There’s a lot of music out there. To help you cut through all the noise, every week The A.V. Club is rounding up A-Sides, five recent releases we think are worth your time. You can listen to these and more on Spotify.
In case you missed it earlier this week, you can read our review of Angel Olsen’s All Mirrors right here.
Wilco, Ode To Joy
[Dbpm, October 4]
Perhaps the most distinct element on Wilco’s 11th album is Glenn Kotche’s deceptively simple percussion, purposely employed to conjure the vibe of marching—“a powerful act utilized on both sides of the authoritarian wall,” the album bio points out. On Wilco’s side, with Ode to Joy, the Chicago band is marching to stand up for our right to feel that jubilation the title alludes to, especially among all other doomy feelings we’re stuck with these days. But it wouldn’t be like Jeff Tweedy to leave out the heartache. Ode To Joy presents a striking, realistic balance, as gloom (the twisted, apocalyptic, Neil Young-esque “We Were Lucky”) sidles up next to quixotic optimism (“Hold Me Anyway”) and bright, ’60s pop dreaminess (“Everyone Hides”). Despite weariness—“I remember when wars would end,” Tweedy sighs on “Before Us”—Ode To Joy feels woven in the service of warmth, reminding us what we’re fighting for on this side of the wall. [Matt Williams]
Chromatics, Closer To Grey
[Italians Do It Better, October 2]
Chromatics’ Closer To Grey dropped Wednesday with almost no notice, a pleasant surprise undercut only by the fact that it’s not the noir-gaze outfit’s near-mythic Dear Tommy. Closer To Grey is a lovely listen, nevertheless, stark and cinematic but also decidedly eerie, as if the band’s still headlining Twin Peaks’ Roadhouse. The album begins, after all, with the anxious tick of a clock and a ghostly cover of “The Sound Of Silence” that’s just begging to underscore the Quiet Place sequel’s trailer. Johnny Jewel and singer Ruth Radelet spice things up on the following track, the disco-flecked “You’re No Good,” but routinely return to haunted cuts like “Move A Mountain” and “Wishing Well,” which may as well be climbing over the lip of an unfilled grave. October just got its official soundtrack. [Randall Colburn]
that dog, Old LP
[UMe, October 4]
That dog was one of the most overlooked pop-punk bands of the ’90s, and stayed that way in part because the group was too busy being labeled “power pop” and “alt-rock” to get the credit it deserved. To be fair, bands can fluctuate between genres, and that dog certainly did. But after 22 years, the Los Angeles band returns as a three-piece with the coyly titled Old LP—its fourth album and follow-up to 1997’s Retreat From The Sun—where it owns each label. Armed with orchestral strings and an extensive list of collaborators (Graham Coxon, Josh Klinghoffer, Maya Rudolph, among others), that dog commit to graceful indie rock (“Least I Could Do,” “Bird On A Wire”) and poppy alt-rock (“Down Without A Fight,” “When We Were Young”), but sound happiest when revisiting the jubilant pop-punk hooks of its heyday with “Just The Way” and “If You Just Didn’t Do It.” It’s about time that dog settles once and for all just how good it is at it. [Nina Corcoran]
Boris, LOVE & EVOL
[Third Man, October 4]
Restless Japanese trio Boris hasn’t stopped working since its debut in 1996, building a chameleonic catalog rooted in repetitive, overwhelming drone metal. But Boris’s worrisome past decade has seen the band stray into dream pop and alt-rock with a string of scattershot albums; the threesome may be as productive as ever, but they’re far less consistent. Double LP LOVE & EVOL is a welcome reminder that Boris remains a vital, hungry act, capturing the effortless, molten flow of its live shows rather than falling into the overbearing eclecticism of New Album (2011) and Noise (2014) or the stiff fan-service sludge of 2017’s Dear. It’s withholding—virtuosic minimalist Wata’s screaming lead guitar isn’t unleashed until deep into the third track—and patient, constructed in one solid chunk like classic all-or-nothing behemoths Flood (2000) and Feedbacker (2003). The record trudges upward through slowcore and viscid drone, and reaches a peak with the gauzy, wailing “EVOL” before locking into the tense, ritualistic doom modulations of “uzume” and “LOVE.” Grim closer “Shadow Of Skull” offers the screech of feedback as resolution. For the first time in forever, Boris is worth waiting for. [Astrid Budgor]
Danny Brown, uknowhatimsayin¿
[Warp, October 4]
The first track on Danny Brown’s new album is called “Change Up,” and he isn’t kidding. Over his last three albums, the emcee detailed a pilled-out downward spiral against increasingly post-punk beats, his silly-putty flow stretching between dissonant yelps and head-down wrecking-crew shit. But on uknowhatimsayin¿ he pulls influences from stand-up comedy and Native Tongues hip-hop, giving each word room to breathe. (Everyone will catch, for example, the way he pronounces LinkedIn with three syllables, so it rhymes with “impotent.”) Brown’s always been an artist of furious focus, but it’s hard not to credit executive producer Q-Tip with some of this shift; there’s a clarity to every breezy hook and kick-drum snap that directly recalls The Renaissance, if not The Infamous. Still, this is no revival—it’s Brown’s album, as eccentric as you’d expect, still rapping with a hunger and wanderlust unmatched in the field. The pair sync most indelibly on album closer “Combat,” a free-jazz skronk that sits among the best tracks either has ever put to wax. [Clayton Purdom]
46 Comments
Coming October 11th: (new single released yesterday)
Sounds like if Bowie and Peter Gabriel had a child
Spot on. They’ve covered Peter and Bowie as well as U2 (Warchild cd, running to stand still) and a whole host of other musicians. They’re my favorite band and I am beyond excited for the new album.
No idea why this site is sleeping on Elbow.
I do my part. I think they’re worth sharing.
It is because they are one of the blandest band’s in UK history.
Talk about Kim Petras’s Turn Off The Light full album you cowards! (No but really it’s great)
I will be blasting this ALL month to amp up the spooky vibes. What a fun album.
breath/breathe get a copy editor lather rinse sigh about the old AVC days repeat
I am mollified by the edit. Thank you.
no Nick Cave here better mean Ghosteen is getting the full write up it deserves
I made the mistake of doing a first listen at work. Fuck is it sad/really good (but really sad).
My review: I like it! It’s kinda sleepy and moody, but I like it.
Looking at that top picture, I always thought Guillermo del Toro was taller.
The new Wilco is pretty subdued. But that’s kind of how their most recent output has been. I fear the days of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot/A Ghost Is Born are behind them. Not a bad thing, although those are 2 of my favorite albums ever. Bands evolve and Wilco has certainly done that over the years. I will say I think Ode To Joy is much better than Stars Wars or Schmilco.
I think it’s better than the last two as well, but do wish the lush rock/pop sound of The Whole Love would make a comeback. I don’t know that Tweedy himself sees the point in making that type of record again, but I’d love it.
Man, I agree. I feel like The Whole Love wasn’t terribly well-received (maybe I’m wrong?), but I loved that album.
I was just listening to it on my lunch break. Love it! Even though it isn’t on this album, Bull Black Nova is my favorite Wilco song. The drumbeat just fucking rules!
Wilco as an album was terribly underrated too. I think coming on the heels of its predecessors it was kind of over looked. So good, though.
Couldn’t agree more. I thought Star Wars was fun too. It even had a song from the Harvest Festival from Parks & Rec!
If I remember right here at the A.V. Club and over at Pitchfork they didn’t give it great reviews, but I think other places did? It’s got so many great songs.
YHF is one of my top Albums. It’s hard to re-capture something without being accused of trying to profit off of what came before (even if what came before was yours!) but damned if I wouldn’t want something that sounded more like it.
If I had to name my all-time, top 5 deserted island albums, YHF would absolutely, no question be on there. It’s arguably their best.
In no order, YHF, Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space, The Seldom Seen Kid, O.K. Computer, Aenema, Maybe. I want to include some older music too. Shit this is difficult.
It’s hard to nail it down to 5.
I remember watching their tour film (Ashes of American Flags I think it’s called) and after a rip roaring set it cut to them all backstage, with ice on their hands and having like medics look at them. This was 10 years ago in 2009 too. The dudes are getting old and takes a lot out of you to go that hard.I saw them live in 2007 on the Sky Blue Sky tour though and they were going hard as hell so I’m fine with these guys taking it easy.
I quite enjoyed Star Wars, and it’s very energetic (for Wilco).
It’s fine and has some good songs, but felt very tossed-off–like they just had a bunch of songs and said, “Hey, let’s put out an album.” Of course, the release format probably has something to do with that feel.
I agree, though I think that was what I found charming about it. The album and release felt very of-the-moment for them, which was rare and energetic for a band like Wilco.
Fair enough. That’s one of the neat things about Wilco. There’s kind of something for everyone, provided you’re into sorta roots-rocky Americana experimental fuzz pop noise psychedelic folksy dad rock.
Star Wars is fabulously weird.
I’ve been with them every step of the way and they can pose to be a challenging band to follow at times but it has been rewarding. This album is so drab and so so so boring. It pains me to say that the songwriting is not up to Tweedy’s standards. He should have saved some of the material from WARM for the band.
I actually like this one more than I did Star Wars or Schmilco.But Warm and Warmer were quite good.
Warm was really good!
New Chromatics is good. I have a friend who absolutely loves them, he’ll be thrilled.
The new Chromatics album has been on repeat since Wednesday. I love it. Still forming an opinion on the new Danny Brown. It’s different. I’ll give it that. But right now, I think I’ve been splitting my time between “Closer to Grey” and the soundtrack to Sayonara Wild Hearts. After finishing the game, the soundtrack stuck with me. And, man, it’s a pretty damn good listen.
You put The Menzingers up there you heathens, released today.
i haven’t kept track of boris for a few albums. i feel like they sorta lost me at smile and i wish they’d focus more on the doom/drone. but that one track is pretty good.also looking forward to the danny brown record and angel olsen. i never really knew about the chromatics until s3 of twin peaks. but they kinda remind me of the music you’d hear when shopping at banana republic. no offense any fans out there. i’m sure it’s BR’s fault.
So that dog, an under-appreciated band from the 90s, returns with a video paying homage to a sitcom from the 70s that no one under 35 remembers? Man, they just really do not want the spotlight do they?I mean, I’ll go see them of course, and they were great when i saw them a few years back, but I’m old.
Hey look! Good rap.
Guys, I feel like we aren’t fawning effusively over post-rap provocateur Danny-Brown.
Nick Cave, Sturgill Simpson, New Pornographers, this year is FINALLY taking off, I was so disappointed with the Sleater-Kinney and the Chance that I was just giving up on it. (a little disappointed with the M83 tho)
I’m not liking Simpson’s album as much as I thought I would. It’s still good and I wasn’t expecting country at all, just some of the synths sound a bit derivative, percussion is uninspired and the vocals could be clearer. I’ve listened to and enjoyed it several times, it just doesn’t make me sit up and pay attention like his earlier works. But as excellent as Sailor’s Guide was I think saying a follow-up is not quite as good is still praise and not an insult.
“some of the synths sound a bit derivative, percussion is uninspired” lol. where do they derive from? do you actually talk like this or just write like this?
80s glam rock. And it depends who I’m talking to. I write for myself but when I speak I have to be concerned if fools understand me.
The Danny Brown album is a lot of fun, the comedic aspects somehow normalize his raspy and frantic flow. The production is good, especially on Combat as mentioned and the collabs with RTJ and JPEG work well.I’m liking a few tracks off the Sturgill Simpson album more than J thought I would… I should probably check out his prior albums.Most of the rest of music from this week like DIIV and Wilco is a little too morose for me… Maybe I’ll have to check out that dog for a little energy. I can feel that we’re about to get new Run the Jewels and Bodega albums. It would be nice to get new Kendrick and Vince albums… Seems like both are due.