As fun as it is to complain about “music these days,” and how it’s all been downhill since The Chronic came out, it’s even MORE fun to listen to — wait for it — good music. Every Tuesday, a.k.a. Music Release Day, we’ll highlight five albums worth (legally) downloading or driving to the local Best Buy (lolz) for. (Banner via)
Today, we’ve got selections from Pissed Jeans, Foals, Veronica Falls, and more.
Honeys by Pissed Jeans
Oh, to be young, angry, and in soiled pants.
Pissed Jeans leave nothing to the imagination; their band name says everything you need to know about their sound and life mantra. Honeys, their fourth album and first since 2009’s King of Jeans, is pure skuzz-punk, played at breakneck speed over 12 songs and 35 minutes. The lyrics are garbled, if not literally vein-blowingly screamed, and the sound, acrimonious in a way that any pissed off teen living in a blue collar town can smash their head along to. Honeys is the kind of record that sounds best when played at full volume in your car after a sh*tty day dealing with THE MAN. But even through laptop speakers, the fury emanates.
Truly Yours EP by J. Cole
For more on this just-released mixtape, check out the Smoking Section.
Holy Fire by Foals
Holy Fire sounds very calculated, too calculated at times, which, if you listen to the whole album in one sitting, can leave you with a cold, distant feeling, but in smaller doses, the Oxford’s band dark dance-punk sound positively pops with an undeniably impressive confidence. They just need to learn to let their work breathe a bit more.
Waiting for Something to Happen by Veronica Falls
Perky jangle-pop, delicate without being precious, that sheds the “twee” label too often associated the group. For the C86 crowd.
The Jazz Age by the Bryan Ferry Orchestra
Actually, scratch that — listen to For Your Pleasure instead.