Juno Recommends Rock / Indie / Folk / Metal / Punk / 50s / 60s May 2019

Review: "Father Of The Bride", Vampire Weekend's first album for six long years, has been receiving praise across the board from critics. It's been variously described as a "modern California pop masterpiece", a "scrapbook of brilliant ideas" and "the band's magnum opus". To our ears, it's certainly joyous and celebratory, with the acclaimed New York band wrapping their usual punchy-indie pop in subtle and not so subtle nods towards everything from Flamenco and Country music, to mournful piano ballads, excitable electronic indie-dance and 1960s baroque pop. In other words, it's a giddy collection of inventive, enjoyable songs that boasts the same eclectic, anything-goes swagger as the Beatles "White Album" or other similar wide-ranging sets.

Review: It's fair to say that when The National release an album the Cincinnati originating supergroup garner the same type of attention that Radiohead once drew. With some futuristic production techniques creeping its way into the band's engineered sound, a new expressionism in the group's sound on "I Am Easy To Find" makes its way into the open, if only subtly. With the opening passages of "You Had Your Soul With You" sounding something like Battles' "Atlas", the music breaks down into a fanfare of traditional yet supercharged folk instrumentations; with drums, spoken word, strings in all their various forms, and the familiar smokey drawl of Matt Berninger's voice sitting snugly on top of subtle drum machines and synthesisers. Super ballads and sincerity.

Review: Never too shy for irony, Australian rock band from Melbourne, Amyl and The Sniffers, are keeping the mullet cuts and beer spitting sound of the southern land's sound well alive. It's Rough Trade that have taken up Amyl and The Sniffers for their debut album recorded in Sheffield with Ross Orton towards the end of 2018. Six months on and the four piece are rattling the walls more than ever with a raucous ballyhoo of garage-punk that sees the band's ferocious Pouges-y mix of Irish drunkenness hit the wall with the Californian sounds of Pennywise and Australia's own Frenzal Rhomb. With thrashings of guitars, unique and raw Australianisms, and sweaty, smashing drums: Amyl and The Sniffers are popping off.

Review: Slingin' slangin guitars, skittering drums and synths from BRIT School graduates Black Midi deliver a sound that's semi-ironic with all matter of punk leanings. With references abound to New York's heyday of experimental new wave and art rock, this two-track 12" for Rough Trade sees the four-piece edge that bit closer to their anticipated debut album called Schlagenheim. Due for a release this June, most of Schlagenheim was said to have been laid down in five days with producer Dan Carey (Bat for Lashes, Bloc Party) and these two tracks go to some length in introducing the band's raw talent, their meteoric rise and vision of a gone but not forgotten CBGBs.

Review: Are you a dreamer? Swedish band Death & Vanilla ask across eight contemporary takes on German Krautrock, French Ye-ye pop and 60s psychedelic. Vocals are breezy, their moog synths fat, with guitars drenched in reverb and delay. At times the band's sound aligns with other kindred groups like Goldfrapp, Portishead or even Bjork (with "Vespertine") through their subtle take on downbeat, alternative '90s pop and this is heard most in "Let's Never Leave Here". "Are You A Dreamer?" delivers the Malmo trio a fifth studio LP following last year's conceptual soundtrack for stage and screen entitled "A Score For Roman Polanski's The Tenant", and this time around, our highlights include the spacey western riffs of "Eye Bath" and the ever-so dreamy "The Hum". Esoteric modern pop for sure.

Review: There's plenty of anticipation around Big Thief's third record U.F.O.F., and we can say with confidence that it delivers on every front. A solid expansion of their last record, Capacity, U.F.O.F. for the most part goes deeper into diverse sonic territories that's emotionally raw and rich, calling to mind Elliott Smith, Joni Mitchell and various other accomplished singer songwriters especially in songs like "Contact" and "Cattails". Elsewhere, "Strange" and "Orange" provide a backing that seems more upbeat on the surface, yet the varied vocal technique of Adrianne Lenker, ranging from a whisper to a vulnerable bellow keeps us firmly captivated. The album really shines through when it reaches for slightly louder soundscapes, best heard on "Terminal Paradise" and "Jenni" (with the latter reminding us of "Washer" by Slint). All in all, U.F.O.F. will be a record that entrances you with its subtle yet haunting charm.

Review: A follow up to 2017's This Old Dog, everyone's favourite slacker-rock singer songwriter is back with Here Comes The Cowboy. Mixed at DeMarco's Jizz Jazz Studios in Los Angeles, the Canadian musician delivers a swooning and laidback take on folk western blues built on acoustic guitars and the odd sombre horn. The album opens with an unmistakeable vocal drawl, before we're met with DeMarco's trademark slow-tempo groove complete with eerie synths as the album progresses. While it contains many signature traits of a Mac DeMarco record, we're loving the new 1970s and blues rock influences best heard on "Choo Choo" and the second half of closer "Baby Bye Bye". It's easy to imagine DeMarco strumming these numbers in his rocking chair on a porch during sundown in the deep west, all sung while chewing on a single straw of wheat. All in all, Here Comes The Cowboy feels like a solid evolution for the cult hero.

Review: It's always a pleasure to find another release from those well-dressed men: Interpol. That great New York band that defined an era and a sound of their own with a stretch of LPs across the 2000s; from Turn On The Bright Lights all the way to 2010's self-titled triumph. With the release of "A Fine Mess" there's seems to be a new influx of energy dedicated to their 2019 world tour, laced with the group's unique tonic of melancholia, of course. This is undeniably heard on opener "Fine Mess", and at five tracks long it's something of a mini album. Recorded during their time spent in upstate New York with acclaimed producer Dave Fridmann (think Mercury Rev, The Flaming Lips and Mogwai), the resulting collection of tracks delivers something of a fiery compliment to the deep and visceral energy heard on their sixth studio album "Marauder". Long live Interpol.

Review: In honour of Record Store Day 2019, French label Revenge has decided to offer up a fresh pressing of a set it first released back in 1977: an acclaimed live album by legendary garage rocker turned car insurance salesman Iggy Pop. The set was recorded at Paris' Hippodrome venue during the artist's "Lust For Life Tour" in September 1977 and appears here on shocking green vinyl, as it did on initial French pressings. As you'd expect, it brilliantly captures the energy and excitement of Iggy Pop's performances during the period, offering up a mixture of much-loved classics ("Lust for Life", "The Passenger", "I Wanna Be Your Dog" etc.) alongside album tracks and powerful cover versions.

Review: When it comes to plugging in mega stacks of amplified prog-rock, Vancouver-area band Black Mountain deliver a retro-futuristic sound that's as large as any Godzilla soundtrack. With Destroyer presenting a fifth LP on Bloomington label Jagjaguwar, Black Mountain go someway in delivering a bold cross reference of only the best and most legendary points of 60s, 70s and 90s rock n roll regalia. With keys and piano mixed with guitars, distortion and vocoders giving the band a futuristic, krautrock (Deutsche elektronik musik) edge, British psychedelic and raw but atmospheric arrangements give the band their own undeniable identity. With songs passing the bottle from slow dancing rock, flashy hair metal, to synthy guitars and cosmic arpeggios, the best metal of today is still way up there, on Black Mountain.

Review: Rising up through the indie boom of the mid-2000s, New York's The Mystery Lights have landed once again to deliver a sound so fresh it may well just be the swinging 60s. Groovy. The raw, strummed guitars of the very indie "I'm So Tired (Of Living In The City)" harks back to a sound that bands like Manfred Mann popularised back in the day, especially when you hear the screaming howls of "Wish That She'd Come Back". It's a soundtrack for a surfer's safari trekking through the desert with a tambourine in hand, searching for that perfect wave, and with the analogue sound of space echos and reverb splashing throughout the album it's a much desired trip for the modern day.

Review: It's been ticking on three years since Cate Le Bon gave us Crab Day, the Welsh singer-songwriter's third album before now. With horns very much a focal point in Le Bon's unique sound throughout the album, it's their fusion with synths that really accent their impact. Breezy, post-90s jazz numbers that nudge at memories of shoegaze and The Cranberries make their way into early sections of the album too, with playful French pop gestures finding their way through motifs of art rock and New Yorkian post punk and new wave. Given a slighty different slant as it's sung through a welsh guise, Le Bon's ability to carry celtic-like themes through her music furthermore adds to a subtle mysticism in her sound that's playful and bluesy with a folk touch.