is a welcome reprieve from whatever the hell
Oczy Mlody was, but
American Head is tender to the point of rendering the album a chore to sit through.
MASTODON
Medium Rarities
September 11, 2020 • Reprise
Highlights Fallen Torches • A Commotion • White Walker
Not necessary in any reasonable way, Mastodon's rarities collection (with one new song!) might be more notable for what's missing than what's included; their Melvins cover from 2005 isn't here, nor is their 2009 ZZ Top cover or their
Stairway to Heaven rendition from just last year. We are treated to four instrumental versions of album cuts and five live tracks, all of which are inferior to their original versions; so as to say, if you're buying this it's because you really like the new song and appreciate having the other six covers and/or B-sides (including their Flaming Lips cover, so segué) collected for you in one place. Still, it sure would have been nice to get something a little more comprehensive and a lot less packed with filler.
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