Jacky Boy - Mush (Pool Blue) - VINYL LP

Hey, what's up. You heard of Jacky Boy?They're this band from Indiana, and I like em a lot. They put out a record a few years ago that is really good (2017's On Good Terms With Everyone You Know). Kind of vulnerable, but not-too-emo, catchy as hell, fun-and-feeling Midwest rock songs. Anyway, they made a new record called Mush, and it's great!This entire album is built on top of an unambiguous sense of relief. Relief from immaturity, relief to grow, relief to be happy, relief to be free because it makes you happy, these are the recurring themes of the album, and also exactly how it feels when you listen to it.With the addition of Zac Canale's waning-Gen X / Millennial Rising MTV-College-Rock guitar fluency, Jacky Boy's previous nods to 1990's slackerdom are injected with a new genuine authenticity and exploration. And Mark Edlin's emotive, confident drumming betrays his youth without a noticeable care in the world. But the cares are in there. This isn't throwback music. This record is strong and cathartic and speaks for itself. The songs are catchy and fond, the vibration is easy, and the feeling is real.- Mike Adams

Arun Ramamurthy - New Moon [COMPACT DISCS] Digipack Packaging date 11/15/2024

Vinyl LP pressing. In the hallowed Destroyer discography, the early trinity of City Of Daughters, Thief and Streethawk A Seductionholds an important place; for not only does it document Dan Bejar's evolution from lo-fi bedroom tyro to bona fide master of the rock album, it also contains a massive percentage of superlative Destroyer Inchclassics.Inch 1998's City of Daughters features some of the first steps out of the demo-tapey experimentation of earlier recordings, with songs like InchComments On The World As WillInch refining the sound of that stripped-down earlier work, and the seminal InchNo Cease FiresInch offering us the first taste of just what a full-band Destroyer might conjure. 2000's Thief naturally went further down that road, and from the opening strums of InchThe TempleInch to the arty quirk of InchQueen of LanguagesInch to the gentle, jagged comedown of the title track, it soon became clear that Bejar was a master of a singular songcraft - and one that was only just getting started.