Despite innumerable thinkpieces loudly proclaiming the contrary, rock is not on its last legs in 2018. In fact, it’s thriving quite nicely. Are there artists dominating the charts in a Drake-like fashion this year? No, and it doesn’t seem like there will be anytime soon. That being said, the slate of new and amazing music being released on a monthly basis for those who love a fuzzed-out guitars has been downright impressive.
September was an especially fruitful month for rock fans looking for something new to listen to, stacked as it was with long-awaited releases from titanic, genre-defining bands, ambitious next steps from some adored indie groups, and some amazing statements from several groups on the come-up. While some of these albums haven’t garnered the wider exposure they may have otherwise deserve — shoutout to Paul McCartney for his first No. 1 in over three decades though — here, collected are the 10 best new rock albums that dropped in September 2018.
Dilly Dally — Heaven
One of the best rock albums released this month, and a heavy contender for rock album of the year comes from the Toronto-based band Dilly Dally. Their sophomore album Heaven is a doom-metal tinged, punk rock masterpiece, whose strength lies in the banshee wails of lead singer Katie Monks co-mingled with the steely, samurai lead lines from guitarist Katie Ball. I can’t say enough good things about this album. Best advice, play it f*cking loud and play it f*cking often!
Tom Petty — An American Treasure
There is a massive, Tom Petty-shaped hole in our universe that we simply can’t hope to ever fill. It’s been about a year since Petty’s death, and now his friends, family members and bandmates have come together to put together a new collection of material called An American Treasure that collects some of his best material that to this point has remained in the vaults. At a whopping 63 songs, it’s a lot of music to get through, but it offers a stunning new view of this singular, American artist.
Joyce Manor — Million Dollars To Kill Me
Joyce Manor have earned a reputation across the last decade as one of the more reliably thought-provoking indie rock bands out there. They continue that streak with their excellent new album Million Dollars To Kill Me. This is a record that firmly comes to grip with life as an adult as the different members of the band have come to kiss their twenties goodbye. The big chorus and catchy riffs still come flying at you in droves, but there’s a certain lived-in feel on Million Dollars To Kill Me that remains hard to quantify.
Metric — Art Of Doubt
Fresh off a tour opening for Smashing Pumpkins, Metric have doubled-down on their stellar 2018 by gifting their fans with a stellar new album. Titled Art Of Doubt, this is the band’s seventh record in just over 15 years together. After diving deeply into a synth-colored world on their last project Pagans In Vegas, Metric have decided to return to the guitar-streaked sound that made them beloved independent rock icons in the first place. The opening track “Dark Saturday” in particular feels like the perfect, welcoming return to form, with it’s whining feedback-tainted tones and glitchy, guitar breakdown through the chorus.
Paul McCartney — Egypt Station
Paul McCartney has literally nothing to prove to anyone. The man is a f*cking Beatle. He could easily go about the business of selling out stadiums in every corner of the planet, playing just a fraction of some of his best songs on a nightly basis to a crowd weeping as they sing along with him. He could also just stay home, and chill out cashing royalty checks for the rest of his life, but that’s just not his style.
McCartney has spent his entire career pushing himself and his art into unexpected areas, and in 2018, he’s not ready to quit pushing all of his chips into the middle. His latest album, Egypt Station, is another attempt by Paul to ride the current pop zeitgeist and add his own spin. It’s an eccentric collection of tracks, from the modern sheen of “Fuh You,” a collaboration cooked up with Ryan Tedder, to the melancholy ballad “I Don’t Know,” Macca remains a man obsessed with peeking down every avenue in search of an interesting tune.
Spiritualized — And Nothing Hurt
Spiritualized broke through to the mainstream just over two decades ago with the release of their seminal, space rock classic Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space and since that time have upheld a standard of quality that is truly incredible. That streak continues with their latest record And Nothing Hurt. This is the Jason Pierce-led band’s first new album in six years, and it’s also one of the shortest of their career. Don’t mistake the conciseness for lack of ambition, however. The songs here are all still excellent exercises in mind-expanding stoner rock excellence. Saxophones clash with synths. Electric guitar solos fizzle and explode with heady abandon. Pierce’s voice is an omnipresent force, fluttering over the loud-quiet-loud cacophony, both above and inside the fray. Turn on, turn in, and drop out.
Paul Simon — In The Blue Light
Paul Simon has a quality that runs rampant through some of the best artists; he’s not easily satisfied. Even as the guy who wrote some of the greatest songs of the 20th century, Simon is still capable of looking back on his own material and thinking, “I can do better.” Thus, In The Blue Light. This new album is Simon’s attempt at a do-over, taking ten songs that were included on albums past that didn’t get the response he believed they deserved and giving them an update. The ballad “René And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War,” is especially gut-wrenching.
Richard Thompson — 13 Rivers
Richard Thompson is a bonafide legend. Whether as a member of Fairport Convention, one half of Richard and Linda Thompson, or all by his lonesome, the prolific guitarist has assembled a canon of work capable of stacking up against just about any artist across the last five decades. To his credit, Thompson has continued plugging away. His latest album 13 Rivers is his nineteenth solo album, and it sounds phenomenal, packed with all the understated melodies, and lithe guitar lines you’ve come to love and expect.
Slash — Living The Dream
What’s that a new Guns ‘N’ Roses album? Oh, no it isn’t? It’s a Slash solo record? Okay, you know what, I’ll take it! Yes, it’s been literally decades since the last time the “Cat In The Hat” wailed away on his Les Paul with Axl Rose in the recording studio, and yes, it’s a bit difficult in light of their recent reunion to listen to this album and wonder what his old partner might have done with some of these riffs, but it’s still Slash. The guitar work is still some of the best on planet earth and Myles Kennedy is more than an able frontman. I mean, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were thinking of bringing him on in Robert Plant’s stead for a Led Zeppelin reunion for God’s sake. I guess what I’m trying to say is that “My Antidote” f*cking goes!
Mudhoney — Digital Garbage
It’s been roughly 30 years since Mudhoney hit the scene with their genre-defining, underground masterpiece Superfuzz Bigmuff, and it’s to the world’s great fortune they’ve lost little of their angst and fury in that interim. Their latest record Digital Garbage is their first in half a decade. It’s a searing, and of course, fuzzed-out collection of punk rock anthem, perfectly designed to be blasted at the highest volumes your system will allow.
