Incoming: Dusted writers flag the records they’re excited about for spring
Everything blows, but there's a new Styrofoam Winos album this June, so hang in there.
Who needs another “Best Albums of Spring” feature? Maybe you do. Other publications that preview upcoming albums tend to focus on big commercial releases, consensus picks and albums represented by big PR. We look for records we love among smaller labels–and they’re all picked by a single writer who’s passionate about them. We hope to cover some (but probably not all) of these albums at greater length later, but for now, here’s what Dusted is psyched about for spring. Contributors include Jonathan Shaw, Jennifer Kelly, Ian Mathers, Bryon Hayes and Bill Meyer.
Ed Note: Tumblr is being unusually difficult about audio embeds today, so in a few cases, we're just providing a link.
April 17
Mylingar — Út (Amor Fati)
Mylingar refuses to circulate any public info about band members or their locales, claiming that its version of black/death is a variety of highly occulted abstraction. This reviewer can’t speak for the music’s ability to transcend the material plane (indeed, it sounds more interested in reducing all matter to a smoking, stinking heap), but new LP Út will emerge as a material phenomenon on April 17th on Irish label Amor Fati.
JS
April 24
Lighting Bolt/OOIOO—The Horizon Spirals / The Horizon Viral (Thrill Jockey)
Audio here.
Fans of chaotic, ecstatic, exuberant percussion will want to check out this titanic collaboration. Yoshimio from the Boredoms hammers and croons through two cuts, spinning technological reveries in percussion, voice and synth-y keyboards, while Lightning Bolt’s Brians—Chippendale and Gibson—refract noise, punk and rock through squalling onslaughts of entropy. Can you say “made for each other?” Sure you can.
JK
April 24
Tacoma Park — Baltimore (Centripetal Force)
North Carolina duo Tacoma Park have already released some conceptually and sonically interesting records (several covered on Dusted!), and here John Harrison and Ben Felton continue to blend Americana and the slightly less domestic atmospheres of the kosmiche into a brew all their own. The background on their album page suggests that this is their most focused, pared down statement yet, but sample song “Untied” confirms that this isn’t coming at the cost of the shaggy beauty of their past work.
IM
May 1
Black Cilice — Votive Fire (Iron Bonehead)
Iron Bonehead is an aptly named label, given its ongoing, boneheaded game of peekaboo with National Socialist black metal bands and listenerships. In spite of that cynical bullshit, the Germany-based label puts out some good music, and the new LP from Portuguese project Black Cilice will be bumming us out as Spring attempts to conjure life and warmth. Look for Votive Fire on May Day.
JS
Excepter — Displacer (Excepter Records)
Longtime NY noise ritualists Excepter have taken a bit of a break from the whole “studio LP” thing (the last one, Familiar, is now over a decade old!), but they’re back and time hasn’t faded their charms one bit. Just like 2019’s The Debussy EP, here they’re stripped down to just the duo of Lala Harrison Ryan and John Fell Ryan, but you’d never guess from the thick, blurry layers of sound here. Even the opening Bob Marley cover winds up sounding like nothing but Excepter.
IM
Glissandro 70 — G70 2: Bones of Dundasa (Constellation)
These tracks that Toronto daredevils Sandro Perri and Craig Dunsmuir thought were lost have finally resurfaced and are ready for exploration, 20 years after the duo dropped the original G70 record. Prepare for off-kilter grooves and a global reflection on dance from a pair of duellists that leave no rhythm untrodden.
BH
May 8
Sleeves — S-T (12XU)
Audio here.
Jack Davis brought in guitarist Tara Cunningham for the last Modern Nature album, spinning out intricate dual guitar extrapolations from pulsing, droning grooves. Sleeves is the duo project from the pair, as delicate as spider web, with whispered verses and quiet tangles of guitar sound.
JK
Lupo Citta — Inverno (12XU)
Chris Brokaw’s trash punk collaboration with two Minnesota lifers— Sarah Black and Jen Gori—was a 2024 favorite and this second go is even better. Peer through the feedback and scree of “Can’t See” or pitch and roll with the dreamy corrosions of “Wandering Eyes.” Brokaw’s never been in a bad band, and he’s not starting now.
JK
Croz Boyce — S-T (Domino)
Half of Animal Collective — that’s Avey Tare and Geologist — join forces in a lysergic blend of organic and electric sounds. It’s more contemplative than recent AC releases (which at this point are not especially recent) but has a buoyant euphoria just right for the first warm days of spring.
JK
May 15
Kelley Stoltz — If You Don’t Know Me Buy Now (Dandy Boy)
West coast garage pop’s best, most underrated songwriter is back with another set of songs, including “Competitive Bastard” with its bounding bassline and swelling choral choruses. Stoltz will follow quickly with Fleur in June, so buckle up.
JK
May 22
Marisa Anderson–The Anthology of Unamerican Folk Music (Thrill Jockey)
Audio here.
Guitarist Marisa Anderson goes deep on her upcoming LP, The Anthology of Unamerican Folk Music (Thrill Jockey). After learning that Harry Smith’s final record collection was rich in music from around the world, she spent a year researching and learning the nine tunes on this LP.
BM
June 5
Tara Clerkin Trio — Somewhere Good (World of Echo)
Sui generis Bristol act returns with only their second full-length LP (the first being their self-titled one in 2020), having kept busy with a couple of EPs. 2023’s On the Turning Ground was stellar, a ramshackle and delightfully idiosyncratic collection bringing in any number of influences, such that one could describe them in outlandish terms like “late-era Talk Talk meets baggy.” They’re also stellar live, and the title track of this one shows that they’re still relentlessly their own thing.
IM
June 12
BIG|BRAVE — In Grief or in Hope (Thrill Jockey)
Montreal’s BIG|BRAVE are still a trio on their upcoming tenth album, but the composition of the group has shifted a bit; longtime touring bassist Liam Andrews joins them in the studio, but drummer Tasy Hudson isn’t in the credits (and nobody else is playing percussion, either). Meanwhile, Andrews, singer/guitarist Robin Wattie, and guitarist Mat Ball are all also credited with “amplifiers,” and based on early track “the ineptitude for mutual discernment” all of this adds up to the kind of beatless, heavily atmospheric waves of feedback you might expect. Staying consistent, though, is Wattie’s voice and songwriting, suggesting an intriguing new shift in their sound.
IM
June 19
Styrofoam Winos — Any River (Dear Life)
Nashville favorites Lou Turner, Trevor Nikrant, and Joe Kenkel are real good pals, and their music shows off this camaraderie. Solid touring time in various bands and combos has solidified their sound, and these new songs demonstrate the trio’s heightened craft. The music is robust and tight-knit, even more than on past outings. These winos forego intoxication: they’re a get-along gang pumped full of musicianship.
No reason why this couldn’t be imported to American airwaves as it was their most popular single. It only had a widespread release in Europe and hitting #1 in Belgium. Hear “Wee Rule” and the overall picture feels like you’re in a grandiose amusement park and that’s what the Sisters Lawrence lyrical flows truly feel like. Hamish McDonald’s production make it feel more like a reggae / dancehall cut and it makes sense, as both Samantha and Sandra are from a Carribean familial background. Personal note: that opening beat reminds me of Excepter’s “Kill People” (’08), which reminds me what I’ll be hearing after this is overwith.
“Rebel Rap” is the AA-side. “Soul Mate” and “Ram Showcase” may also be as well.
This isn’t something that usually happens to me, but the other week I read something that made me briefly disassociate (I wasn’t sure that’s what it was, but I described what had happened to Anaïs and she told me that’s the right word for it). After what was either 30 seconds, five minutes, or a week of sitting there unable to do anything I started hearing this song in my head. It continued until the song and the disassociation were inextricable from each other, and I felt a kind of remote gratification to have such a visceral example of the truth of the kind of thing I’ve been writing about Excepter for years. Not really the most pleasant way to obtain proof of concept.
L'église reconnaît sept péchés capitaux et n'admet que trois vertus théologales. Nous avons donc sept principes de remords contre trois sources de consolation ! Triste problème que celui-ci : 3 : 7 :: l'homme : X... Aussi nulle créature humaine, sans en excepter sainte Thérèse ni saint François d'Assise, n'a-t-elle pu échapper aux conséquences de cette proposition fatale.
