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

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: 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: 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: Established in 2012, Marathon Artists has supported and released the music of Jagwar Ma, Real Lies and Courtney Barnett. Western Australian ironies the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets join the peloton with a third album following two linked LPs in 2016 and 2017. This album, "And Now For The Whatchamacallit", splashes on to record a streaming desert sky lit with streamlined guitar riffs draped in reverb and strafed by retro-active vocoders from the future. Like the cover art presents, it's a wild trip through a colourful and mystical land that almost paints a soundtrack for their very own planet sauvage. Fresh and contemporary psychedelica rising from the ashes of bands like Wolfmother and Kasabian. Highlights: "When In Rome" and "Digital Hunger".

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: Some four years have passed since Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley last donned the Sunn O))) alias. Given that the Seattle duo is also approaching 20 years as a working partnership, "Life Metal" - which also includes significant contributions from bassist Tim Midyett and Icelandic composer (and former Pan Sonic member) Hildur Gudnadottir - seems like a timely release. An epic track given to each side of vinyl, this album acts as a precursor to a sister album called Pyroclasts that will be released later in 2019. The ensemble cast brilliant layers up fuzzy, elongated guitar riffs, droning, effects-laden feedback, clandestine ambient textures, electric cello and occasional spoken word vocals. The album peaks via a 25-minute closing track of breathtaking intensity and mind-altering execution, but the journey to get there is equally as impressive. It's a wall of sound that only the safe ears of Steve Albini, produced entirely using analog tape, could deliver. An eighth studio album that's a beast of nebulous lustre.

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: Dutch indie four piece spearheaded by its singer-songwriter Pip Blom realise their debut album, Boat. Delivered by a label associated with artists like Mattiel and Amber Arcades, Plip Blom see themselves in good company to deliver a full length LP following a run of 7" & 10" singles. The album features previously heard numbers like "Daddy Issues", a riffing example of the band's quick, almost surf rock style, with other semi-ironic titles like "Bedhead" offering something sentimental. With a host of other raucous and heavy distorted numbers too, Pip Blom's music falls somewhere between The Strokes, Hole and the best of alternative but radio friendly punk and garage rock.

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: Combining indie rock, psychedelic rock and Eastern influences, Flamingods certainly know how to mix things up. Levitation, their 5th album and the first since 2016's Majesty opens with a disco feel via "Paradise Place", before the laid-back grooves of "Koray" provide a leeway for more eclectic and dance-centric tracks to take hold later on in the album. The second half of the record takes us into more spacey territory best heard on "Moonshine On Water", before the band's trippy, psychedelic influences come strongly to the fore on "Mantra East" and Eastern melodies shine through on "Nizwa". An eclectic, psyched-out adventure of a record, Levitation is an album that will tempt you into Flamingods' esoteric world.