New Music Reviews (7/29)

Each week, Music Director Chris Sanley and Associate Music Director Alex Ruder (joined this week by Diana Ratsamee, host of Eastern Echoes) share brief insights on new and upcoming releases for KEXP's rotation. These reviews help our DJs decide on what they want to play. See what we added this week below (and on our Charts page), including new releases from Carsick Cars, Crack Cloud, Cults, and more. 

Carsick Cars - Aha (TAIHE MUSIC GROUP)
Carsick Cars, a staple of the Beijing rock scene, returns with their latest album Aha, delivering a fresh and compelling collection of gritty, shoegaze that solidifies their place in contemporary rock music. After 10 years of making waves in the Chinese rock scene, the band celebrates its first international tour this fall, marking a new milestone for the group as they celebrate this release. This album encapsulates a blend of driving rhythms, fuzzed out guitar, and introspective lyrics, while also exploring new sonic territories sure to excite listeners worldwide. –DR

Crack Cloud - Red Mile (Jagjaguwar)
The exhilarating art-punk outfit led by principal songwriter Zach Choy returns with their third studio album. The buoyant opener, which invites listeners with the line “Come all ye, join us, let’s all have some fun”, sets a tone of levity that juxtaposes with the album’s exploration of darker themes. Red Mile showcases Choy’s commanding vocals alongside a rich tapestry of harmonies and intricate instrumentation, including buzzing synths, dizzying guitars, strings and horns, building an electrifying fusion of experimental post-punk and art-pop. –CS

Cults - To the Ghosts (Cults Music/Imperial Distribution)
Darling dream pop duo Cults return in prime form on their fifth studio album. Their sparkling synths, atmospheric guitars and magnetic beats shine beneath Madeline’s swoon worthy vocals, delivering warm grooves with an effortless flow. To the Ghosts finds the outfit going back to basics with their songwriting process and reuniting with producer Shane Stoneback, as they continue to build the whimsical universe they first introduced nearly fifteen years ago. –CS

Eaglemont - Party Boy (Ditto Music)
The debut studio album from Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Bridg Jessop marks a formidable arrival. With her rich, powerful and gritty vocal style, Jessop delivers high-energy, heart-felt indie-rock anthems. Backed by spectacular guitar tones and bold production, her raw storytelling shines as she navigates themes of love and loss with THAT VOICE on this impressive debut. –CS

MAITA - want (Fluff and Gravy)
The latest album from Portland-based Japanese American singer-songwriter Maria Maita-Keppeler is an all-consuming listen. Her emotionally charged lyrics and expertly crafted song structures are brought to life through her powerful vocals, compelling guitar riffs and dramatic crescendos, leaving listeners yearning for more of her soul-baring, folk tinged indie-rock. –CS

Robber Robber - Wild Guess (self-released)
Simply put: the debut album from this Burlington, VT outfit absolutely rips. Boasting angular guitars, menacing basslines and artfully erratic phrasing, Wild Guess keeps listeners on edge, eagerly anticipating each sudden shift. Robber Robber are here to leave their mark with this thrilling fusion of post-punk, krautrock, shoegaze and art-rock. –CS

Bklava - c u l8r (Spin Suga)
Specifically dubbed a mixtape rather than a proper album, this 14-track release from rising London-based DJ, electronic producer, and vocalist Lara Sweeney (aka Bklava) is a stellar set of high-energy electronic grooves that instills their love of UKG, house, and breaks through a magnetic pop prism. Steadily bubbling up since making their debut in 2019, c u l8r is their most fleshed-out release to date and it’s a non-stop adrenaline rush full of propulsive club beats and soaring vocals that consistently delivers. –AR

Full Flower Moon Band - MEGAFLOWER (Silver Arrow)
The third album from this Brisbane-based Australian band fronted by Kate “Babyshakes” Dillon is an expansive set of gritty, fuzzy, brooding alternative rock packed with big fuzzy guitars, muscular rhythms, noir-tinted tones, and Babyshakes’ bold, fearless vocals. –AR

Ivan Cornejo - MIRADA (Interscope)
The third studio album from California-based Mexican American artist Ivan Cornejo is a breathtaking fusion of soulful, rock-infused alternative R&B. With acoustic guitar, horns and his flawless vocals, Cornejo, at just 20 years old, exhibits the confidence of a seasoned artist. MIRADA honors his Mexican roots while exploring themes of growing pains through twelve intimate and gripping tracks. –CS

Jessica Boudreaux - The Faster I Run (Pet Club)
The debut solo album from the former Summer Cannibals frontwoman is a gritty and captivating collection of melodic indie-rock. Written and recorded at her home studio, The Faster I Run highlights Boudreaux’s witty and emotional lyricism, stellar guitar riffs and a powerful vocal performance. –CS

Los Campesinos! - All Hell (Heart Swells)
The seventh album from this veteran, influential, and passionately adored Welsh band is another strong set of their trademark indie/emo/punk/pop that’s expansive, anthemic, and exuberant. Propelled by lead singer Gareth David Paisey’s acerbic delivery and distinctively verbose lyrics that reflect on the realities of getting older, All Hell captures the band’s propulsive, shaky, consuming energy that’s often hard to resist. –AR

Oruã - Passe (Transfusão Noise/Den Tapes)
The fourth album from this Brazilian four-piece band is a strong set of kaleidoscopic psychedelic rock infused with Krautrock and hints of jazz, noise, and Afrobeat. Their first album since Oruã members Lê Almeida and João Casaes were handpicked by Doug Martsch to tour with Built To Spill as the band’s rhythm section and also play on their 2022 album ‘When the Wind Forgets Your Name,’ Passe is a gritty, defiant, and groovy record from a tight-knit band working on the fringes of Rio de Janeiro’s music scene. –AR

Painted Shield - Painted Shield 3 (Loosegroove Records)
The third studio album from the Seattle supergroup led by Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard with Matt Chamberlain, Mason Jennings, Brittany Davis and Jeff Fielder offers an eclectic blend of rock, funk, soul, electro-pop and more. With heavy guitars, pulsing keys and rich atmospheric elements, Davis and Jennings share lead vocal duties, creating a varied musical experience that can seamlessly and simultaneously exist in numerous genres and eras. –CS

Slow Spirit - That’s the Gods Talking (Birthday Cake)
The fourth album from this Winnipeg-based duo composed of Natalie Bohrn and Eric Roberts is a solid set of sweeping folk-leaning indie pop with a touch of earthy, arty indie rock. –AR

Snakehips & EARTHGANG - SNAKEGANG EP, Vol. 1 (Never Worry)
UK electronic production duo Snakehips and Atlanta hip-hop duo EARTHGANG follow through on the sparkling promise of their previous standout team-ups with an official collaborative EP that effortlessly fuses Snakehips’ sleek club-tinted beats with EARTHGANG’s gliding flows for a fresh and refreshingly fun set of hip-house jams. –AR

villagerrr - Tear Your Heart Out (Darling Recordings)
The fourth album from this Ohio-based outfit centered around singer-songwriter Mark Scott is a breakthrough set of smartly-crafted indie rock with a delightful touch of twang that’s packed with stellar songwriting, charming melodies, and an earthy, gritty, Midwestern streak. Consistently delivering gems across its 11-track run, and boasting a SOTY candidate in early single “See,” Tear Your Heart Out is wonderfully described as a soundtrack “for long drives where the light shines through the sunroof, small-town get-togethers, and the times when you realize more about yourself and who you want in your life.” –AR

Chenayder - Maybe In Another Life (Alamo)
The latest EP from this rising Orlando-based 17-year-old Haitian-American vocalist, songwriter, and producer is another promising set of evocative and expansive R&B that carries an affinity for slower tempo ballads. Opening up with the standout early single “Colors” featuring Mavi, Maybe In Another Life rides through some chill moments before unleashing another standout in “Levels,” a sweeping upbeat single produced by the Grammy award-winning duo The Outfit aka Robin Hannibal and Dan Edinberg. –AR

Fir Cone Children - Jig of Glee (Blackjack Illuminist)
The latest album from this quietly prolific solo project of Berlin-based musician Alexander Leonard Donat is an impressive set of spritely rock songs that blend shoegaze, post-punk, guitar-pop, garage rock, noise-pop, and more alternative-adjacent styles into a fuzzy, propulsive, soaring sound. –AR

Gracie Gray - Magnet (Hand In Hive)
The third album from LA-based singer-songwriter Gracie Gray is a beautiful collection of folk infused indie-pop that ranges from breathtakingly sparse arrangements to lush, grungy soundscapes. With an acoustic guitar enriched by synths and percussion, Magnet displays her strong songwriting, remarkable vocal range and deeply vulnerable lyricism. –CS

Indian Man - Gran’s House (Real World X)
Bristol-based DJ and producer Jay Singh makes his debut as Indian Man with this hypnotic set of bhangra-infused electronic dance jams. Featuring a diverse lineup of global collaborators, including La Dame Blanche, Emmanuel Jal and Nyaruach to enhance his compelling harmonies and entrancing beats, Gran’s House is an exciting introduction to this new project. –CS

Johnny Cash - Songwriter (Mercury Nashville/UMe)
The latest offering in Johnny Cash’s posthumous catalog, Songwriter spotlights the legendary artist’s voice and songwriting over 11 tracks spawned out of demos that Johnny originally recorded in 1993. First stripped back to just Johnny’s iconic vocals, Songwriter co-producers John Carter Cash (Johnny’s son who played guitar on the original sessions) and Johnny’s longtime collaborator David “Fergie” Fergus invited a handpicked group of musicians that played with Johnny to help flesh out the songs. While 30 years have passed since these songs were first conceived, Songwriter proudly captures Johnny’s classic, timeless, enigmatic sound through songs about “love, family, sorrow, beauty, spiritual salvation, survival, redemption, and of course, some of the lighthearted humor Johnny was known for.” –AR

KUČKA - Can You Hear Me Dreaming? (LuckyMe)
KUČKA is the solo project of electronic producer, singer, and songwriter Laura Jane Lowther, a Los Angeles transplant from Western Australia, with roots in the northwest of England, who has previously collaborated with Flume, SOPHIE, Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky, Mount Kimbie, and Vince StaplesHer second full-length album of adventurous club-primed synth-pop for LuckyMe continues to push her sleek futuristic beats and smart, sparkly pop songwriting further into the spotlight. –AR

Lonesome Shack - Song Of The Horse (Owl Head)
The 8th full-length album from this veteran Seattle-rooted trio led by singer-songwriter Ben Day Todd is another solid set of rustic, folky, hypnotic blues-rock distinguished by the band’s pastoral, slow-burning, and slightly haunting aesthetic. Previously all based in Seattle and now sprinkled across the US in Bothell, NYC, and Escondido, CA, Lonesome Shack continue to bring a PNW flavor to their Southern-influenced roots music with help from longtime Seattleite Johnny Goss (of Cock & Swan) who recorded Song of the Horse in his Dandelion Gold studio that’s now located on the outskirts of Tucson. –AR

Nightshift - Homosapien (Trouble In Mind)
The third album from this Glasgow-based outfit is another strong set of arty post-punk with a confident, catchy, melodic sound featuring ringing angular guitars, knotty rhythms, dreamy keyboards, and occasional violin played by fellow Scottish musician Ray Aggs of Shopping, Sacred Paws, and Trash Kit. –AR