SOUND BITES

In the four and a half years since the release of the last album by The Bronx, suffice to say humanity has had to endure a lot of challenges. In an act of art imitating life, The Bronx's fifth album wastes no time in getting loud, fast and angry; Night Drop at the Glue Factory and Stranger Danger get the record started off in vicious fashion, the former a takedown of both Trump and police brutality while the latter draws parallels between our modern times and the Summer of Sam. The lean toward melodic rock that often occurred on the previous album was welcomed by most, and there are some songs that carry the group's gift for hooks over here; Side Effects hearkens back a bit to Del Shannon's Runaway en route to one of the record's catchiest choruses. Channel Islands and Cordless Kids , meanwhile, hit a now established Bronx sweet spot somewhere between Foo Fighters and Sex Pistols. Lead single Two Birds might not have quite the same undeniable stickiness as a fe...

THE BRONX Youth Wasted From: The Bronx (IV) Released: February 5 Having more success for your mariachi side project than your main band doesn't seem to have deterred The Bronx from doing what they do best. While the tunefulness they honed over the course of two mariachi albums finds its way onto their fourth album, there's still plenty of edge to be had. Plus, you can't fault the humour and/or confrontational nature of a hard rock band using male strippers in the video for its lead single.

Stream The Bronx IV here , with big ups to the crew at Antiquiet. Since their inception about a decade ago, it's been an interesting career for the guys in The Bronx. Three albums of crunchy, abrasive rock were followed by a pair of faithful mariachi albums (released as Mariachi El Bronx); the mariachi albums garnered more attention than their rock albums, so some wondered whether or not they would bother making a fourth rock record. Thankfully, they did; The Bronx IV (arriving five years after their third album) may not be quite as unhinged as previous offerings, but their knack for big choruses and tasty riffs is on full display here. Opener The Unholy Hand sets the table right away; it's an all-you-can-eat rock buffet with a massive chorus, threatening "do you wanna die or just come real close?" Style Over Everything is a huge tune, hearkening back to Sex Pistols, Foo Fighters and about four other bands I can't quite put my finger on, not to mentio...

Usually, this is the time of year when the reflections on the twelve months that were are complete and this place becomes a ghost town for at least a couple weeks because there's nothing interesting being released until April. In fact, if you noticed during my chronologically ordered nominees rollout, you'll find that only 7/50 came out in the first quarter of the year (with five of those being in March, and none in January). Maybe the labels are panicking to get their properties out there before no one cares about albums anymore, maybe my music addiction's spiraled too far out of control. Whatever the case, the first three months of 2013 are logjammed with potentially and guaranteed awesome albums alike. So, we took a look back, and will remember 2012 fondly; now let's dive into 2013 and start devouring more tasty riffs! After the jump are my 15 most anticipated releases coming in the early part of 2013: