Oh baby, what a year it’s been. We told you last month about some of our favorite records of the year so far—even though these opinions will probably change. The rest of the year is probably going to be awesome. So, to celebrate Christmas in July (that’s a joke about it being the middle of the year), we’ve run down everything that excites us about the next six months. Please, Kanye, put out your album and make us not regret this list.
Laura Stevenson – LP4
Laura Stevenson is working on something, and it’s dark. Stevenson, who recently moved to Rosendale, NY from Brooklyn, has a predilection for self-deprecating jabs in her songs, and holing herself up in a house away from the city seems to have exacerbated it.
—Dan Ozzi
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Royal Headache —High
Royal Headache’s self-titled LP seemingly came out of nowhere in 2012, sweet and simple power pop with nods to The Jam, Buzzcocks, and more. Their new LP High is more in the same vein, while still venturing into different worlds. High has its share of ultra-bangers like “Need You,” “Another World” and the unexpected indie pop masterpiece “Carolina,” a rather out of character track for the band. And while the songwriting is the clear winner, it’s Shogun’s soulful croon that takes them from top-of-the-heap garage project to legitimately one of the best bands down under or pretty much anywhere.
—Fred Pessaro
Chelsea Wolfe – Abyss
I remember seeing that Game of Thrones trailer a year ago with Chelsea Wolfe’s “Feral Love” and being really taken off guard. A year prior to that, I saw her acoustic tour with King Dude. Each song she played was a thing of beauty, and I never heard a voice with such power or vibrancy in a setting like that. Seeing her live is very arresting. Watching that trailer and hearing the thickness of “Feral Love” was so disarming, to think that the one of the biggest shows in the world picked her song to be some people’s first impression of another season of murder and drama is incredible to think about. And somehow, each track that’s been released from Abyss thus far has been a meteor compared to the pebble of Game of Thrones. Each track has towed the line of delicateness and somehow anthemic. It’s going to be a record that will make people realize the talent Chelsea Wolfe has had this whole time.
—John Hill
Disclosure – Caracal
The world is ready for a new Disclosure record because goddamnit if I hear “Latch” on the radio one more time I’m going to pull out my pigtails. Seriously, that song came out in 2012 and it’s still getting heavy rotation in every cab I jump in that’s got the radio on. Since the Lawrence brothers released their world-conquering debut back in 2013 a lot has changed, namely, they won a Grammy, Sam Smith’s become a huge solo star in his own right, and America went batshit for EDM to the point where every brand attempted to align itself with this “new” yoof craze except their target audience was so wasted no one is paying attention to who they’re making out with half the time, let alone who’s sponsoring the whole shebang. But I digress. Caracal—which is actually a very mischievous looking desert lynx—is nearly done and sees the brothers reunite with songwriter Jimmy Napes, Sam Smith, and oooh! Lorde! There’s a bunch of other A-list vocalists on deck (and one total random), but we’ve been sworn to secrecy. Nevertheless, trust, this follow-up is fire.
—Kim Taylor Bennett
Mas Ysa – Seraph
Mas Ysa’s Seraph is a titanic album. It hits like a ton of bricks. It’s as real and emotionally honest as music gets—a rare feat for such an electronically driven project. It accomplishes what great music should accomplish, which is that it offers catharsis, escape, and relief all at once. It’s also a uniquely considered debut: Thomas Arsenault has been making music for more than a decade, and this is where he’s landed: screaming over drum machines. Seraph is due July 24, and you’ll want to let it pull you into its world and put you through the wringer as soon as you’re able to do so.
—Kyle Kramer
Veruca Salt – Ghost Notes
The original volcano girls are finally back with a new record, and according to NRP, it’s their best one yet! After a public break-up reportedly over a dude (sigh), Nina Gordon and Louise Post have buried the hatchet. Even though Post continued to make a few albums under the Veruca Salt moniker, it became increasingly clear to everyone just how much the band was and had always been a two-hearted grunge rock machine. Earlier this year, Veruca Salt teased us with a single, “The Museum of Broken Relationships,” and played a string of shows to promote the new album that seemed to be taking forever to finally put out. Under the same producer of the seminal record Eight Arms to Hold You, Veruca Salt’s upcoming LP Ghost Notes comes out this Friday July 10th, but Daddy! I want it now!
—Bryn Lovitt
The Weeknd – Chapter III
If The Weeknd’s new record sounds just like peak-era MJ, no one would mind because frankly, the world needs more peak-era MJ!
—Kim Taylor Bennett
Barbatos – Straight Metal War
Fact: Everything Yasuyuki Suzuki touches turns to gold, from Abigail’s street metal sleaze to the black thrash-turned-speed metal of his slightly more obscure pet project, Barbatos. The latter is primed to release a new album of beer-soaked blasphemy via Hells Headbangers on August 7, and this latest entry into the band’s mile-long discography is 100% unadulterated ridiculousness, from the purposefully mangled English lyrics (“Fly to the Sexual World” and “Hey! Hey! Hey!” stand out as particular favorites) to the sloppy solos, whiskey-drenched yowls, and the cover art’s naked warrior lady lounging upon a throne of skulls. It’s more snotty punk than anything else, with plenty of speed metal and a shitload of tasty NWOBHM licks to break up the phlegm.
Yasuyuki clearly threw this whole thing together after a few heavy drinking sessions—his voice sounds gloriously shot to hell—and his overall don’t-give-a-fuck attitude oozes all over Straight Metal War, just as it did in the band’s blacker early days. Barbatos doesn’t care about anything but sex, drinks, and metal, and this record is pure mindless fun. Let’s fucking die!
—Kim Kelly
Kanye West – SWISH
There’s been a lot of talk about what’s going on with Kanye’s next album. Pitchfork even wrote a thinkpiece about he’s going to “drop a brick.” I understand the fear. Truly. “All Day” doesn’t seem to be the banger of yesteryear’s “Mercy” or have the charged lyrics of “New Slaves.” But guys, c’mon, this is Kanye West, one of the greatest musicians who’s ever lived. The record—which is apparently called “SWISH” but will probably not be called “SWISH”—is going to be just fine. This is a guy who’s dropped a classic with every record he’s released. There is no reason to worry.
—Eric Sundermann
Destruction Unit – Negative Feedback Resistor
Destruction Unit has always been a live phenomenon, dropping jaws with their triple guitar assault and dizzying psychedelic approach. And while previous efforts have bore considerable fruit, their newest LP Negative Feedback Resistor is the record where the recorded material catches up to the live show. While most bands that approach the decade mark opt for more and more prevalent melody, Destruction Unit simply focuses on what they know best, their ability to brutalize and hypnotize. Look towards tracks like “Proper Decay,” the recent single “If Death Ever Slept,” and the album closer “The Upper Hand” for some of their best songwriting to date. The best live band in America finally has an LP to match.
—Fred Pessaro
More Music Festivals
Music festivals will continue to happen. There ain’t nothin’ like live music, so we can’t wait to experience it in its purest form.
—Eric Sundermann
Rihanna – R8
When Rihanna releases her eighth LP and the internet will certainly explode due to all the feminist / anti-feminist thinkpieces published and the subsequent argumentative online chatter. RIP the internet.
—Kim Taylor Bennett
Justin Bieb
The Bieb Man has a butt and also some songs, but what else can Crazy Justin accomplish? Only time will tell what comes about with the Bibe Fellow, but one thing’s for certain: He will probably go viral!
—Kyle Kramer
Alex Winston – This Ain’t Luck
The last album Alex Winston released, 2012’s King Con, was met with some real shit luck. She’s a lot more cautious and weary about the music biz these days, though, and her forthcoming follow-up This Ain’t Luck (which we premiered three songs off of) showcases a little bit of bitterness about that. Her emotional honesty combined with her weirdo-pop sensibilities result in something that’s more personal than her previous material, which included a song about wanting to fuck an Elvis painting. And when the album takes off, you can attribute it to a lot of things, but it ain’t luck.
—Dan Ozzi
The Minions Getting up to Some New Shenanigans!
Those guys just won’t quit! If there’s one thing we’ve learned this year, it’s that the minions, much like the left shark, have no idea what’s going on. If you’re putting your money on something wacky to happen this fall, it’s hard to imagine a safer bet than putting it on those little yellow guys to get up to no good. People love to see the minions. There have already been minion-themed weddings, that Pharrell song with the minions that was even bigger than Pharrell’s big hat, and an entire spin-off movie. Who’s to say what’s next for the minions, but if we had to guess, we could see the minions doing some crazy stuff in music. Maybe the minions will be on Kanye’s new album. Maybe the minions will make a rock opera. Who knows! Those minions are so wacky!
—Kyle Kramer
Church — Unanswered Hymns
Church is special—really special. I first saw them in Sacramento earlier this year when I was on tour with Yob. We seriously lucked out with local openers on that run, but Church took the cake; as soon as they went on, I turned to Mike and mouthed, “They’re fucking great!” He nodded, wide-eyed, and we turned to watch them systematically decimate that tiny stage with wave after wave of huge, hypnotic riffs, dusky, maudlin melodies, and Eva’s sometimes ghostly, sometimes pained, sometimes ferocious vocals. As soon as they finished, I pounced on her, heaping praise and begging to buy whatever they were selling. It took the band a few months to pick up steam and finish their debut, but Unanswered Hymns is finally a reality—and it’s spectacular.
The tape version is out now via Transylvanian Tapes, but I’m holding out for the vinyl version (out 9/22). Listening to them makes me feel the same way I felt the first time I heard Yob, or Samothrace, or Bell Witch, and I’ll happily go on record saying that Church’s heavy-hearted compositions truly are the shape of doom to come.
Frank Ocean – TBA
Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange is one of the few records from the last several years that feels truly timeless, and its hold on people’s emotions is still strong: Just this week the entire R&B-listening populace exploded into a fury at Miguel’s mere suggestion that he might be better than Frank. Now that he’s in the vaunted ranks of music’s most visionary auteurs, there’s a lot of pressure on Frank to deliver, but given his more or less perfect track record so far, it’s hard to imagine him doing anything ill-considered. The real question is where Frank will take us: Are we in for a trippy fantasia of a rock opus, an extended funk groove, or some melted ambient soundscape? No matter what his project ends up being or when it ends up dropping (word is before the end of the month), it’s pretty much guaranteed to be the soundtrack for all those hot end-of-summer nights and crisp evening walks in the fall.
—Kyle Kramer
Deaf Wish — Pain
In 2007 Australian punk band Deaf Wish released their first album as a CD-R wrapped in a Spirit of Tasmania barf bag. Now, eight years later, they’re about to release their second album on Sub-Pop. Pain comes out August 7 and from the two cuts we’ve heard so far, it seems Deaf Wish have decided to embrace their two very different vocalists, resulting in a band that can amazingly sound like both Garbage and Black Flag. Brutally dark and unrelenting, you can expect Pain to be just that: painful. As the band said themselves in their most recent interview with Noisey, “Deaf Wish isn’t a band you’re supposed to like, but you might need it.”
Diat — Positive Energy
Total Control on methamphetamines and armed with an iPod of only Killing Joke and Crisis might sound a little like this.
Future – TBA
Future quietly conquered hip-hop this spring with a series of three emotionally devastating mixtapes, restoring the hype that he had when he first broke out with street hits like “Tony Montana” and “Same Damn Time” while managing to burrow deeper into his own fractured, codeine-soaked world. Future is the hottest artist in rap right now, so his cryptic announcement yesterday on Twitter that an album is on the way was a bombshell. The world is in Future’s hands; it’s already pretty much fan consensus that there’s no way this album could be anything but a classic. Let’s see what he delivers.
—Kyle Kramer
Celebrating Our 21st Consecutive Year of Nirvana Nostalgia
What a year for the world’s only band, Nirvana! Two documentaries and god knows how many new Cobain biographies. Wow! Who knows what the second half of 2015 has in store for Grohl and company. Maybe we will learn about Cobain having a mysterious half-brother. Maybe they will take on the Harlem Globetrotters in a basketball game. Maybe the gang will foil Old Mr. Smithers’ evil plot in the abandoned amusement park. Stay tuned, Nirvana fans!
—Dan Ozzi
Mac DeMarco —Another One
The “goofy” “oddball” Mac DeMarco only keeps getting bigger and bigger. His new record—which is apparently being called a mini-LP—Another One is maybe the best record of his short and prolific career. Unlike his previous releases (I’m thinking of Rock and Roll Nightclub and Salad Days), there doesn’t seem to be any specific goal to make his music sound like any other concept other than just Mac DeMarco. It releases on August 7, and is the perfect record for the dog days of summer,
—Eric Sundermann
More Cool Metal Stuff
Blasphemy’s long-awaited Fallen Angel of Doom will, upon first listen, leave its hapless victims high, pregnant, and consumed by an insatiable lust for Ray Bans.
The release of pornogrind duo RazorRape’s new album will set metal back another 15 years, landing us somewhere around 303 BCE.
Powerwolf’s new album will sell thousands of copies in Germany, fall flat elsewhere, and ignite Metal Twitter’s traditional “why don’t American publications cover power metal, must be because everyone under age 35 is a dirty hipster and not at all because power metal sucks” roundtable discussion.
—Kim Kelly
Parkway Drive – Ire
Breakdown
—John Hill
Black Wing – …Is Doomed
I’ll probably never get to live in some weird cyberpunk future of cool shit. I have to deal with living in this very primitive world that doesn’t even have tiered-cities or hover boards. But some things give me the approximation of being a sad kid in a future world. The best way to get it would be what I’ve heard from Dan Barrett’s new project Black Wing, and the record coming out ‘…Is Doomed.” Barrett has combined his penchant for somber and expansive songwriting with textures of the digital. Black Wing’s Is Doomed is going to be if Ian Curtis lived in a cyberpunk alternate reality. Each track finds emotion packed away into the waves and tones of electronics, making the project stand right at home with the rest of his output. For anyone feeling lost in a confusing world, futuristic or not, it’s something to latch on to.
—John Hill
Seeing the Person Who Wrote That “Watch Me Nae Nae” Song Get Tried for War Crimes
It will happen if America is a just and fair nation.
—Dan Ozzi
Sam Russo – Greyhound Dreams
Sam Russo wrote one of the saddest fucking albums that nobody heard. It was called Storm. He’s back to break our hearts this October. Bring on the feelings.
—Dan Ozzi
Grimes – TBA
What if Grimes never released a follow up to Visions? The world would carry on regardless, everything would be just fine, it’s true, but I’d be pretty bummed out. Grimes, what you sayin’?
—Kim Taylor Bennett
Windhand – Grief’s Infernal Flower
Is there a better pairing than Dorothia Cotrell’s incredibly heartfelt vocals and the syrup-y thick doom metal guitars?
—Fred Pessaro
Year-End Lists, and Getting Subsequently Mad About Said Year-End Lists
Boy oh boy. Only a few months until our favorite music publications tell us what the best albums of the year were and then we experience the pure, unfiltered joys of telling them why they are wrong and are bad at journalism and accuse them of liking some long irrelevant example of “hipster” music, like Bon Iver. They probably like Bon Iver, we bet.
—Dan Ozzi
Janet Jackson – TBA
I wanna tell you how important you are to me! Love J. #ConversationsInACafe https://t.co/hL2qtzC8If
June 17, 2015Speaking of the Jacksons… Why am I looking forward to this album? Because: Janet Jackson.
—Kim Taylor Bennett
Worriers – Imaginary Life
The more time Lauren Denitzio devotes to her projects, the sharper and more refined they seem to get. Take The Measure [sa], for example. By the time that band released their third full-length, Notes, they had perfected that hook-heavy punk sound they were going for. Too bad it was their sayonara album and they never released a follow-up. Bummersville. But her new(ish) project, Worriers, is just hitting that sweet spot with the release of this year’s Imaginary Life. Denitzio shows off a bunch of new tricks and has perfected the fine art of catchy chorus writing.
—Dan Ozzi
The Season Finales of Hit TV Shows Like Friends
Geez, Ross and Rachel. Those two. Will they or won’t they, right?
—Dan Ozzi
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