As fun as it is to complain about “music these days,” and how it’s all been downhill since The Chronic or something 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.
Today, we’ve got selections from Theophilus London, the Henry Clay People, Giant Giant Sand, and more, with all reviews coming in under 236 characters, the age our country turns tomorrow.
The Tarnished Gold by Beachwood Sparks
Breezy Los Angeles-based band’s first album in nearly a decade is perfect for lazy afternoons spent in a friend’s backyard, sipping on beers with a harmonious country-pop soundtrack in the background.
Twenty-Five For The Rest Of Our Lives by the Henry Clay People
Came out last week, but a triumphant, urgent, drunk-on-Replacements ode to turning that restless age, 25, when life becomes real, sounds good seven days, seven months, seven years, seven decades after its release.
Rose Island, Vol. 1 by Theophilus London
Last night, Theophilus London released a new mixtape that our friends at the Smoking Section called “smooth, baby-making music for summer.” That explains the “featuring Marvin Gaye” credit.
Freak Out! by Teenage Bottlerocket
The best kind of pop-punk is unsubtle pop-punk, and with its booming drums, rip-roaring riffs, and earnest vocals, Teenage Bottlerocket has a made a pop-punk album worthy of one of its song titles, “Headbanger.”
Tucson by Giant Giant Sand
A dusty country-rock opera straight from the Southwest with a sound so majestically expansive, the band had to double in size to make it possible.
