Every month, Uproxx cultural critic Steven Hyden makes an unranked list of his favorite music-related items released during this period — songs, albums, books, films, you name it.
1. Jason Isbell, Weathervanes
It should go without saying that there are some real tearjerkers on this record. If the fractured relationship at the heart of “King Of Oklahoma” doesn’t get you, the school shooting lament “Save The World” will. Or maybe you will be able to hold out until the gut-punch that is “White Beretta.” But while the emotional haymakers are potent, Weathervanes leavens the devastation with some of the breeziest and loose-limbed music of Isbell’s career. After 2020’s very good but fraught Reunions, this album positively breathes with an ease and confidence that signals a potentially fruitful middle age for one of our best singer-songwriters.
2. Feeble Little Horse, Girl With Fish
I am happy to report that 2023 has been an excellent year for young rock bands that set deadpan-funny lyrics to heavy, woozy, and grunged-up guitars. Girl With Fish is among the latest entries in this crop, and it immediately landed on my favorite albums of the half-year list. I am doubly happy to report that this Pittsburgh-based act signals another promising trend — they come from a great local scene situated outside the NYC/LA axis. Might regionalism be making a comeback in indie-rock circles? I can only hope!
3. Queens Of The Stone Age, In Times New Roman
It seems impossible that these guys will ever touch the sleazy majesty of their first three records. But on In Times New Roman, Josh Homme manages to reconnect with the weird stoner vibes of Queens’ self-titled 1998 debut, which is an upgrade from the “slightly left-of-center Foo Fighters” sound that marked 2017’s Villains. Given the turmoil in Homme’s personal life of late, you might expect the songs to have a more mournful vibe. But musically speaking, this is the most flat-out fun music he’s put out in a minute.
4. Ratboys, “It’s Alive”
Earlier this month this winning Chicago band announced a new album, The Window, due in August. I’ll have more to say about that later this summer, but for now I have to shout out the lovably crunchy single “It’s Alive,” which spotlights what Ratboys do well — delectable guitar tones, perfect ’90s alt-girl vocals, infectious choruses.
5, Slaughter Beach, Dog, “Strange Weather”
This rootsy outfit from ex-Modern Baseball member Jake Ewald has been steadily moving closer to dad-rock nirvana since launching nearly a decade ago. On this recent single, Ewald just might achieve it. Over a leisurely mid-tempo stroll that layers vintage guitar and keyboard sounds, he affects his best approximation of a mid-period Wilco barbecue jam, like an outtake from Sky Blue Sky that Jeff Tweedy somehow has kept under wraps until now.
6. Bonny Doon, Let There Be Music
Speaking of dad-rock nirvana, this low-key Michigan band finally released the follow-up to 2018’s Longwave this month. For a while they were sidetracked as the backing band for Waxahatchee on her excellent 2020 album Saint Cloud and the accompanying tour. But on Let There Be Music, Bonny Doon picks up pretty much where Longwave left off, with a mellow barrage of simple, strummy songs that sound like they were recorded on a boat dock outside of northwoods cabin at dusk in the summertime.
7. Militarie Gun, Life Under The Gun
At some point, hardcore bands stopped sounding like hardcore bands and started sounding like rock bands who were played nonstop on KROQ in 1998. For some people, this might register as a sellout. For others, including me, it sounds like an improvement. On their debut album, Militarie Gun bring plenty of volume and attitude, but what makes Life Under The Gun are the type of undeniable bubble-grunge hooks that sound smuggled from a Third Eye Blind record.
8. Bruce Hornsby & The Range, “The Show Goes On” (from The Bear Season Two soundtrack)
Like a lot of people, I happily binged this month on the latest season of this FX dramedy, which happens to have one of the most distinctive soundtracks on television. Anyone who thought that The Bear might change gears from the dad-rock sounds of Season One were immediately informed otherwise at the very start of Season Two, with this needle drop from Hornsby’s (excellent!) 1988 album Scenes From The Southside. As much as I love the writing and the cast of The Bear, this musical aspect — which informs the characters and helps to shape the show’s world — makes watching the show feel to me like doing a late-night deep dive for musical favorites on YouTube with a serious buzz on.
