New Release Round-Up 04-09-21
Silver Synthetic - Silver Synthetic - Third Man Records
In the midst of the thick New Orleans summer of 2017, Chris Lyons of garage punks Bottomfeeders found himself sitting on a small batch of songs that didn’t quite fit the fuzzed-out pileups of that band. The new songs were more chiming, driving but relaxed, full of little corners begging to be filled with classic pop harmonies and wayward country licks. He called in his trusted confidants: Bottomfeeders drummer and longtime musical partner Lucas Bogner—the two started playing music together at the tender age of 15—plus bassist Pete Campanelli, and Kunal Prakash (Jeff the Brotherhood) dug the songs and signed on, and the quartet started playing in earnest, hunkering down in the practice space. By the time the band played its first gig in late 2018 at the opening of Nola’s ManRay Records, the songs had multiplied and the members of the newly christened Silver Synthetic had become genuine rock & roll craftsmen. In a world that doesn’t seem capable of swaying, Silver Synthetic’s self-titled debut shakes and boogies. It makes sense that the band’s first gig was in a record shop ‘cause folks, this is record nerd-core in a major way, evocative of the LP's first golden era, as the late sixties oozed into the strange 1970s, with the requisite T-Rex stomps, Britfolk twists and turns, and dueling Verlaine/Lloyd guitars. It’s about warmth, and you can practically smell the gently glowing amp tubes on “In the Beginning,” which wafts along on a gust borrowed from Lou Reed’s beatific Coney Island Baby breeziness. With “Chasm Killer,” the boys lean into jammy heartland rock, almost approaching Silver Bullet Band territory at one point! Even when the band kicks into charging lean rock-n-roller, like on the Kinksy “Around the Bend,” there’s a laid-backness that allows more room for the spirit. You could call Silver Synthetic rock & roll formalists, but the truth is they're more like minimalists, stripping away tired clutter and unnecessary bloat and just zooming in on the essential.
ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE - Entertainment Death [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Maroon, Deep Purple and Coke Bottle Clear Marbled LP]
Taylor Swift - Fearless: Taylor's Version [2 CD]
Parker Millsap - Be Here Instead
Rhiannon Giddens - They're Calling Me Home
Cheap Trick - In Another World
The Orb - Abolition Of The Royal Familia - Guillotine Mixes [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Double Blue LP]
The Pink Stones - Introducing...the Pink Stones
Luke Bryan - Born Here Live Here Die Here: Deluxe
Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band - Dance Songs For Hard Times
Nick Waterhouse - Promenade Blue
Ariana Grande - Positions [Coke Bottle Clear LP]
BROCKHAMPTON - ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE
Briston Maroney - Sunflower [Translucent Blue-Green LP]
The Blips - The Blips
Bill MacKay and Nathan Bowles Keys - Keys
Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac Live: Super Deluxe Edition [2LP/3CD/7in]
Various Artists - Wilcovered [Red 2LP]
Pony - Tv Baby
Show Me the Body - Survive EP [10in Vinyl]
& More .....
UPCOMING RELEASES
Greta Van Fleet - The Battle At Garden's Gate - Republic
After three years, one-million concert tickets sold across five continents, four consecutive #1 singles, a GRAMMY Award, and performances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Saturday Night Live, Greta Van Fleet is hurtling into the future with its second album, The Battle At Garden's Gate on Lava/Republic Records. Indie Exclusive on white vinyl.
Tom Petty - Finding Wildflowers: Alternate Versions - Republic
Finding Wildflowers: Alternate Versions—the latest offering of Tom Petty music, curated with help from his loving family, bandmates and collaborators—will be released on April 16 via Warner Records. The tracks, which were previously released on the limited-edition Super Deluxe 9-LP version of 2020’s Wildflowers & All The Rest, will now be available on limited edition gold vinyl for indie retail, and CD. A black vinyl release will follow on May 7. Finding Wildflowers (Alternate Versions) features 16 studio recordings of alternate takes, long cuts and jam versions of Wildflowers songs as Tom, band members and co-producer Rick Rubin worked to finalize the album in 1994. The release offers fans further deep access into the writing and recording of Wildflowers, as well as realizing the full vision of the project as Tom had always intended. The collection was produced by Tom’s longtime engineer and co-producer Ryan Ulyate who listened to 245 reels of 24-track tape, revealing Tom and his collaborators’ evolutionary process, and finding the group willing to do whatever it took to discover the essence and magic in the material.
Eric Church - Heart & Soul - EMI Nashville
Reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year Eric Church confirmed that new music is on the horizon: "I have [new] albums coming out in April. They came out of my 28 days in the mountains of North Carolina, where the songs were recorded and written. The collection is entitled Heart & Soul."
Imelda May - 11 Past The Hour - Decca
The goal of the album is to show Imelda May returning to her most honest self. Truthful beauty, feminine intuition. Intelligence. Visually, we should be showing a soft sense of warm spirited grittiness. Intimate. At home. Behind the curtain Imelda's radiant smile and illuminating laughter. A nod to her roots. Irish Heritage & inherent connection to storytelling. Imelda's words as a lyricist/poet/writer & overall thread to her Irish roots as a storyteller is a key thread within the campaign.
