Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of August 31st, 2018. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the artwork (if we remember…) so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
Alkaline Trio: Is This Thing Cursed?
Genre: Pop-Punk / Punk / Alternative
Label: Epitaph
Is This Thing Cursed?, the band’s ninth LP, is their first in five years. From the underwhelming run of Agony & Ivory, This Addiction, and My Shame is True to Matt Skiba joining up with blink-182 in 2015, it seemed as though Alkaline Trio might have been on life support. In the spirit of NCAA football starting up, though, we turn to the inimitable Lee Corso, who might say: “Not so fast, my friend!” Long known for their darkness and acerbic bite in comparison to the Sum 41s or aforementioned blinks of the pop-punk sphere, songs like “Demon and Division” are reminiscent of what you might hear on Maybe I’ll Catch Fire, “I Can’t Believe” spins a caustic view of current American politics, and “Goodbye Fire Island” intersects Lord of the Flies imagery with the unmitigated disaster that was the Fyre Festival. Coupled with pre-release singles “Blackbird” and the title track (the latter of which kicks off the record and is the first time Dan Andriano opens an Alkaline Trio album), Is This Thing Cursed? is poised to be a strong return-to-form for the Illinois-based outfit.
Stream “Is This Thing Cursed?” and “Blackbird” below:
American Poetry Club – We Are Beautiful, Even When We Are Broken!
Genre: Emo / Twee
Label: It Takes Time
[Review]
Amos Lee – My New Moon
Genre: Singer/Songwriter / Folk
Label: Dualtone Music Group
Anna Calvi – Hunter
Genre: Art Pop
Label: Domino
Big Red Machine – Big Red Machine
Genre: Art Pop
Label: Jagjaguwar
Black Mirrors – Look into the Black Mirror
Genre: Blues Rock / Psychedelic
Label: Napalm
Emma Blackery – Villains
Genre: Synthpop
Label: RWG
Helios – Veriditas
Genre: Ambient / Post-Rock
Label: Ghostly International
IDLES – Joy as an Act of Resistance.
Genre: Post-Punk
Label: Partisan
Iron & Wine – Weed Garden (EP)
Genre: Singer/Songwriter / Indie Folk
Label: Sub Pop
Juanita Stein – Until the Lights Fade
Genre: Alt-Country / Singer/Songwriter
Label: Handwritten
KEN Mode – Loved
Genre: Noise Rock / Sludge
Label: New Damage / Season of Mist
KHarlles – This is Not Family
Genre: Contemporary R&B
Label: Sony
Mass Gothic – I’ve Tortured You Long Enough
Genre: Synthpop / Alternative
Label: Sub Pop
Meghan Trainor – Treat Myself
Genre: Pop
Label: Epic
Menace Beach – Black Rainbow Sound
Genre: Noise Pop / Indie Rock
Label: Memphis Industries
Mogwai: Kin (OST)
Genre: Post-Rock
Label: Rock Action / Temporary Residence Limited
Muncie Girls – Fixed Ideals
Genre: Pop-Punk / Power Pop
Label: Specialist Subject / Buzz
Parting Lines – See You on the Other Side
Genre: Rock / Pop
Label: Night Bloom
Passenger (UK) – Runaway
Genre: Indie Folk / Alternative
Label: Black Crow
Szun Waves – New Hymn to Freedom
Genre: Jazz / Experimental
Label: Leaf
The Kooks – Let’s Go Sunshine
Genre: Indie Rock
Label: Lonely Cat / AWAL
The Vintage Caravan – Gateways
Genre: Hard Rock / Psychedelic
Label: Nuclear Blast
Thou – Magus
Genre: Sludge Metal / Doom
Label: Sacred Bones
Vinyl Theatre – Starcruiser
Genre: Alternative / Electropop
Label: Outerwave
Wild Nothing – Indigo
Genre: Dream Pop / Indie
Label: Captured Tracks
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