This is fine.
There’s really so much great music out today that it’s impossible to bounce between all and so you’re going to have to dig into the mixture below and really figure out what you love the most. Since it’s raining great records, I put some word below so that maybe you can get a feel of what you might find if you press play. Jump below to hear my thoughts, and remember to support the artists and labels behind these great releases.
Sure, we’ve had our eyes on SXSW as of late, but there were so many great songs coming out, we had to hustle to be sure we got to as many as possible. We covered new stuff from the Gotobeds and Reds, Pinks and Purples, plus we got to highlight longtime favorites like The High Water Marks and Exploding Flowers, just to name a few. We had some quick SXSW interviews with Cloth, Snacktime, Last Waltzon, Two Man Giant Squid and Saint Blonde, so all get a little feature loved today, along with the rest of the weekly bangers. Dive on into the collection below.
There’s a lot of really great music out there, but the world needs a band like the Gotobeds in the musical rotation, a reminder of our most basic rock instincts. They’ve mostly been silent since Debt Begins at 30 (nearly 5 years ago now), but upon their return, they don’t seem to have skipped a step, cranking out a brand of working class indie rock that feels fresh and vital every inch of the way. They get up and drive themselves into their job, banging out every last bit of sound from their guitars; the vocals are scratching at their limits, and the drums bang like a hammer…and yet, when the job’s done, they just shut off and head home. Now, just because the first instinct you feel is their aggression, don’t be tricked, as the underlying pop pieces are what make this band a necessity. They’ll release Masterclass on May 16th via 12XU Records.
You’ve all been waiting, anxiously. Waiting for our arbitrary list of the opinion of four folks who run this site, and what we think were the best albums of 2016. It’s really really important. We’re going to make our site great again with this list. We’re going to win, bigly. But really, it’s just a list of the stuff we loved the most that we covered throughout this year on our site. The comment section is open, so feel free to tell us where we’ve gone wrong or what we’ve got right or anything else fitting. Read more
Admittedly, I wasn’t into The Gotobeds until 12XU released the rad Poor People are Revolting in 2014; it’s a must have if you’re inclined to have a better record collection than your friends (and if you generally like rad music). In signing up with Sub Pop for the release of Blood/Sugar/Secs/Traffic, they’re not changing things up, churning out gritty riffs, raspy vocals wrapped inside a cocoon of pop sensibility. In listening to their first few singles, including this one, the sounds they’re crafting are destined to remain with listeners throughout the rest of the year…and longer; it’s no bullshit rock n’ roll of the best sort. Stoked to hear the entirety of this album, which is being released on June 10th.
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