This Month's Picks

Tarantula Heart

Tarantula Heart

Melvins
The mighty Melvins have done it again. Tarantula Heart is heavy as hell and gloriously weird. "Working the Ditch" is a slow burn descent into the heavy metal underworld. "Allergic to Food" is woozy and wild, the sonic equivalent of a freak electrical storm. This just might be one of the band's most imaginative, unpredictable releases in their storied career. Tarantula Heart is a trip into the darkest recesses of the rabbit hole. More

Ballad Of The Brothers (CD)

The Bacon Brothers
The Bacon Brothers' new album is a rollicking good time. More than just a celebrity band, actor Kevin and Emmy-winning composer Michael clearly know their musical history. Ballad of the Brothers blends old time folk, retro soul, alt-rock, and country into a travelogue through the past and present of American music. A rootsy, spirited, thoroughly enjoyable good time, Ballad of the Brothers showcases the Bacon Brothers' ability to tell a good tale and write a toe-tappin' tune. More
Genre: Rock

Polaroid Lovers (CD)

Sarah Jarosz
Sarah Jarosz seventh studio album, Polaroid Lovers , delivers her viscerally potent and resplendent brand of folk-rock, while exploring the ephemeral moments that indelibly shape our lives. The alchemy of Jarosz's finely wrought lyricism, gorgeous vocal work, and virtuosic yet unfettered musicality creates an album-long meditation on love and longing. More
Genre: Folk

Reconstruction Site [Apple & Black Half & Half Vinyl] (LP)

The Weakerthans
In honor of its 20th anniversary, The Weakerthans' Reconstruction Site has been reissued on apple and black half & half color vinyl. Reconstruction Site, the third album from the Winnipeg alternative rockers, tells a complex story of life, death and loss. Singer John K. Samson has a Steve Earle-like stark storytelling quality to his vocals, and the songwriting hits like a modern-day Petty. More
Genre: Rock

Ilion (CD)

Slift
French heavy proggers Slift are back with their third masterpiece, Ilion . Opening the album with the epic, sprawling 11-minute title track, this is an album that has a story to tell, and with no track under 8 minutes, Slift allow these songs to slowly unfurl and breathe. Fans of Melvins, Tool, Mars Volta and Baroness will not want to miss one. More
Genre: Rock

I Got Heaven (CD)

Mannequin Pussy
Mannequin Pussy returns with I Got Heaven , a musical showcase of moods, with all of them hitting equally hard in different ways, often within the same song. Singer and guitarist Marisa Dabice bares her soul on the indie-folk track "I Don't Know You," increasing the volume, distortion, and emotion as the song goes on. Conversely, "Ok? Ok! Ok? Ok!" is a chaotic hardcore banger, replete with a tambourine during the breakdown. Brooding and shoegazey one moment, and bludgeoning you over the head in the next, I Got Heaven happily throws the rulebook out the window and does things the Mannequin Pussy way. More
Genre: Rock

Baku's Revenge (CD)

Magnolia Park
Florida's Magnolia Park return with their sophomore album, Baku's Revenge . Vocalist Joshua Roberts comes out swinging, issuing a verbal declaration to any naysayers, before blasting off with Feel Something, featuring Derek Sanders of Mayday Parade. Baku's Revenge rocks all the way through, with pop songs with nu-metal roots hip-hop beats and an emo punk attitude. More
Genre: Rock

Rationale (LP)

Glitterer
Branching out from his roots in Title Fight, Ned Russin has elevated Glitterer from a one-man side project to a fully formed band on Rationale . Russin and company pluck moments of shiny synth from the '80s, fuse them together with '90s fist-pumping alternative rock and 00's shoegaze and pop and you're getting a sense of what to expect from Rationale . More
Genre: Rock

Eviscerate (CD)

Eidola
Resistance is useless. If you're a fan of melodic post-hardcore bands, you'll find Eidola's Eviscerate irresistible. The band combines harsh metal vocals with anthemic choruses, brutal riffs, artillery-like percussion, and downbeat melodies to create a sonic statement on our divided society. Eviscerate tackles topics like loathing and loss, cruelty and chaos. Obviously, this isn't easy listening yet the soaring choruses and moments of reprieve make these tracks addictive and strangely beautiful. More
Genre: Rock

Up On Gravity Hill (CD)

METZ
Canadian punks Metz move ever so subtly into the darkness on Up On Gravity Hill . There's still plenty of punk rock ferocity and grittiness in the trio's songwriting; there's just a little bit of simmering vehemence and dark atmospherics to add a slight post-punk bent to these turbulent tracks. They're urgent and bristling, sustained in intensity and utterly gripping. Guest appearances from Owen Pallett and violin ("No Reservation/Love Comes Crashing") add an expressive, moving quality and vocals from Black Mountain's Amber Webber ("Light Your Way Home") create a haunted, harrowing feel. More
Genre: Rock

Lifeless Birth (CD)

Necrot
Necrot delivers one of the year's most solid death metal releases with Lifeless Birth . The riffs are pure fire, the percussion absolutely punishing, and the vocals menacing and brutal. The songs are also total earworms that'll keep you hitting the repeat button again and again. Lifeless Birth is an ultimate headbanger of an album, with all the fury of a demon crawling out of the abyss, and all the enjoyment of said demon as it's about to set the world ablaze. More

Unwishing Well (CD)

The Reds, Pinks & Purples
Moody, romantic, and straight outta the underground, The Reds, Pinks & Purples create music in the vein of The Go-Betweens, Felt, and the Magnetic Fields. UnWishing Well features witty, droll lyrics and lilting melodies that work together to create a heartbreakingly lovely atmosphere. The surface of these hazy, dreamy songs is pretty and pastel: the heart black to the core. Lighten up your dead-end job, failed romance, and flailing artistic career with this fantastic album — you'll be glad you did. More
Genre: Rock

Lisa Frankenstein [Collector's Edition] (BLU)

A coming of rage love story from acclaimed writer Diablo Cody and director Zelda Williams about a misunderstood teenager and her high school crush, who happens to be a handsome corpse. After a set of playfully horrific circumstances bring him back to life, the two embark on a murderous journey to find love, happiness... and a few missing body parts along the way. More

Night Swim (BLU)

The producers of M3GAN high dive into the deep end of horror with the supernatural thriller, Night Swim . Wyatt Russell stars as a former major league baseball player, forced into early retirement by a degenerative illness, who moves into a new home with his wife, Oscar nominee Kerry Condon, and their two children. The new home comes complete with a backyard swimming pool, but a deep secret surfaces and unleashes a malevolent force that will drag the family into the inescapable depths of terror. More

i/o [w/Dolby Atmos Blu-ray] (CD)

Peter Gabriel
It's finally here: Peter Gabriel's first collection of new songs since 2002's Up. Gabriel's latest, i/o, will remind fans why they first fell in love with his music all those years ago. Each track feels like a masterpiece, a self-contained world of storytelling, emotion, and plain excellent songcraft. There are two mixes of these songs: there's the Bright-Side Mix, with Mark "Spike" Stent, and the Dark-Side Mix, as done by Tchad Blake. The mixes bring out different properties of the songs, with the Dark-Side emphasizing the dramatic, the grand, and the all-consuming aspects of Gabriel's work. Another epic release from the legendary Gabriel, this one's not to be missed. More
Genre: Rock

Hard Copy (LP)

VR SEX
A surreal dive into the underbelly of urban life, new VR SEX album Hard Copy is a substance-induced synth punk Odyssey through the darkest corners of Los Angeles. Since their first project in 2019, Horseplay , VR SEX has carved out a truly distinctive sound. It's punk; it's psychedelic; it's electronic; it's atmospheric; it's dystopian. This type of Orwellian punk is the perfect backing for the strange, off-kilter, bleak city stories told throughout the tracklist. More
Genre: Rock

A Trip To The Moon (LP)

Ghost Funk Orchestra
Apparently, the moon has gotten a whole lot funkier since mankind's last visit! New York psych-funk group Ghost Funk Orchestra's fourth album, A Trip To The Moon , takes you on an immersive, psychedelic mission to Earth's closest companion. Foot-tapping percussion rhythms, vibrant horns, and fluid vocals are accompanied by archived NASA sound bites that assist in launching listeners into the space-bound theme of the project. Energetic and exciting from top to bottom, this album is an ideal summer afternoon spin. More
Genre: Soul

Foreverland (CD)

Keyon Harrold
Much like the pink clouds gracing the cover, Keyon Harrold's Foreverland takes you on a tranquil, dreamy, atmospheric journey. The renowned trumpeter's third solo album sets forth a diverse musical palate, pulling from genres such as Afrobeat, hip hop, R&B, and post-bop. Themes of sorrow and heartache take shape within the tracklist, but Harrold also invites listeners to look-forward as seen on standout track "Beautiful Day" featuring PJ Morton. Rich and multi-layered, this project is a gorgeous auditory experience. More
Genre: Jazz

Get Goin' (CD)

Katie Henry
Blues rock dynamo Katie Henry solidifies herself as a standout voice on her third solo album Get Goin '. The New Jersey native showcases her compelling songwriting and versatile vocal performances from start to finish. From the fiery, rebellious, hard hittin' lyrics on opener, "Love Like Kerosene" to the heartfelt, raw, and nuanced songwriting on ballad "A Doll's Heart," Henry effortlessly weaves together a range of emotions throughout the tracklist. Get Goin' is a breath of fresh air for blues rock. More
Genre: Blues

Cloudward (CD)

Mary Halvorson
An album primed for urban wandering, structure and improvisation meld on Mary Halvorison's Cloudward . While her sextet evokes the liveliness and curiosity experienced on a bustling city street, it's her compositional texture that stands out in the crowd. Halvorson's idiosyncratic rhythmic style and compositional skills are on full display on this album. Brimming with breathtaking spontaneity, warm passages, and unique rhythms, this contemporary jazz album constructs a scene in motion. More
Genre: Jazz