Five To Grow On

I haven't been doing a very good job of keeping you up to date with all of the new albums I've been picking up lately. That's partially because I don't have the patience to do proper "reviews", and partially because I recognize that, even if I did, I'm no journalist. It's also because a big chunk of the stuff I've been getting lately is pre-release stuff that I prefer not to post links for until the album is actually released (and I've actually bought a copy). Don't think it's not killing me to post "Little Bird" from Eric Bachmann's new disc or pretty much anything from the new M. Ward album.

Anyway, instead of doing proper reviews, I figured I'd link to some songs off of five recently released albums that I've really been enjoying. If you like what you hear, of course, help out the bands and pick up some CDs.

The 101, "Dancing" [from Numbers - BUY]. Can't remember if I've posted anything from The 101 before. If not, you may recognize the lead singer/songwriter from his earlier bands, emo-pioneers Christie Front Drive and his followup electronic-based band, Antarctica. Numbers is the band's second full length album, and it's an excellent marriage of Eric's earlier guitar-fuzz emo with a much more mature pop aesthetic. Good stuff.

Forward, Russia!, "Thirteen" [from Give Me a Wall - BUY]. Forward, Russia! are one of those bands that I kept seeing on all the blogs over the course of a couple of months but never listened to. Then, at the end of the month when I needed to use up my remaining eMusic downloads, I picked up their album, Give Me A Wall, and holy shit was I happy I did. This album kicks ass in a way that few other albums have this year. It may go a little off the freak-out deep end here and there, but all in all I love it.

PS: Not sure why, but the album's not listed on eMusic anymore. It doesn't get a formal U.S. release until next month, but since it's out in England, I feel ok posting it.

Heartless Bastards, "Searching for the Ghost" [from All This Time - BUY]. Over the course of 31 years, I can probably count the total number of woman-fronted bands that I like on my two hands. Not sure why. But there's something about the Heartless Bastards (it helps that they're from my old hometown of Cincinnati) that I really like. A lot of reviews like to call them "garage" rock, but I just think they're a great straight-ahead rock band. And holy crap does Erika Wennerstrom have pipes.

La Rocca, "This Life" [from The Truth - BUY]. I've posted about La Rocca several times, but now that their debut album, The Truth is out, I feel confident saying that this band should be huge. Excellent album, and this is an excellent song. Check them out on tour this year, because I get the sense they're gonna get big, and soon.

White Whale, "The Admiral" [from WWI - BUY]. I wasn't sure how much I was going to like White Whale. I'm a fan of Matt Suggs' previous solo work and work in Butterglory, but the advance tracks I heard suggested a certain level of prog-rock that I wasn't sure was going to work over the course of an album. I had nothing to fear. The album is twice as good as I had any right to expect, and I've been listening to it pretty much non-stop the last few weeks.

Hope you like these songs as much as I do. It really is shaping up to be one of the best years for new music that I can remember.