BEST OF THE REST
Other new releases out this month.
Buffalo Fuzz
Volume II BUFFALO FUZZ
Gutsy, blues-infused psychedelic fuzz-rock served up in lean, attentiongrabbing slices by a Sabs-channeling Minneapolis duo that you really ought to seek out. 8/10
Everyday Heroes
A Tale Of Sin & Sorrow SELF-RELEASED
Monumental southern-informed swagger rock from a quartet who’ve been described as “one of the 11 most exciting bands in Newport”. Damning faint praise that they surpass spectacularly. 7/10
The Fruitcakes
Into The Sun PIAS
Often somnabulant to the point of woozy, these Gdansk neo-psychers produce acid-laced summery sounds, marry harmony-drenched Surf’s
Up ennui with psychoactive King Lizard ingenuity, and entrance. 8/10
The Black Moods
STEELHORSE ENTERTAINMENT/THE FUEL
Sunshine
Textbook ‘modern classic rock’ from an Arizona trio flaunting every ingredient you’d expect of such a description. Grunge-tinged traditionalism, a hint of funk here, a nod to The Knack there. Boxes are ticked, but no real surprises .6/10
Kult Of The Skull God
The Great Magini ROCKSHOT
From an alternative reality where ‘Stones with a modern twist’ still equates to flooring pedal to boogie metal like an unreconstructed Electricera Cult. Route-one riff rock, rolled with swagger and panache. 7/10
Orgöne
MOS/FET HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS
Avant-Bretons’ debut offers four epic space-rock suites. Each maelstromriffed ritual swirls with a dramatic intensity that’s only ever accentuated by Polish-French vocalist Olga Rostropovitch’s dark exoticism. 7/10
Shape Of Water
Great Illusions ECLIPSE
Boasting the widescreen drama of Muse, Manchester’s Shape Of Water add a steely metal core to their keyboard-propelled art-rock experimentations as vocalist Rox Capriotti casually soars from fragility to falsetto. Potentially huge. 8/10
Pröwess
Blacktop Therapy
SELF-RELEASED
Superfluous umlauters Pröwess roar off the grid with nine hip-swinging slices of post-’DC power-boogie. ‘Rock all night, sleep all day’ Dalton Bowes advises persistently. And why not? 7/10
Rolling Blackouts C. F.
Sideways To New Italy SUB POP
Go-Betweens jangles, hectic post-Television tangles, reverbed vocals emerge from a bottom-lite lo-fi production mist. Textbook Dolewave tropes from Melbourne’s RBCF. Tail-chasing indie adequacy. 6/10
Wallflower
Teach Yourself To Swim
BANQUET
Emo endures. And this month’s produced-to-a-soulless-sheen postpopcore spattered with a keening vocal howling about ‘existential dread’ and toxic masculintity comes from London’s Wallflower. 6/10
The Lickerish Quartet
Threesome Vol.1
Three Jellyfish alumni were never going to disappoint, and this debut EP oozes pure class. Imagine Cheap Trick, Sparks and classic Badfinger harmonising on a yacht. Now double it. An AOR Rolls-Royce. 8/10
Liam Gallagher
MTV Unplugged WARNER
Although Liam attacks Champagne Supernova like it’s spilled his pint, the power of Oasis tunes to evoke time and place is undeniable. Even when exhorted by chanting fans, Liam’s solo hits can never quite match Some
Might Say’s enduring emotive appeal. 7/10