{"title":"All","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"jesca-hoop_memories-are-now","title":"Memories Are Now","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eClear the way, I'm coming through, no matter what you say. I've got work to be doing, if you're not here to help, go find some other life to ruin.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJesca Hoop’s new album \u003ci\u003eMemories Are Now\u003c\/i\u003e wastes no time in making clear its confidence, confrontation, and craftsmanship. The stark and reverberant title track opens the set with “a fighting spirit,” says Hoop, serving as an anthem to push through any obstacle and put forth your very best work. And she has unequivocally done that here, with an album of stunningly original songs--minimalist yet brimming with energy, emerging from a wealth of life experience, great emotional depth, and years of honing the craft of singing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs riveting as it is reflective, the album, produced by Blake Mills (Fiona Apple, Alabama Shakes,John Legend, Laura Marling), is a fresh debut of sorts for Hoop, as the first of her solo records made outside of Tony Berg’s Zeitgeist Studios where she and Mills both cut their teeth in the art of record making under the guidance and support of Tony Berg. Says Hoop, “Blake is so utterly musical and emotionally intelligent in his expression. His guitar voice is a large part of what creates the sound of my first three records. This time I wanted to see what we could do, just he and I out from under Tony’s wing and in a totally different setting.” Mills pushed her to strip away layers, keeping it as close to the live experience as possible, using whole live takes and working very quickly. “It's still covered in embryonic fluid, for lack of a better way to put it,” says Hoop.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHowever fast the work, \u003ci\u003eMemories Are Now\u003c\/i\u003e covers a great deal of ground, showcasing every edge and curve of Hoop’s captivating voice, with sounds and themes ranging from the mythic to the deeply intimate. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Songs of Old” and “The Coming,” songs she sees as “twins” on the album, confront the religion that weighs heavily on her past and the world. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“'Songs of Old' imagines a girl who learns that the ornate, majestic splendor of her temple came at the cost of beautiful and scared cultures from across the sea, the demolishing of their gods, rituals and myths, and the total oppression of those people,” says Hoop. “Religion is one of those things that wells up, and takes over, and shows itself in dangerous ways when it's out of balance.“\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMoving from the dark side of religion to the imagination of myth, “Pegasi” explores “the idea of carrying something to the point of breaking,” says Hoop, drawing on the story of Pegasus and its accomplished rider who takes it for granted. “I fear you'll see the day that I've endured all I can take,” she sings to a gliding, wistful melody. “I won't bend, but I will break under the weight.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd from relatable allegory to intensely personal meditation, “The Lost Sky” is a dynamic, anxious song that “gives you a voice when you don’t have a say,” says Hoop. “I have a dear friend who was in a horrific accident that left him in a coma for two weeks. We thought we had lost him. He woke up to find himself silently divorced. This was a heartbreak for all  related, and I wrote this while we were waiting for him to wake up. His experience drove me to explore my own relationship with abandonment. I think the cruel nature of life and love is something we all can relate to one way or the next. When you don't have any say in how a relationship plays out, when you're cut off,  there's a relentless loop that plays again and again in your own mind of those words that you would say... if love was fair enough to let you speak it. This song gives you that chance.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe defiance that permeates \u003ci\u003eMemories Are Now\u003c\/i\u003e is both a product and necessity of a career that has been independently driven and self-funded from the beginning. “All of my successes have been won  by the bootstraps, on the grassroots level, with handshakes and hugs from great people who believe in me,” says Hoop, more than a decade into her career and with new paths to forge. As she sings in the title track, “I've lived enough life, I've earned my stripes. That’s my knife in the ground, this is mine.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e--Evie Nagy\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Jesca Hoop","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826129289312,"sku":"711751","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826129322080,"sku":"711752","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556509986912,"sku":"711756","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/jescahoop-memoriesarenow-3000px.jpg?v=1581642338"},{"product_id":"father-john-misty_gods-favorite-customer","title":"God's Favorite Customer","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eAs of November 9th 2018 all Loser Editions have sold out! All orders from here on out will include the album on black vinyl.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWritten largely in New York between Summer 2016 and Winter 2017, Josh Tillman’s fourth \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/father_john_misty\"\u003eFather John Misty\u003c\/a\u003e LP, \u003ci\u003eGod’s Favorite Customer\u003c\/i\u003e, reflects on the experience of being caught between the vertigo of heartbreak and the manic throes of freedom. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eGod’s Favorite Customer\u003c\/i\u003e reveals a bittersweetness and directness in Tillman’s songwriting, without sacrificing any of his wit or taste for the absurd. From “Mr. Tillman,” where he trains his lens on his own misadventure, to the cavernous pain of estrangement in “Please Don’t Die,” Tillman plays with perspective throughout to alternatingly hilarious and devastating effect.  “We’re Only People (And There’s Not Much Anyone Can Do About That)” is a meditation on our inner lives and the limitations we experience in our attempts to give and receive love. It stands in solidarity with the title track, which examines the ironic relationship between forgiveness and sin. Together, these are songs that demand to know either real love or what comes after, and as the album progresses, that entreaty leads to discovering the latter’s true stakes.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eGod's Favorite Customer \u003c\/i\u003ewas produced by Tillman and recorded with Jonathan Rado (Foxygen), Dave Cerminara (Jonathan Wilson, Foster the People, Conor Oberst), and Trevor Spencer (FJM). The album features contributions from Haxan Cloak, Natalie Mering of Weyes Blood, longtime collaborator Jonathan Wilson, and members of Misty’s touring band.\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Father John Misty","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826129453152,"sku":"712451","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826129485920,"sku":"712452","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826129518688,"sku":"712454","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556524568672,"sku":"712456","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/fjm-godsfavoritecustomer-cover-1500x1500-300.jpg?v=1581642363"},{"product_id":"shabazz-palaces_quazarz-vs-the-jealous-machines","title":"Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e**Be sure to check out the \u003cb\u003e\u003ca title=\"Link: http:\/\/https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/shabazz_palaces\/quazarz_vs_the_jealous_machines_illustrated_album\" href=\"http:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/shabazz_palaces\/quazarz_vs_the_jealous_machines_illustrated_album\"\u003eIllustrated Album\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e format as well \u003cb\u003e\u003ca title=\"Link: http:\/\/https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/shabazz_palaces\/quazarz_vs_the_jealous_machines_illustrated_album\" href=\"http:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/shabazz_palaces\/quazarz_vs_the_jealous_machines_illustrated_album\"\u003eover here\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, which comes with a digital download of the full album.**\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eQuazarz came to the Earth from somewhere else, a musical\rambassador from his place to ours. Somehow, through fire or through fury, the\rPalaceer of \u003ca title=\"Link: http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/shabazz_palaces\" href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/shabazz_palaces\"\u003eShabazz Palaces \u003c\/a\u003ecaught wind of the tale, and it is through his\rprism that we hear the story.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eThe beach was there, and Atlaantiis, and chemical alterations\rand cell memories and Andre Norton, Richard K. Morgan, and always Octavia\rButler. There were killings and there were votes, and brutality in both. There\rwas sound and there were other worlds, and there was a vastness so\rparticipation sometimes came only at the edges. And the Palaceer coasted down\rwith the alien notion, like Quazarz, and so became.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eOn Quazarz when they look at this place they see the\rinhabitants, the humans, but they don’t assess as we do. And so Quazarz was\rsent to meet a cat with vibration, a creative and courageous, caring,\rcompassionate dude that stood out. The dude was a drug dealer, but that was\rneither here nor there, until his dealings squashed the rendezvous, leaving our\ralien alone to figure out what this place is really all about.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eComing from a simpler, more essential, innocent place, the\rhero could not make heads nor tails of most advancements. From an aerial view,\rhe saw that a good percentage of earthly vibrations were on very small squares\rand it became his belief that this world was very disposable and the spans short.\rHis opinion was not of anything good nor bad but simply the truth. The\rmachines—he noted—though at the behest of their master’s voice, are scorned,\rand jealous as all hell.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAnd so the tale is told while surfing on the board of Shabazz\rPalaces, with its sturdy base angled for takeoff on a new trajectory. There is\rnew blood and space and room to be different and have different assets and\rdifferent art and different ways to talk and also open up some space inside to\rdo something new. There are pages and there are drawings, and color and faces\rand inked dialogues written in ancient futuristic hieroglyph. There are scales\rand there is melody and there are Sunny days and there is Darkness, but \u003ci\u003ethat\u003c\/i\u003e—it\rshould be noted—to the Palaceer is not a lack of illumination or brightness.\rMaybe it is dark, but in it is always optimism and joy, a bright darkness and a\rfull, hopeful one as well.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\r\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eIt comes in gold, and it comes for the night. And so Quazarz\rsang the Jealous Machines. And so too did the Jealous Machines sing the\r\u003ca title=\"Link: https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/shabazz_palaces\/quazarz_born_on_a_gangster_star\" href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/shabazz_palaces\/quazarz_born_on_a_gangster_star\"\u003eGangster Star\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Shabazz Palaces","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826129911904,"sku":"711852","price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826129879136,"sku":"711851","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826129944672,"sku":"711854","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556509888608,"sku":"711856","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/shabazzpalaces-quazarzvsjealousmachines-2400x2400-72.jpg?v=1581642377"},{"product_id":"mudhoney_vanishing-point","title":"Vanishing Point","description":"\u003cp\u003e25 years in, \u003ccite\u003eVanishing Point\u003c\/cite\u003e decisively affirms that, even in an age where only the newest of the new can survive (and even then, only for a few weeks at best), Mudhoney still have plenty to say and more to offer. These are songs written from the rare vantage point of a band who went through the rock ‘n’ roll meat-grinder and not only lived to tell such a tale, they came out full of the wisdom and dark humor such a journey provides. \u003ccite\u003eVanishing Point\u003c\/cite\u003e is filled with dread, psychoanalysis and \u003ccite\u003eNuggets\u003c\/cite\u003e-on-fire riffs; the sort of real, uninhibited rock music that is harder and harder to locate these days. With \u003ccite\u003eVanishing Point\u003c\/cite\u003e, Mudhoney make it easy.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mudhoney","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826130042976,"sku":"710201","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826130075744,"sku":"710202","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556516999264,"sku":"710206","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/12766.jpg?v=1581642389"},{"product_id":"mudhoney_digital-garbage","title":"Digital Garbage","description":"Since the late '80s, Mudhoney – the Seattle-based foursome whose\rmuck-crusted version of rock, shot through with caustic wit and\rbattened down by a ferocious low end – has been a high-pH tonic\ragainst the ludicrous and the insipid.\r\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003cp\u003eThirty years later, the world is experiencing a particularly high-water\rmoment for both those ideals. But just in time, vocalist Mark Arm,\rguitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison, and drummer Dan\rPeters are back with \u003ci\u003eDigital Garbage\u003c\/i\u003e, a barbed-wire-trimmed\rcollection of sonic brickbats. Arm's raw yawp and his bandmates'\rlong-honed chemistry make \u003ci\u003eDigital Garbage\u003c\/i\u003e an ideal release valve for\rthe 2018 pressure cooker. “My sense of humor is dark, and these are\rdark times,” says Arm. “I suppose it’s only getting darker.”\r\u003c\/p\u003e\r\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eDigital Garbage\u003c\/i\u003e opens with the swaggering “Nerve Attack,” which can\rbe heard as a nod both to modern-life anxiety and the ever-increasing\rthreat of warfare. The album's title comes from the outro of “Kill\rYourself Live,” which segues from a revved-up Arm organ solo into a\rbleak look at the way notoriety goes viral. Arm says: “people really\rseem to find validation in the likes—and then there's Facebook Live,\rwhere people have streamed torture and murder, or, in the case of\rPhilando Castile, getting murdered by a cop. In the course of writing\rthat song, I thought about how, once you put something out there\ronline, you can’t wipe it away. It’s always going to be there—even if\rno one digs it up, it’s still out there floating somewhere.”\r\u003c\/p\u003e\r\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003cp\u003eAppropriately enough, bits of recent news events float through the\rrecord: “Please Mr. Gunman,” on which Arm bellows “We'd rather die\rin church!” over his bandmates' careening charge, was inspired by a\rTV-news bubblehead's response to a 2017 church shooting, while the\rominous refrain that opens the submerged-blues of “Next Mass\rExtinction” calls back to last summer's clashes in Charlottesville.\r\u003c\/p\u003e\r\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003cp\u003eMudhoney's core sound—steadily pounding drums, swamp-thing\rbass, squalling guitar wobble, Arm's hazardous-chemical\rvoice—remains on \u003ci\u003eDigital Garbage\u003c\/i\u003e, which the band recorded with\rlongtime collaborator (and \u003ci\u003eDigital Garbage\u003c\/i\u003e pianist) Johnny Sangster at\rthe Seattle studio Litho. The anti-religiosity shimmy “21st Century\rPharisees” builds its case with Maddison's woozy synths, which Arm\rsays “add a really nice touch to the proceedings.” \u003ci\u003eDigital Garbage\u003c\/i\u003e closes with “Oh Yeah,” a brief celebration of skateboarding, surfing,\rbiking, and the joy provided by these escape valves. “I would’ve really\rjust loved to write songs about just hanging out on the beach, and\rgoing on a nice vacation,” says Arm. “But, you know, that probably\rdoesn’t make for great rock.”\r\u003c\/p\u003e\r\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003cp\u003eMudhoney, however, know what does make great rock—and the riffs\rand fury of \u003ci\u003eDigital Garbage\u003c\/i\u003e will stand the test of time, even if the\rparticulars fade away. “I've tried to keep things somewhat universal,\rso that this album doesn’t just seem like of this time—hopefully some\rof this stuff will go away,“ Arm laughs. “You don’t want to say in the\rfuture, ‘Hey, those lyrics are still relevant. Great!’”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mudhoney","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826130141280,"sku":"712251","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826130174048,"sku":"712252","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826130206816,"sku":"712254","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556515819616,"sku":"712256","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/mudhoney-digitalgarbage-cover-3000x3000-300.jpg?v=1581642400"},{"product_id":"king-tuff_the-other","title":"The Other","description":"When asked to describe the title track from his new record, Kyle Thomas—aka \u003ca title=\"Link: http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/king_tuff\" href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/king_tuff\"\u003eKing Tuff\u003c\/a\u003e—takes a deep breath. “It’s a song about hitting rock bottom,” he says. “I didn't even know what I wanted to do anymore, but I still had this urge, like there was this possibility of something else I could be doing... and then I just followed that possibility. To me, that’s what songwriting, and art in general, is about. You’re chasing something. ‘The Other’ is basically where songs come from. It’s the hidden world. It’s the invisible hand that guides you whenever you make something. It’s the thing I had to rediscover to bring me back to making music again in a way that felt true and good.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter years of non-stop touring, culminating in a particularly arduous stint in support of 2014’s \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/king_tuff\/black_moon_spell\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eBlack Moon Spell\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e, Thomas found himself back in Los Angeles experiencing the flipside of the ultimate rock and roll cliche. “I had literally been on tour for years,” recalls Thomas. “It was exhausting, physically and mentally. I’m essentially playing this character of King Tuff, this crazy party monster, and I don’t even drink or do drugs. It had become a weird persona, which people seemed to want from me, but it was no longer me. I just felt like it had gotten away from me.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe ten tracks that make up \u003ci\u003eThe Other\u003c\/i\u003e represent a kind of psychic evolution for King Tuff. No less hooky than previous records, the new songs ditch the goofy rock-and-roll bacchanalia narratives of earlier records in favor of expansive arrangements, a diversity of instrumentation, and lyrics that straddle the fence between painful ruminations and a childlike, creative energy untarnished by cynicism. The soulful and cosmic new direction is apparent from the album’s first moments: introduced by the gentle ringing of a chime, acoustic guitar, and warm organ tones, “The Other” is a narrative of redemption born of creativity. As Thomas sings about being stuck in traffic, directionless, with no particular reason to be alive, he hears the call of “the other,” a kind of siren song that, instead of leading towards destruction, draws the narrator towards a creative rebirth. Elsewhere, tracks like “Thru the Cracks” and “Psycho Star” balance psychedelia with day-glo pop hooks. “The universe is probably an illusion, but isn’t it so beautifully bizarre?” he asks on “Psycho Star,” providing one of the record’s central tenets. At a time when everything in the world feels so deeply spoiled and the concept of making meaning out of the void seems both pointless and impossible, why not try?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThomas self-produced the record, as he did his 2007 debut, \u003ci\u003eWas Dead\u003c\/i\u003e, but on a far grander scale. He recorded it at The Pine Room, the home studio Thomas built to work on the record, and playing every instrument aside from drums and saxophone. He pulled Shawn Everett (War On Drugs, Alabama Shakes) in to assist with the mixing process.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile it would be easy to think of \u003ci\u003eThe Other \u003c\/i\u003eas a kind of reinvention for King Tuff, Thomas views the entire experience of the record as a kind of reset that’s not totally removed from what he’s done in the past. “I can’t help but sound like me,” he says. “It’s just that this time I let the songs lead me where they wanted to go, instead of trying to push them into a certain zone. King Tuff was always just supposed to be me. When I started doing this as a teenager, it was whatever I wanted it to be. King Tuff was never supposed to be just one thing. It was supposed to be everything.” \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"King Tuff","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826131157088,"sku":"712301","price":13.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826131189856,"sku":"712302","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826131222624,"sku":"712304","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556515623008,"sku":"712306","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/kingtuff-theother-1936x1936-300.jpg?v=1581642411"},{"product_id":"deaf-wish_lithium-zion","title":"Lithium Zion","description":"There’s an inherent flaw in the perennially alternating “rock is back”\rand “rock is dead” arguments: they are based on the idea that rock\rmusic is a logic-based choice a person consciously chooses to make.\rContrary to the critics who are looking to suss out cultural trends and\rmovements, the decision to play loud, distorted, unabashed\rguitar-rock isn’t a strategic move but a higher calling (or curse,\rdepending on one’s point of view). Some might say the pursuit of\rrocking out via deafening amplifiers, crusty drums and a\rbeer-battered PA is a spiritual one, an affliction that either strikes or\rdoesn’t. Few groups today embody this sentiment like Melbourne’s\raptly-named \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/artists\/deaf_wish\"\u003eDeaf Wish\u003c\/a\u003e.\r\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003cp\u003eThey’re more likely to ask a fellow musician what they do for their\r“real” job (for one, guitarist Jensen Tjhung works as a builder) than\rtalk shop about publicists, ticket counts and online promotions.\rThey’re a grisly rock group and they’ve already signed to Sub Pop,\rwhich is to say they’ve already succeeded beyond their wildest\rdreams, so anything that comes after (performing in strange new\rcities, meeting like-minded souls, maybe even selling a \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/tshirts\/deaf_wish\/deaf_wish_pain_black\"\u003et-shirt\u003c\/a\u003e or two)\ris a bonus. And if they come to your town, you would be wise to clear\ryour calendar.\r\u003c\/p\u003e\r\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLithium Zion\u003c\/i\u003e is their fifth full-length album (and second for Sub Pop\rfollowing 2015’s Pain), and, while it’s a rare case that a group’s fifth\ralbum is their best, it may in fact be Deaf Wish’s finest. Their previous\ralbums were recorded in makeshift studios - a wise choice for\rcapturing the hazardous riffing, chemically-stained vocals and fiery\rrhythms conjured by a group such as this - but this step toward a\rslightly more professional sound only enhances their power. The\rrecord opens with “Easy”, a languid rocker in the rich Australian\rtradition of groups like X and The Scientists. From there it’s onto\r“FFS”, a moody downhill rocker sung by guitarist Sarah Hardiman\rthat confirms Deaf Wish’s relation to fellow Sub Pop employees like\rfeedtime and Hot Snakes. “The Rat Is Back” is tense and epic;\r“Hitachi Jackhammer” pays a brief and noisy tribute to Hitachi’s\rsecond most notable device (you’d be forgiven for assuming this song\ris about vibrators). \u003ci\u003eLithium Zion\u003c\/i\u003e is a veritable buffet of garage-punk\renergy, post-punk pathos, sardonic wit and the fearlessness that\rcomes with Aussie rock, a natural consequence for anyone living on a\rcontinent teeming with grapefruit-sized spiders and man-eating\rmosquito swarms.\r\u003c\/p\u003e\r\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003cp\u003eAs has always been the case, the whole group shares vocal duties,\reven drummer Daniel Twomey (you know the band is slightly\runhinged if they’re letting the drummer sing). Hardiman and Tjhung\rare as ragged and hairy as ever, chugging along as though krautrock\rwas trying to speed past the late ‘70s but got caught in the sticky\rgrasp of punk. Such is the way of Deaf Wish, a group destined to write\rsongs that are simultaneously stupid and sublime, vulnerable and\rferocious, and play them with the unbridled intensity they demand.\rAnyone serving a life sentence to rock will surely concur.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Deaf Wish","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826131320928,"sku":"712461","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826131353696,"sku":"712462","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556514410592,"sku":"712466","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/deafwish-lithiumzion-cover-3600x3600-300.jpg?v=1581642420"},{"product_id":"j-mascis_elastic-days","title":"Elastic Days","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eAs of November 6th 2018 all Loser Editions have sold out! All orders from here on out will include the album on black vinyl.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  Near the end of Reagan's first term, the Western Massachusetts Hardcore scene coughed up an insanely shaped chunk called Dinosaur. Comprised of WMHC vets, the trio was a miasmic tornado of guitar noise, bad attitude and near-subliminal pop-based-shape-shifting. Through their existence, Dinosaur (amended to Dinosaur Jr. for legal reasons) defined a very specific, very aggressive set of oblique song-based responses to what was going on. Their one constant was the scalp-fryingly loud guitar and deeply buried vocals of \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/j_mascis\"\u003eJ Mascis\u003c\/a\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\t  A couple of years before they ended their reign, J cut a solo album called \u003ci\u003eMartin + Me\u003c\/i\u003e. Recorded live and acoustic, the record allowed the bones of J's songs to be totally visible for the first time. Fans were surprised to hear how melodically elegant these compositions were, even if J still seemed interested in swallowing some of the words that most folks would have sung. Since then, through the reformation of the original Dinosaur Jr lineup in 2005, J has recorded solo albums now and then. And those album, \u003ci\u003eSings + Chant for AMMA\u003c\/i\u003e (2005), \u003ci\u003e\u003ca title=\"Link: https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/j_mascis\/several_shades_of_why\" href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/j_mascis\/several_shades_of_why\"\u003eSeveral Shades of Why\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e (2011) and \u003ci\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/j_mascis\/tied_to_a_star\"\u003eTied to a Star\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e (2014) had all delivered incredible sets of songs presented with a minimum of bombast and a surfeit of cool. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\t  Like its predecessors, \u003ci\u003eElastic Days\u003c\/i\u003e was recorded at J's own Bisquiteen studio. Mascis does almost all his own stunts, although Ken Miauri (who also appeared on \u003ci\u003eTied to a Star\u003c\/i\u003e) plays keyboards and there are a few guest vocal spots. These include old mates Pall Jenkins (Black Heart Procession), and Mark Mulcahy (Miracle Legion, etc.), as well as the newly added voice of Zoë Randell (\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/luluc\"\u003eLuluc\u003c\/a\u003e)  among others. But the show is mostly J's and J's alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\t  He laughs when I tell him I'm surprised by how melodic his vocals seem to have gotten. Asked if that was intentional, he says, “No. I took some singing lessons and do vocal warm-ups now, but that was mostly just to keep from blowing out my vocal cords when Dino started touring again. The biggest difference with this record might have to do with the drums. I'd just got a new drum set I was really excited about. I don't have too many drum outlets at the moment, so I played a lot more drums than I'd originally planned. I just kept playing. [laughs] I'd play the acoustic guitar parts then head right to the drums.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\t  There is plenty of drumming on the dozen songs on \u003ci\u003eElastic Days\u003c\/i\u003e. But for those expecting the hallucinatory overload of Dinosaur Jr's live attack, the gentleness of the approach here will draw easy comparisons to Neil Young's binary approach to working solo versus working with Crazy Horse. This is a lazy man's shorthand, but it still rings true.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003ci\u003eElastic Days\u003c\/i\u003e brims with great moments. Epic hooks that snare you in surprisingly subtle ways, guitar textures that slide against each other like old lovers, and structures that range from a neo-power-ballad (“Web So Dense”) to jazzily-canted West Coasty post-psych (“Give It Off”) to a track that subliminally recalls the keyboard approach of Scott Thurston-era Stooges (“Drop Me”). The album plays out with a combination of holism and variety that is certain to set many brains ablaze.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\t  J says he'll be taking this album on the road later in the year. He'll be playing by himself, but unlike other solo tours he says he'll be standing up this time. “I used to just sit down and build a little fort around myself -- amps, music stands, drinks stands, all that stuff. But I just realized it sounds better if the amps are higher up because I'm so used to playing with stacks. So I'll stand this time.” I ask if it's not pretty weird to stand alone on a big stage. “Yeah,” he says. “But it's weird sitting down too.” Ha. Good point. One needs to be elastic. In all things.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e--Byron Coley\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"J Mascis","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826131583072,"sku":"712701","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826131615840,"sku":"712702","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826131648608,"sku":"712704","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556524666976,"sku":"712706","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/jmascis-elasticdays-cover-3600x3600.jpg?v=1581642447"},{"product_id":"mudhoney_since-weve-become-translucent","title":"Since We've Become Translucent","description":"\u003cp\u003eHey! A new Mudhoney record! On Sub Pop! And we couldn’t be happier. As Matt Lukin remains retired, there’s a new face on the bass: Mr. Guy Maddison (formerly of Bloodloss and Lubricated Goat). Guy joins the rest of the Mudhoneys (Mark Arm, Steve Turner and Dan Peters) on this, their 6th full-length studio album. Here in the post-post-rock era, as it’s become more and more difficult to channel the prime mover, the proto-rock of Since We’ve Become Translucent is more liberating\/important\/relevant than ever. Gloriously unrepentant, defiant and heavy; Mudhoney are back. And, Since We’ve Become Translucent is the sound of a band rebuilt and revived. It’s a record that’s gonna soothe your soul, and maybe even save it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMusicians: Mark Arm, Steve Turner, Dan Peters, Guy Maddison, Wayne Kramer (bass on ‘Inside Job’).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecording Info: Tracks 1, 3, and 8 recorded at Jupiter Studios with Martin Feveyear. Tracks 2, 5, and 6 recorded at Egg with Johnny Sangster. Tracks 4, 9, and 10 recorded at Gravelvoice with Scott Colburn. Track 7 recorded at Private Radio with Jack Endino.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mudhoney","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826131681376,"sku":"705551","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826131714144,"sku":"705552","price":13.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556509331552,"sku":"705556","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/2766.jpg?v=1581642455"},{"product_id":"shabazz-palaces_quazarz-born-on-a-gangster-star","title":"Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star","description":"\u003cp\u003e…speaking of air and darkness, \u003ci\u003eBorn on a Gangster Star\u003c\/i\u003e came into the world in a big damn hurry, like nightfall on an island. You can see it happening, but then again it’s so gradual that the next thing you know—it’s dark.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eImbued with the energy and ideas from all the creative embers floating in the atmosphere like fireflies, Shabazz Palaces recorded this entire album over the course of two weeks with Blood in Seattle. New gear and new equipment disintegrated comfort zones into dust and a new path appeared in the rubble.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHerein the Palaceer continues the tale of Quazars, a sentient being from somewhere else, an observer sent here to Amurderca to chronicle and explore as a musical emissary. What he finds in our world is a cutthroat place, a landscape where someone like him could never quite feel comfortable amidst all the brutality and alternative facts and death masquerading as connectivity.  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInspired by days on end spent in the waves—water and light, both—of Southern California, the work came to the Palaceer in a flash, like being picked up by something and carried. Always dribbling with his head up, he can see what’s going on around him and react to it, rather than starting in a certain direction and hoping to achieve something upon arrival. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat’s good?—the kids ask. What does it even mean, and what does it even matter? Who is behind these choices? We are all of us sitting under a waterfall of all. this. shit. But it’s the excess that is casting us into ruts.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Palaceer stays away from the fleeting and the superficial nonessential. Stay away from your device—your phantom limb—and stay away from your image—your phantom self; that is his decree. Considering the motions behind the things you like to consume artistically, rather than just the way something looks or sounds, and thinking in layers, and trying to be more considerate and not so self-oriented—this is his medicine for combat. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eBorn on a Gangster Star\u003c\/i\u003e flirts with a pop sensibility, but through the prism of Shabazz Palaces’s fire and fury. For the Palaceer, that sense is all about how the groove is moving, and the supernatural telepathy that occurs amongst his cohort. Appearing here, in body or in spirit, are Julian Casablancas, Thundercat, Darrius Willrich, Gamble and Huff, Loud Eyes Lou, Thaddillac, Ahmir, Jon Kirby, Sunny Levine, and Blood. The story belongs to Quazarz, but the air and darkness belong to us. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd so we shine a light on the fake.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Shabazz Palaces","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826131779680,"sku":"712101","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826131812448,"sku":"712102","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826131877984,"sku":"712104","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556510445664,"sku":"712106","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/shabazzpalaces-quazarzgangsterstar-3600x3600-300.jpg?v=1581642466"},{"product_id":"chad-vangaalen_light-information","title":"Light Information","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eNobody cared about their old heads, because the new ones work just fine now, don't they?.... they have the same size mouth and eyes. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe song “Old Heads” is a sci-fi space anthem to technology that constantly replaces itself, proving both necessary and unnecessary at the same time. It’s also a jangly pop gem, a trip through the fantastical that is ultimately warm and relatable. This remarkable coexistence is one of many achievements of Chad VanGaalen’s \u003ci\u003eLight Information\u003c\/i\u003e, his sixth record on Sub Pop, due September 8th. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor an album that’s about “not feeling comfortable with really anything,” as VanGaalen says, \u003ci\u003eLight Information\u003c\/i\u003e is nonetheless a vivid, welcoming journey through future worlds and relentless memories. The rich soundscapes and sometimes jarring imagery (“I’ll be the host body, yes, for the parasitic demons. They can eat me from the inside out, I already hear them chewing.”) could only come from the mind of a creative polymath--an accomplished visual artist, animator, director, and producer, VanGaalen has scored television shows, designed puppet characters for Adult Swim, directed videos for Shabazz Palaces, Strand of Oaks, METZ, Dan Deacon, and The Head and the Heart, and produced records for Women, Alvvays, and others. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile alienation has always been a theme of VanGaalen’s music, \u003ci\u003eLight Information \u003c\/i\u003edraws on a new kind of wisdom--and anxiety--gained as he watches his kids growing up. “Being a parent has given me a sort of alternate perspective, worrying about exposure to a new type of consciousness that's happening through the internet,” he says. “I didn’t have that growing up, and I’m maybe trying to preserve a little bit of that selfishly for my kids.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs always, VanGaalen wrote, played, and produced all of the music on \u003ci\u003eLight Information\u003c\/i\u003e (save Ryan Bourne’s bass part on “Mystery Elementals” and vocals on “Static Shape” from his young daughters Ezzy and Pip), and designed the cover art. The product of six years’ work, going back even before 2014’s Shrink Dust, Light Information emerged from the experimental instruments that fill VanGaalen’s Calgary garage studio. Among them is a beloved Korg 770 monosynth, which VanGaalen coveted for years before fixing one up and devoting a lot of recent energy to recording “duets” with it. One of these, “Prep Piano and 770,” is the lone instrumental on \u003ci\u003eLight Information\u003c\/i\u003e, more atmosphere and chord bursts than the rest of the album’s hooky rock narrative.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“If I was going to go out and buy a record, I would probably want it to sound only like that,” says VanGaalen. “That one’s for me.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThroughout the dark-wave reverb of \u003ci\u003eLight Information \u003c\/i\u003eare stories of paranoia, disembodiment, and isolation--but there’s also playfulness, empathy, and intimacy. “I sit and do a drawing, a portrait of my dad,” sings VanGaalen on “Broken Bell.” “I should really visit him before he is dead. Cuz we are getting old. Our cells just won’t divide like they told us. But I’m not really good at this kind of thing.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut VanGaalen is good at a lot of things--and he’s trying to pursue them for the right reasons. “I'm just trying to get over the weight of feeling like I have to be making something of my time constantly,” he says. “Especially with kids, you get these small breaks where you get to make stuff, and now I try to say ‘you know what, I'm going to make something for me.’”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd if he could make anything for himself, it would be without constraint. “I would love to build a living structure from scratch,” he says. “I've slowly been ripping my studio apart and building additions, but you're always kind of down to this box. I’d love to explore more open forms of architecture, with an endless supply of materials to use, even garbage. Building codes keep us in these boxes--You can't just build a giant hand made out of wood that's the size of a house to live in. But we really should be able to do that.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e--Evie Nagy\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chad VanGaalen","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826131910752,"sku":"712031","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826131943520,"sku":"712032","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826132009056,"sku":"712034","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556513427552,"sku":"712036","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/cvg-lightinformation-3600x3600-300.jpg?v=1581642481"},{"product_id":"mass-gothic_ive-tortured-you-long-enough","title":"I've Tortured You Long Enough","description":"\u003cp\u003eEven when you're married and you're best friends and you've spent a lifetime (18 years is a lifetime, right?) collaborating with each other, it's not often obvious what's staring you right in the face. \u003ci\u003eI've Tortured You Long Enough\u003c\/i\u003e is the tongue-in-cheek title of Mass Gothic's second album for this reason, among several others. Husband\/Wife duo Noel Heroux and Jessica Zambri have always dipped in and out of each other's creative spaces, advising on their respective outputs and supporting one another. But never had they before completely committed to doing an entire album as a duo, sharing an equal load. The time had come. And thank goodness. They have dreamed up a record packed with the tension, chaos and beauty of a fluid and cathartic two-way conversation. In a universe increasingly threatening our abilities to work hard on communication and coexistence, their creative union isn't just inspired but important. “Why did it take us so long?” laughs Heroux from their home in Queens, New York.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Heroux put out 2016's \u003ca title=\"Link: http:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/mass_gothic\/mass_gothic\" href=\"http:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/mass_gothic\/mass_gothic\"\u003eself-titled Mass Gothic record\u003c\/a\u003e, he was necessarily doing so as a solo entity. Mass Gothic was born as a necessary project for his workings following the aftermath of Hooray For Earth's end. Plagued by his own insecurities and anxieties, Heroux wasn't yet ready to deal with putting his trust and confidence into another shared project. He wasn't in a place to take on the burden of those responsibilities with another individual, especially not an individual so fundamental to his existence. So what changed? He can't exactly pinpoint when the phrase “I've Tortured You Long Enough” came to him. It was before a single song of this record was written. But it became a mantra, almost a premonition. Says Heroux, “It just popped into my head,” explains Heroux. “You can say it to a loved one, or to a friend. Or you could wish someone say it to you. It covers so many bases but it's taken on extra meaning in the past couple of years while everybody is at each other's throats; frustrated and confused all the time.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe most important application of the phrase, however, was upon Heroux himself. He had tortured his own psyche long enough, and was particularly in need of forcing himself out of his comfort zone and letting go of that prior stubbornness. “I've struggled greatly with telling myself that I can't do things, or that things aren't good enough.” he says. Then in the Fall of 2016 circumstances led him to face his biggest fears head on, because he physically had no other choice. “We rented a small tiny cabin in the middle of nowhere in upstate New York. We put ourselves away and worked on music all day, wondering what it would feel and sound like,” explains Zambri.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt began with Zambri penning the first iterations of \"Keep On Dying\", a synth-laden call-to-arms that recalls the frantic energy of Animal Collective and the celestial torch-bearing of Bat For Lashes. Zambri had the melody and lyrics, and Noel arranged the chords to finish the song. Then things started snowballing. While the writing may have begun in New York, it relocated to LA while their lives became totally in flux. They threw caution to the wind last January and got rid of their Brooklyn apartment. Not only that, they also purged all their belongings, except the bare bones for making an album: instruments and recording equipment. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThey bought a car and lived out of a duffle bag of clothes for an entire year. They drove to LA, lived with their co-producer Josh Ascalon, and wrote and wrote and wrote. “The entire record from start to finish was done without having our own place to live,” marvels Heroux now. “Maybe we wouldn't have been able to do it if we were anchored at home. We were forced into it. Jess was trying to open me up and if we could have just sat on a couch and thrown on the TV it probably wouldn't have worked.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe partnership has distinctly evolved the project's sound. \u003ci\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/mass_gothic\/mass_gothic\"\u003eMass Gothic\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e was a far more diverse debut, and as the most successful debuts do it was just Heroux by himself, throwing a hundred different ideas at the wall. He describes it now as “the hellish sounds” of his own brain. Its follow-up therefore is a far more intentional meeting-of-minds. Their openness to work with one another had to come without rules as neither of them could afford to hold back. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLast Spring, for instance, when they thought they'd done all the work and had a fully mixed album, they realized separately that it had way more potential. While they were preparing to go on tour with Zambri's sister, Cristi Jo, and her sister's boyfriend Joseph Stickney, Heroux woke up one morning, turned to Zambri and said: “Oh god, we have to fucking re-record the whole album.” The rehearsals were the equivalent of pre-records, and they knew the tracks could accomplish so much more. Although he was afraid to say it out loud, they both agreed it was what was required. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe final ten days took place in the studio in Brooklyn where they laid it down from start to finish with Rick Kwan (Chris Coady mixed the record and Heba Kadry mastered it). “It was too pristine before,” says Zambri. “We wanted it to be perfect but it wasn't breathing. Even if there would be tension, we wanted it to flow like water.” On that front they've achieved a remarkable arc. Bookended by the tracks \"Dark Window\" and \"Big Window\", it begins from a place of uncertainty, overwhelming disquiet and self-doubt, and it works towards a feeling greater than the individual. Via an optimistic number of romantic love songs (\"Call Me\", \"J.Z.O.K.\", \"How I Love You\") the record basks in the acceptance of co-dependence. Even though the works are intensive, there's an element of ease to their overall message. The chords and beats may feel squeezed and claustrophobic at times, but expansive guitar tones and electronics allow the listener to deep dive into a chasm of potential.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Overall it's a conversation between the two of us,” explains Zambri. It isn't autobiographical to the point of alienating its listener though.  It’s important that the songs provoke. It's a record that concludes with the comfort in knowing that you can be both independent and successful in a relationship, which speaks quite literally of the pairs' experience giving in to this process with one another.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWritten by Eve Barlow\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mass Gothic","offers":[{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826132041824,"sku":"712444","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826132074592,"sku":"712441","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826132107360,"sku":"712442","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556524044384,"sku":"712446","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/massgothic-ivetorturedyoulongenough-3000px.jpg?v=1581642493"},{"product_id":"wolf-parade_cry-cry-cry","title":"Cry Cry Cry","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe soaring choruses, rousing anthems, sprawling guitars and chaotic keys that make up Wolf Parade are on proud display over the course of \u003ci\u003eCry Cry Cry\u003c\/i\u003e, the band’s thunderous first album in seven years.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat unique combination of sounds and influences, spearheaded by electric co-frontmen Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner—a complex yet relatable, energetic brew of glam, prog, synth-rock, and satisfying discomfort—helped define 2000s indie rock with three critically celebrated albums, and propelled a growing Wolf Parade fandom even after the band went on a then-indefinite hiatus in 2010.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe upcoming return marks their first to be produced by Pacific Northwest legend John Goodmanson (Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, Unwound) at Robert Lang Studios outside of Seattle, and is accompanied by a renewed focus and the creativity of a band that took their time getting exactly where they needed to be. It’s also a homecoming to Sub Pop, which released all three of the band’s previous albums.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The band itself is almost a fifth member of the band, something more or at least different than the sum of its parts,” says Krug. “We don't know who or what is responsible for our sound, it's just something that naturally and consistently comes from this particular combo of musicians.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Once we got back together, I was playing guitar, writing and singing in a way that I only do while I'm in Wolf Parade,” says Dan Boeckner, who shares primary lyrical and singing duties with Spencer. “It’s just something that I can't access without the other three people in the room.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the time apart, the band scattered geographically and focused on family and other work--Spencer on his solo project Moonface, Dan on his bands \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/artists\/handsome_furs\"\u003eHandsome Furs\u003c\/a\u003e, Operators, and Divine Fits (with Spoon’s Britt Daniel), and Dante De Caro on records with Carey Mercer’s Frog Eyes and Blackout Beach. And that time allowed for an even stronger, tighter band to emerge.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEventually, Spencer, Dante, and Arlen found themselves all back living on remote Vancouver Island, accompanied by a population density less than that of Alaska, and the tranquility that leads to creative emanations like a government-sponsored bathtub race. With Dan on the same coast in Northern California, discussions began about picking things up where they left off.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“All of our albums are always a reaction to our last one,” says Arlen. “\u003ca title=\"Link: http:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/wolf_parade\/expo_86\" href=\"http:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/wolf_parade\/expo_86\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eExpo 86\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e (2010) was about as sparse as we get, which is usually still pretty dense, and this time we wanted to make the palette a little larger.” Adds Dante, “\u003ci\u003eExpo\u003c\/i\u003e was a real rock record. We just sort of banged it out, which was kind of the point.” \u003ci\u003eCry Cry Cry\u003c\/i\u003e, on the other hand, is more deliberate in its arrangements and embrace of the studio process. “If a part was going on for too long it would get lopped, you know?” says Dan. “That being said, there are two very long songs on the record and I don't think it would be a Wolf Parade record if it didn't have some kind of prog epic.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I think we're actually a better band than we were when we stopped playing music together,” says Arlen. “A little bit more life experience for everybody, and people having made a bunch of records on their own.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe result of this new consciousness is songs like “Valley Boy,” a Bowie-inflected anthem for which Spencer wrote lyrics after Leonard Cohen died the day before the 2016 election (“The radio’s been playing all your songs, talking about the way you slipped away up the stairs, did you know that it was all gonna go wrong?”). “You’re Dreaming,” also influenced by the election and the spinning shock that followed, is driving, urgent power pop that draws from artists like Tom Petty and what Dan calls one of his “default languages” for writing music. The swirly, synth-heavy crescendo of “Artificial Life” takes on the struggle of artists and at-risk communities (“If the flood should ever come, we’ll be last in the lifeboat”).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe album carries a sense of uprising that is not unrelated to Wolf Parade’s renewed determination to drive the band forward in uncertain times. Welcome to \u003ci\u003eCry Cry Cry\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eAll right\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eLet’s fight\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eLet’s rage against the night\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- “Lazarus Online” (Spencer Krug)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wolf Parade","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826132205664,"sku":"712121","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826132238432,"sku":"712122","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826132271200,"sku":"712124","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556522963040,"sku":"712126","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/wolfparade-crycrycry-3000.jpg?v=1581642506"},{"product_id":"cullen-omori_new-misery","title":"New Misery","description":"\u003cp\u003eCullen Omori knows it’s a false cliche to say there are no second acts in American lives, but after the 2014 breakup of his acclaimed band the Smith Westerns, living that cliche was his greatest fear. His solo debut \u003ci\u003eNew Misery\u003c\/i\u003e, is a direct challenge to that anxiety: an album that goes beyond the glam punch of the Smith Westerns to new sounds, new sources of inspiration, and greater self-awareness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I had this overwhelming feeling that perhaps the apex of my life both as a musician and as an individual would be relegated to five years in my late teens\/early 20s,” says Omori, who was launched into the music industry when the Smith Westerns, who started in high school in Chicago, became fast-rising indie stars. “This fear really forced me to work hard as to not see the Smith Westerns as an end but as a point along a bigger trajectory.” Read more about Cullen and his excellent new album \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/subpop.com\/artists\/cullen_omori\"\u003eover here\u003c\/a\u003e.  \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cullen Omori","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826132336736,"sku":"711541","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826132369504,"sku":"711542","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826132402272,"sku":"711544","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/cullenomori-newmisery-900x900-300.jpg?v=1581642518"},{"product_id":"porter-ray_watercolor","title":"Watercolor","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e“There must be something in the water.  The soil is rich, yes, but it has to be the water…”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou should already know who Porter Ray is (but you probably don’t.)  The machines that seek to control your perception don't want you to.  He is too much of an anomaly.  Porter skews the modern experiment that is contemporary rap music wildly.  He is in a word: Authentic.  Porter Ray is a natural… he sounds like East Seattle feels.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the same wet blocks that spawned Quincy, Jimi and Ishmael, comes Porter Ray.  Having previously penned six projects showcasing dexterous wordplay, unflinching honesty and vulnerability, tempered with equal degrees of braggadocio and charm; Porter is an old soul, a story teller par excellence, a griot possessing insight beyond his years.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA bit of Context…\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe year is 2017 and something is amiss.  Fascism is on the rise and nearly everyone is a “rapper” (but very few people are actually still rapping.)  Something else has replaced the art form, the lack of intent and authenticity is nearly palpable.  We have, by in large, exchanged clarity of voice for the unintelligible.  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMuch of the shortcomings of the music being made is guised under the auspice of improvisation, its inadequacy explained away by the supposed importance of immediacy.  It is in fact: Lazy.  The craft is even more garbled and devolved by the haze of excessive prescription pharmaceuticals that most of its purveyors (and many of its consumers) are slave to.  An inevitable figurative and literal glut ensues.  The masses are numb (and loving it).\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePorter Ray has had no choice but to feel deeply.  Loss and violence seemed to plague Porter’s adolescence and early adulthood.  His father fell gravely ill, and his subsequent passing signaled the beginning of a dark time. Leaving high school devoid of any certification was next. Losing his younger brother to a much publicized case of gun violence four years years later only added to the young de facto patriarch’s heavy heart and perceived curse. The year following found some of his closest friends [including the mother of his son] locked up in the penitentiary with lengthy sentences.   \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePorter attempted to replace the cloud that seemed to be following him with a haze of inebriants… reconciling the futility of that approach, he found refuge in his notebooks… they started to give what he actually needed.  Within them Porter Ray found \u003ci\u003eBlk Gld\u003c\/i\u003e and mined it, stumbled upon \u003ci\u003eWht Gld\u003c\/i\u003e and purified it, gave us \u003ci\u003eRse Gold\u003c\/i\u003e and we rocked it… he developed a set of fundamentals and made them mantric, then we witnessed \u003ci\u003eNightfall\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThen came \u003ci\u003eWatercolor\u003c\/i\u003e…\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e14 tracks.  Each distinct.  Each clear and nuanced.  Each immersed in clean air and surrounded by abundant green.  Beyond the highly visual, visceral verbiage and layered slumping sonics, Watercolor is about a family immediate and extended, who care deeply about this art form.  It features original raps... original cadences... over original sample free beats.  It is a testament to authenticity, work, brilliance and true collaboration with a reverence for what has preceded. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEvery word, every beat, every piece of visual ephemera that one experiences on and in this project is resultant of years of conversations and shared exposures, common highs and mutual lows.  From the painterly photographs that are the cover art, to the sketches that embrace the physical discs, to the sonic collaborations, Porter Ray creates with those who have been close in spirit and proximity.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe project features original production from B-Roc, Dez Anthony, Kmtk and Tele Fresco and was mixed by Erik Blood.  It is vocally flavored by guest appearances from THEE Satisfaction’s Stas Thee Boss, Cashtro, Nate Jack, and Jus Moni. Iconic Central District MC, Infinite, of Narkotik and Tribal Productions as well as Black Constellation elders Palaceer Lazaro and Fly Guy Dai of Shabazz Palaces also make key contributions. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSacred Geometry - (feat. The Palaceer and Cashtro) If James Mtume and the S.O.S. band collaborated to lace us with something new for 2027, this track would be what brought them from beyond the creative veil. Palaceer advising from the stratos, Porter Ray and Ca$tro reporting from the streets.  Students and teachers should build together shouldn’t they?  \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLightro (Looking for the Light) (feat. Stas THEE Boss) Porter paints. Stasia Meschel Irons, known to most via her ground-breaking work with THEESatisfaction, lends harmonies and aural nuance to this pistol punctuated bouncing sonic wave.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBullet Proof Windows -  (feat. Nate Jack and Thad) A masters class in collaborative comparative story telling.  A sublime addition to the time honored lyrical give and take that would make smooth and Trigger or Nas and AZ show you their teeth.  A verbal tit for tat between childhood friends hooks crooned by Porter’s older cousin Thad. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eArithmetic - (feat. Infinite and Stas THEE Boss).  Three of the most influential, effortlessly lyrical and revered wordsmiths from up top…all on one track.  The Townest of Biz in deed.  Most of you won't quite understand the significance… but for those who do (and for those new)…You are welcome. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe project was A\u0026amp;R'd by Ishmael Butler, who also signed Porter Ray in 2015 dubbing him the “Golden One”.  He has provided Porter, with a wealth of perspective and history also keeping him deftly aware of the present professional creative landscape into which he is entering.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eWatercolor\u003c\/i\u003e is the natural extension of musical traditions that have poured forth (both credited and mis-assigned) from the rich soil that is Seattle’s central district.  Watercolor sounds like Seattle.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMore life and countless marbled composition books later…\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePorter Ray is living robustly and earnestly.  Raising two sons, busy honing his craft, relaying tales resultant of actual experiences, dreams had, highs and lows partaken in.  No matter what the internet tells you, this thing called living cannot be faked.  Following this logic, many rappers aren’t really living.  Fabrication is tantamount.   \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConversely, we invite you to immerse yourself in something real.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eWatercolor\u003c\/i\u003e…\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e**************\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eWatercolor\u003c\/i\u003e is the long-awaited label debut from Seattle’s Porter Ray. Porter is a Seattle based MC who caught the attention of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/artists\/shabazz_palaces\"\u003eShabazz Palaces\u003c\/a\u003e’ Ishmael Butler, who signed him to the label in 2014. \u003ci\u003eWatercolor\u003c\/i\u003e is a snapshot of Porter’s life and the lives of his friends growing up in Seattle. The album captures a specific time period, before things began rapidly changing around their neighborhoods, and it delves into the experiences that shaped Porter, the situations he and his friends survived, and how they overcame the adversity they faced. Porter’s influences – including hip-hop classics like Nas’s Illmatic, Common’s Be, and Mos Def \u0026amp; Talib Kweli’s ...Are Black Star – shine through in both the beats and production, and his deeply personal lyrics.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePorter was born and raised in and around Seattle’s Central District\/Capitol Hill\/Columbia City\/Beacon Hill neighborhoods. He wrote short stories and poetry before he began writing rhymes in middle school and early high school, and started recording music towards the end of high school. Watercolor follows a string of acclaimed, self-released mixtapes -- \u003ci\u003eElectric Rain, Nightfall, Fundamentals, BLK GLD, WHT GLD, RSE GLD\u003c\/i\u003e -- all of which have been available as free downloads via Bandcamp.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eWatercolor\u003c\/i\u003e was recorded in various studios in Seattle, mostly mixed by Erik Blood (Shabazz Palaces, THEESatisfaction, Tacocat), with a few songs co-mixed by Vitamin D (Macklemore, Abstract Rude, Black Sheep). Watercolor was produced by B Roc, with additional songs produced by DJ El Grande, KMTK, and Tele Fresco.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Porter Ray","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826132500576,"sku":"711881","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826132533344,"sku":"711882","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826132566112,"sku":"711884","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556519325792,"sku":"711886","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/porterray-watercolor-3000.jpg?v=1581642531"},{"product_id":"iron-and-wine_weed-garden","title":"Weed Garden","description":"\u003cp\u003eIron \u0026amp; Wine follow up their 2018 Grammy-nominated full-length \u003ci\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/iron_and_wine\/beast_epic\"\u003eBeast Epic\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e with \u003ci\u003eWeed Garden\u003c\/i\u003e, a collection of material that began about three years ago. The six-song EP features songs that were part of the writing phase for \u003ci\u003eBeast Epic\u003c\/i\u003e, but went unfinished. They were part of a larger narrative for principal songwriter Sam Beam, who ran out of time to get them where they needed to be for inclusion on \u003ci\u003eBeast Epic\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003ci\u003eWeed Garden \u003c\/i\u003ealso includes the fan favorite “Waves of Galveston.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile on tour in the fall of 2017, the final pieces of material took shape and a sense of urgency prevailed in bringing these characters full circle. To resolution. To completion. In January of 2018, Beam and company hunkered down in Chicago at The Loft recording studio to capture these six songs.  No more, no less. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eWeed Garden\u003c\/i\u003e joins the good company of previous Iron \u0026amp; Wine EP’s – \u003ci\u003e\u003ca title=\"Link: https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/iron_and_wine\/the_sea_and_the_rhythm\" href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/iron_and_wine\/the_sea_and_the_rhythm\"\u003eThe Sea \u0026amp; the Rhythm\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e\u003ca title=\"Link: https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/iron_and_wine\/woman_king\" href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/iron_and_wine\/woman_king\"\u003eWoman King\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eIn the Reins \u003c\/i\u003e– and in 2018’s attention-span challenged world that's not a bad thing.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Iron \u0026 Wine","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826132631648,"sku":"712551","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826132664416,"sku":"712552","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826132697184,"sku":"712554","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556520898656,"sku":"712556","price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Loser (color) LP","offer_id":39591794540640,"sku":"712550","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/ironandwine-weedgarden-cover-3000x3000.jpg?v=1581642543"},{"product_id":"mudhoney_mudhoney-under-a-billion-suns","title":"Mudhoney Under a Billion Suns","description":"\u003cp\u003eMudhoney is a four-piece rock group from the old, weird Seattle. For 18 years they have plugged into wall sockets all over the world, proving to be one of the most consistently electrifying acts to survive the grunge implosion, whatever that was. The wolfish howls of singer Mark Arm, soulful splatterings of guitarist Steve Turner and frenzied fills of drummer Dan Peters have produced 9 albums to date, most of which are considered neo-garage classics. In addition, they have had two bassists over the years, Matt Lukin, who retired in 1999, later replaced by the inimitable Australian Guy Maddison. Under a Billion Suns is the band’s new long-player and it’s performed with the same amplified urgency of their previous work. While history has shown musicians to be a largely unreliable lot, Mudhoney has never swayed in its vision of making really loud rock music and this album is no exception. Produced with the help of three notable knobsters (Phil Ek, Johnny Sangster, Tucker Martine) and boasting a blaring horn section, Under a Billion Suns exposes a more snidely political-fueled side to our shaggy heroes, but one revealed through the invariables of the Mudhoney recipe: thick, soggy punk riffs and underrated guitar dynamics, psychedelic tangents and snot-nosed finger-pointing. It is loud, it is fierce, and it is here for our world right now. Lucky for us, so is Mudhoney.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mudhoney","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826132861024,"sku":"707001","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826132893792,"sku":"707002","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556510773344,"sku":"707006","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/2752.jpg?v=1581642550"},{"product_id":"beach-house_b-sides-and-rarities","title":"B-Sides and Rarities","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eThis compilation contains every song Beach\rHouse – aka Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand – has made that does not exist on\rone of their albums. The band explains:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen we announced that we were releasing a B-sides\rand rarities album, someone on Twitter asked, “B-sides record? Why would Beach\rHouse put out a B-sides record? Their A-sides are like B-sides.” This random\rperson has a point. Our goal has never been to make music that is explicitly\rcommercial. Over the years, as we have worked on our 6 LPs, it wasn’t the\r“best\" or most catchy songs that made the records, just the ones that fit\rtogether to make a cohesive work. Accordingly, our B-sides are not songs that\rwe didn’t like as much, just ones that didn’t have a place on the records we\rwere making. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eThe oldest song is “Rain in Numbers” and was\rrecorded in 2005, during the summer when we formed the band. We\rdidn’t have a piano, so we asked our friend if we could use his, which was\rpretty out of tune. We used the mic that was on the four-track machine to\rrecord the piano and vocals. It was originally the secret song on our\rself-titled debut. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eThe next couple of songs are from late 2008.\rWe were so excited about “Used to Be” that we quickly recorded it and put it on\ra 7”  for our fall tour with the Baltimore Round Robin. The same session\rbegat our cover of Queen’s “Play the Game” for a charity compilation benefiting\rAIDS research; we will continue to donate all profits from the song to that\rcharity. As fans of Queen, we thought it would be fun and ridiculous to try to\radapt their high-powered pop song into our realm. These songs were recorded at\rthe same studio where we made \u003ci\u003eDevotion\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eThere are a bunch of songs written and\rrecorded in the 2009-2010 window. “Baby” was written and recorded in October\r2009 with our friend Jason Quever. “10 Mile Stereo” was recorded during\rthe \u003ci\u003eTeen Dream\u003c\/i\u003e session in July 2009. Since\rwe used tape, we often slowed the tape way down to create\reffects while recording, which led to “10 Mile Stereo (Cough Syrup Remix).”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e“White Moon” and “The Arrangement” were both\rsongs that we didn’t believe fit on \u003ci\u003eTeen\rDream\u003c\/i\u003e. “White\rMoon” originally appeared on our iTunes live session. Since that was recorded\rand mixed very hastily, we have remixed it to better match our current\raesthetics. We have also remixed and included the version of “Norway\" we\rdid at that same session. We wrote and recorded “I Do Not Care for the Winter\rSun” during a break between tours and released it on the internet for free,\runmastered. Well, it’s finally been mastered…\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e“Wherever You Go” is another song from that\rera.  We always loved this song but thought it sounded too much like\rour old music. We didn’t finish it until 2011 during the \u003ci\u003eBloom\u003c\/i\u003e recording session. It\rappeared originally as a secret song on \u003ci\u003eBloom\u003c\/i\u003e. “Equal\rMind” was also recorded during the \u003ci\u003eBloom\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cspan\u003esession,\rbut we left it off the record after realizing it had the exact same tempo as\r“Other People.” \u003ca name=\"_gjdgxs\"\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e“Saturn Song” is built on a piano\rloop we wrote while recording\u003c\/span\u003e \u003ci\u003eBloom\u003c\/i\u003e,\rand contains sounds recorded in deep space. It originally appeared on a\rcompilation of songs incorporating space sounds that was released in 2014.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eFinally, there are two previously unreleased\rsongs from the \u003ci\u003eDepression\rCherry\/Thank Your Lucky Stars\u003c\/i\u003e sessions. They are called\r“Chariot” and “Baseball Diamond.” \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Beach House","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826132959328,"sku":"712051","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826132992096,"sku":"712052","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556523290720,"sku":"712056","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":32903746584672,"sku":"712054","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/beachhouse-bsidesandrarities-cover-3000x3000-300.jpg?v=1581642558"},{"product_id":"the-gotobeds_blood-sugar-secs-traffic","title":"Blood \/\/ Sugar \/\/ Secs \/\/ Traffic","description":"\u003cp\u003eHey, what's this? Well that, my friend, is the newest album from The Gotobeds, entitled \u003ci\u003eBlood \/\/ Sugar \/\/ Secs \/\/ Traffic.\u003c\/i\u003e It's their second full-length LP and their first for Sub Pop. Whoa, whoa, please slow down. I'm already completely lost. What you just said sounded like a stream of complete gibberish. Okay, I'll lay it out for you and if you have any questions could you yell them at me? SOUNDS GOOD. The Gotobeds formed vaguely around 2009 in Pittsburgh and play a mutant strain of rock music that is often filed under punk, indie rock, or 99-cent discount bin. WAIT, THE GOTOBEDS? I HEARD THEY WERE KNUCKLEHEADS! Only if the knuckle is the part of the human body that contains the brains. Much like their previous releases on underground stalwart labels like Mind Cure and 12XU, this new album artfully slips intelligence and experimentation into a dying art form. It's a harder feat than you'd think.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd sure, their live shows have often been compared to an \"all night party where I feared for my life and the lives of everybody in the five block radius,\" and their recorded output is akin \"to the sonic manifestos of four men deprived of human love and raised on beer and Swell Maps, Mission of Burma, and old Fall records.\" But what you get with The Gotobeds, delivered in spades on this album, is smart, noisy rock with just the right amount of stupid.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFAIR ENOUGH. SO HOW'D THIS GET MADE? It was recorded in bursts over several months of 2015 in their friend My War Matt's basement in Pittsburgh. Unlike previously, the songs were conceived and recorded in blocks, which resulted in a more experimental feel. But this is no chin stroking curate's egg. You like loud, double guitar leads? OF COURSE I DO. WHO DOESN'T? You're in luck, because this album is carpeted with em, thanks to Eli Kasan and TFP. On a song like \"’Bodies,’\" it sounds as if you've walked into the biggest Guitar Center, but, you know, not terrible. Keeping it all locked down is the rhythm section of drummer, Cary Belback and bassist, Gavin Jensen. They allow the downright prettiness of a song like \"Red Alphabet\" to shine, and the lyrics on the anti-sexism thrash of \"Crisis Time\" to punch through.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHIS ALL SOUNDS WONDERFUL, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE I NEED TO CARE ABOUT? Eh, probably not. Except that Tim Midyett (Silkworm, Bottomless Pit, Mint Mile) and some bum (Protomartyr) are featured as guest vocalists on \"Rope\" and \"Why'd You,\" respectively. Also, I'd be remiss to not mention the fact that the band's live show is a testament to the cathartic nature of speed, skill, repetition, noise, and red stage lights. If you don't believe me, ask the bands they have played with, like Total Control, Tyvek, or The Replacements. Also, they rep Pittsburgh harder than anyone possibly could and come off better for it...which is saying something.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI THINK I UNDERSTAND. BLOOD \/\/ SUGAR \/\/ SECS \/\/ TRAFFIC IS THE GREATEST ALBUM SINCE THE LAST GOTOBEDS RECORD? Yes. Now please stop yelling.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Gotobeds","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826133090400,"sku":"711691","price":11.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826133123168,"sku":"711692","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826133155936,"sku":"711694","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556512739424,"sku":"711696","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/gotobeds-bsst-900.jpg?v=1581642566"},{"product_id":"cullen-omori_the-diet","title":"The Diet","description":"\u003cp\u003eCullen Omori's path to his second album \u003ci\u003eThe Diet\u003c\/i\u003e wasn't an easy one. After the release of his first album, \u003ci\u003e\u003ca title=\"Link: https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/cullen_omori\/new_misery\" href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/cullen_omori\/new_misery\"\u003eNew Misery\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e, he had to deal with busted vans, crashed cars, mangled relationships, and other trials that can leave one feeling like the world is playing a cosmic joke. From the guitar that drops out of the sky on the opening track \"Four Years\" all the way through the fade-out of kaleidoscopic closer \"A Real You,\" \u003ci\u003eThe Diet\u003c\/i\u003e is a powerful modern indie-rock album that is buoyed by warped, analog pedals\/transistors and tailor-made guitar tones. Omori's winsome vocals crisscross 70’s art rock and classic songwriting all within the span of 40 minutes. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"No one died, I didn’t get a severe physical injury, but emotionally it was a lot to take on,\" recalls Omori. \"I named the album \u003ci\u003eThe Diet\u003c\/i\u003e because to go on a diet, you cut back on certain things and regulate your intake of others. The idea that you can do that means you must have a surplus of whatever you’re trying to limit. I was so emotionally and spiritually drained, and my only surplus was a bunch of negative feelings and a lot of self-loathing. I tried to limit and confront those feelings in ways that I felt were productive. A big part of that was suppressing the obstructive, unnecessary minutiae that comes with being, or rather trying to be, a ‘professional musician,’ and beginning to write music with no pretense again.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo Omori crafted \u003ci\u003eThe Diet\u003c\/i\u003e as a series of what can loosely be defined as love songs that metaphorically channel the frustrations and ruptures of his turbulent 2016-2017, into unforgettable compositions with abstract, yet sharply rendered lyrics; as he puts it, \"if I was straightforward, the songs would be this very faux-cerebral, pseudo-poetic misrepresentation of myself.\" Omori's version of the love song medium goes far beyond the la-la-love-you template. \"Only a few deal with loving or falling out of love with an actual, physical person,\" says Omori. \"Then there are, like, love songs to my antidepressants or whatever I thought my life would be like at 27.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter relocating from Chicago to Los Angeles in 2016, Omori reexamined his whole artistic process in the run-up to recording \u003ci\u003eThe Diet\u003c\/i\u003e. \"On this record,\" says Omori, \"I was like, 'I want a break with the convention that I had steadily been building since releasing music as a teenager.’ Whereas on New Misery I was locked in a room with a producer for a month tinkering away, this time around I wanted the sessions to be a revolving door of musicians: different people, different aesthetics. I wanted to open up, even though all these terrible things have happened to me. I pushed against my inner nature by actively pursuing collaborators. The outcome, funnily enough, is that the songs turned out to be arguably some of the most accessible I’ve ever written.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Diet\u003c\/i\u003e was recorded with Taylor Locke, who approached Omori after Cullen had played a short acoustic set at Los Angeles' The Echo—a meeting that made a frustrating night fruitful. \"I’m in the patio area, sulking, thinking I just embarrassed myself with a new set of songs that didn’t translate to anyone in the room, and this guy comes up to me and introduces himself,\" Omori recalls. \"He’s like, 'I thought the show was great. Would you want to try recording these?' Something in his demeanor felt confident —I trusted that he got it.\" Locke's talents wound up being well-suited to the intricacies of the songs that would become \u003ci\u003eThe Diet\u003c\/i\u003e. \"He can sing, he is a multi-instrumentalist. On top of that, he is also a producer. Working with him really lent itself to my process of songwriting,\" says Omori.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOmori began working on the album at Velveteen Laboratory, Locke's studio in Los Feliz, in early 2017. \"I wanted to experiment with the structures—having them not be verse-chorus-verse-chorus, having the dynamics not be loud-quiet-loud-quiet,\" says Omori. \"I like the production because it’s hi-fi and clean, but at the same time we were doing this on our own in Locke’s backyard studio and not in some studio overburdened with the nostalgia of massively successful albums from yesteryear. It was on decent, smart gear, but the DIY aspect comes across in the little imperfections and in the voracious and frantic pace at which we recorded the songs. I think maybe a week after we got the okay from Sub Pop we were working away.\" \u003ci\u003eThe Diet\u003c\/i\u003e is lovingly constructed yet not fussy, with Omori's wail soaring over the latticework guitar of the omnipresent \"Master Eyes\" and following the vintage humbucker riffing on \"Natural Woman.\" \"I don’t think the record would’ve sounded nearly as good if I didn’t have Taylor record it, and if I didn’t have access to the excellent musicians who played on it,\" says Omori.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Happiness Reigns,\" a charming slice of powerpop with lyrics that combine fatalistic imagery (\"flowers of uranium\/ and the kids just play along\") and a wide-eyed apologia to a woman, is perhaps the closest Cullen gets to the classic love-song ideal on \u003ci\u003eThe Diet\u003c\/i\u003e. \"Reigns\" was not only inspired by Omori's current girlfriend—she was intricately involved in his vision for bringing the love song a la Beatles or Rolling Stones \"into the 21st century.\" \"Seldom are songs actually about girls in my life, but I when I choose to write them I try to act in conspiracy with my ‘muse,’” he says. \"On 'Happiness Reigns,' I was consciously trying to prevent the song from  lyrically falling into this one-way ode to an idolized muse. Of course some of my favorite artists like T-Rex or John Cale have albums chock full of them but my intention was never to be a rock classicist or to make something that was an extension of my influences. So I had her write it with me. If I was going to write this about someone, even in vague terms, I thought it would be interesting to intertwine their perception of themselves and of our relationship.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Diet\u003c\/i\u003e represents a new chapter for the former Smith Westerns member, one in which he stretches out his songwriting chops and uses his life experience to craft loose-limbed, hook-filled songs that combine pop appeal with finely sutured lyrics. “Not so much a reinvention, but a different approach to a problem I struggled with on \u003ci\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/release\/cullen_omori\/new_misery\"\u003eNew Misery\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e: how to synthesize all my influences into something that is representative of what I want to hear as a musician, and what I want to say as a songwriter. I spent my early 20’s saddled with the ill-conceived, romantic notion that the best songs are written through suffering. And finally, whether intentionally or subconsciously, when I came across the truly painful events of the past couple years they reinforced my personality as a songwriter. I think this couldn’t be truer than when, thanks to my quest for ‘true experiences,’ I was sitting in a hospital detox center facing out on Lake Michigan in Chicago and literally just a few miles south, Lollapalooza, an event I’ve played twice and had many peers at, was happening without me. The process of trying out a completely different persona and approach in \u003ci\u003eNew Misery\u003c\/i\u003e, and then facing my negative experiences and the shortcomings of that persona, to clarify where I wanted my music to go. While making \u003ci\u003eThe Diet,\u003c\/i\u003e my songs were constantly presenting themselves to me, and when I got a chance to listen back and read my song journals I saw what a truly beneficial and cathartic event had taken place.” \u003ci\u003eThe Diet\u003c\/i\u003e’s collection of 12 songs has Omori well on his way.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cullen Omori","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826133254240,"sku":"712341","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826133287008,"sku":"712342","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826133319776,"sku":"712344","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556526043232,"sku":"712346","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/cullenomori-thediet-cover-3000.jpg?v=1581642572"},{"product_id":"luluc_sculptor","title":"Sculptor","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e‘We spray our hair into submission, upright to attention. Marching to no orders, imagination has no borders. Well lucky that.’\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Me and Jasper,” from Luluc’s third album \u003ci\u003eSculptor\u003c\/i\u003e, is a confident challenge to small-town insularity, lilting yet vigilant, and championed by a defiant guitar solo from the band’s friend J Mascis. It’s a reflection on a common pitfall of adolescence; limitless possibility battling constant obstruction. “My own experiences as a teen were often fraught” says songwriter and vocalist Zoe Randell. “The small town I grew up in provided a great study in gossip, scandal, character assignation and the willingness of people to go along with it.” It’s a song about fighting for agency on an album that is in many ways about volition and potential; how people can navigate difficulties and opportunities to create different paths.\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eSculptor\u003c\/i\u003e can be consumed loud; because while Luluc's music is at times masterful in it’s minimalism, it is anything but quiet in impact. There’s a before you hear Luluc’s music, and an after—a turning point that affects people with rare force. Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney says “it’s music that once you hear it, you can’t live without it”. The National’s Matt Berninger said that for months, Passerby was “the only album I wanted to listen to”. “What first hits is that voice,” writes Peter Blackstock (No Depression),“a peaceful serenity that reaches deep into the heart.” When NPR’s Bob Boilen named 2014’s \u003ci\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/luluc\/passerby\"\u003ePasserby\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e his album of the year, he wrote: “I've listened to this record by Australia's Luluc more than any other this year. These songs feel like they've always been.” Legendary producer Joe Boyd, who discovered Nick Drake, told BBC radio he exclaimed “Who the hell is this?!” when he first heard Luluc’s debut, \u003ci\u003eDear Hamlyn\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat gripping, imperative quality pulses through \u003ci\u003eSculptor\u003c\/i\u003e, perhaps to an even greater extent than on \u003ci\u003ePasserby\u003c\/i\u003e or \u003ci\u003eDear Hamlyn\u003c\/i\u003e (2008). Randell writes with more experimentation and possibility. From the contemplative scene of “Cambridge”, to the churning disaster chronicled in the title track, the songs on \u003ci\u003eSculptor\u003c\/i\u003e are there for the taking. “Broadly speaking, with these new songs I was interested in the difficulties that life can throw at us - what we can do with them, how they can shape us, and what say we have,” Randell explains. “That potential that is there for everyone, the different lives that are open to us. That’s what I love in Ise’s poem ‘Spring Days and Blossom’ - which form the lyrics to “Spring” - the brimming sense of spring and it’s cycle, the enormity of what’s possible and the beauty.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSonically, the band have broadened their tonal palette following on from the successful collaboration on \u003ci\u003ePasserby\u003c\/i\u003e, co-produced with The National’s Aaron Dessner. Multi-instrumentalist, singer and producer Steve Hassett mastered a wider spectrum of instruments to fully realize the album’s expansive and daring vision. Randell and Hassett do nearly all of the writing, recording, and producing themselves, but their vision is far from insular. In addition to Mascis, \u003ci\u003eSculptor\u003c\/i\u003e features contributions from several friends including Dessner (shreds on “Kids” and programmed drums on “Heist”) and Jim White of Dirty Three (drums on “Genius”) as well as musicians Matt Eccles on drums and Dave Nelson on horns. Recording took place in Luluc’s new Brooklyn studio, which they built themselves. The new studio is volition and potential in action and even incorporates reclaimed cedar from Dessner’s iconic former Ditmas Park studio, where The National and Luluc had both lived and recorded.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat everyone has control of their own story is at the core of \u003ci\u003eSculptor\u003c\/i\u003e. For Hassett, it’s illuminated by the last line of the title track, which is the last line of the record itself: ”‘The most beautiful, serene sculpture my hands could make, could trace, could break’. All of the songs are playing with those ideas,” he says. “Life is something you get, and you can get sidetracked for years and even destroy it, or you can remember that you've got some control over your life.” But listeners of \u003ci\u003eSculptor\u003c\/i\u003e may yield some of that control, even if for a short time, to the mastery of the music itself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Luluc","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826133418080,"sku":"712351","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826133450848,"sku":"712352","price":14.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556522045536,"sku":"712356","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/luluc-sculptor-3000.jpg?v=1581642579"},{"product_id":"daughn-gibson_carnation","title":"Carnation","description":"\u003cp\u003eShot through with a deep sensuality, \u003ci\u003eCarnation\u003c\/i\u003e is a high-wire balancing act, at times sexual, emotionally intense and comforting. The album features Daughn’s strongest songwriting yet, with lyrical subject matter that shares a kinship with writers Raymond Carver and Donald Ray Pollack. The music here combines with those lyrics to widescreen effect, and Carnation feels filmic in its execution: It evokes, and in many ways pays homage to, the works of Tim Burton, Pier Paulo Pasolini, and John Waters. \u003ca title=\"Link: https:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/daughn_gibson\" href=\"https:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/daughn_gibson\"\u003eRead more about \u003c\/a\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/daughn_gibson\"\u003eCarnation\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/daughn_gibson\"\u003e here.\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Daughn Gibson","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826133516384,"sku":"711271","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826133549152,"sku":"711272","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556512215136,"sku":"711276","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/daughngibson-carnation-2400px-72dpi.jpg?v=1581642585"},{"product_id":"arbor-labor-union_i-hear-you","title":"I Hear You","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eArbor Labor\rUnion was born from a peach tree in Georgia in the American south. They play\rpsychedelic, repetitious, and joyful rock and roll music. In 2014 they released\rthe album \u003ci\u003e\u003ca title=\"Link: https:\/\/arborlaborunion.bandcamp.com\/album\/sings-for-you-now\" href=\"https:\/\/arborlaborunion.bandcamp.com\/album\/sings-for-you-now\"\u003eSings for You Now\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e under the\rname Pinecones. In 2016 they decided to change their name in order to form a\rmore perfect union. A union of sound and vision. With this, they had a new\ralbum, a masterpiece of modern guitar music entitled simply \u003ci\u003eI Hear You\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003ci\u003eI Hear You\u003c\/i\u003e was crafted through the ancient process of\rcollaboration. All four members brought their love to one another and turned it\rinto song. The album plays like a freedom chant. You can hear laughter in their\rmusic. You can see the joy among them. In every known photo of the band they\rappear to be smiling. All that is left to do is listen. Listen to this album\rdedicated to listeners. And, should your response also be “I hear you,” the\rband replies, “affirmative, loud and clear.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eI Hear You\u003c\/i\u003e was recorded and produced by Randall Dunn (Earth, Sunn0))),\rThurston Moore, Black Mountain) and Arbor Labor Union in the fall of 2015\rat Avast Studio in Seattle, WA. The album was mastered by Jason Ward at Chicago\rMastering. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Arbor Labor Union","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826133614688,"sku":"711581","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826133647456,"sku":"711582","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826133680224,"sku":"711584","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556520112224,"sku":"711586","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/arborlaborunion-ihearyou-900.jpg?v=1581642593"},{"product_id":"pissed-jeans_why-love-now","title":"Why Love Now","description":"\u003cp\u003ePissed Jeans have been making gnarly noise for 13 years, and on their fifth album, \u003ci\u003eWhy Love Now\u003c\/i\u003e, the male-fronted quartet is taking aim at the mundane discomforts of modern life—from fetish webcams to office-supply deliveries. \"Rock bands can retreat to the safety of what rock bands usually sing about. So 60 years from now, when no one has a telephone, bands will be writing songs like, 'I'm waiting for her to call me on my telephone.' Kids are going to be like, 'Grandpa, tell me, what was that?' I'd rather not shy away from talking about the internet or interactions in 2016,\" says frontman Matt Korvette.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePissed Jeans' gutter-scraped amalgamation of sludge, punk, noise, and bracing wit make the band—Korvette, Brad Fry (guitar), Randy Huth (bass) and Sean McGuinness (drums)—a release valve for a world where absurdity seems in a constant battle trying to outdo itself. \u003ci\u003eWhy Love Now\u003c\/i\u003e picks at the bursting seams that are barely holding 21st-century life together. Take the grinding rave-up \"The Bar Is Low,\" which, according to Korvette, is \"about how every guy seems to be revealing themselves as a shithead. It seems like every guy is getting outed, across every board of entertainment and politics and music. There's no guy that isn't a total creep.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe lyrics on \u003ci\u003eWhy Love Now\u003c\/i\u003e are particularly pointed about gender relations and the minefield they present in 2016. \"'It's Your Knees' is about the endless, unrequested, commenting on if you'd fuck a girl. 'My great aunt won a cooking contest.' 'Oh, that's pretty hot. I'd hit that,'\" says Korvette. On \"Love Without Emotion\" Korvette channels Nick Cave's guttural side while bemoaning his detachment over cavernous guitars. \"Ignorecam\" twists the idea of fetish cam shows- \"where the woman just ignores you and watches TV or eats macaroni and cheese or talks on the phone\"—into a showcase for Korvette's rancid yelp and his bandmates' pummeling rock.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs they did on their last album, 2013's \u003ci\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/pissed_jeans\/honeys\"\u003eHoneys\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e, Pissed Jeans offer a couple of \"fuck that shit type songs\" about the working world. And the startling \"I'm A Man,\" which comes at the album's midpoint, finds author Lindsay Hunter (Ugly Girls) taking center stage, delivering a self-penned monologue of W.B. Mason-inspired erotica—office small talk about pens and coffee given just enough of a twist to expose its filthy underside, with Hunter adopting a grimacing menace that makes its depiction of curdled masculinity even more harrowing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo Wave legend Lydia Lunch shacked up in Philadelphia to produce \u003ci\u003eWhy Love Now\u003c\/i\u003e alongside local metal legend Arthur Rizk (Eternal Champion, Goat Semen). \"I knew she wasn't a traditional producer,\" Korvette says of Lunch. \"I like how she's so cool and really intimidating. She ended up being so fucking awesome and crazy. She was super into it, constantly threatening to bend us over the bathtub. I'm not really sure what that entails, but I know she probably wasn't joking.” The combination of Lunch's spiritual guidance and Rizk's technical prowess supercharged Pissed Jeans, and the bracing \u003ci\u003eWhy Love Now\u003c\/i\u003e documents them at their grimy, grinning best. While its references may be very early-21st-century, its willingness to state its case cement it as an album in line with punk's tradition of turning norms on their heads and shaking them loose.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pissed Jeans","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826133745760,"sku":"711901","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826133778528,"sku":"711902","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826133811296,"sku":"711904","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":31826133844064,"sku":"711906","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/pissedjeans-whylovenow-cover-3000x3000-300.jpg?v=1581642601"},{"product_id":"jo-passed_their-prime","title":"Their Prime","description":"The nicest thing anyone has ever – ever – said to Jo Hirabayashi, frontman of Jo Passed, is that his band's debut album sounds like “fucked-up Beatles”. \u003ci\u003eTheir Prime\u003c\/i\u003e, the full-length follow-up to Jo Passed’s two EPs, \u003ci\u003eUp\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eOut\u003c\/i\u003e, does sound like fucked-up Beatles. It sounds like Lennon and McCartney discovered Can and Neu!, and maybe a little Sonic Youth and XTC along the way. It demonstrates that timeless knack for dreamy melodies – chord progressions that sound like they were created in a land far, far away. Lyrically, however, it's imbued with a philosophical longing for answers to questions that have resurfaced for the first time since the explosion of counterculture in the late 1960s and early 1970s.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eTheir Prime\u003c\/i\u003e is a record about identity and the loss of time that happens as a direct consequence of being in the city with nowhere to rent, no time outside of employment and no realistic expectations to live up to. It encompasses that fear of being beyond the glory years, the most creatively fruitful period of one’s life. Those years were lost to contemporary struggles for working relationships, home, identity and space. “It's me owning my worst nightmare,” he admits. “A lot of the Jo Passed project has been about confronting fears. I was afraid to move away from Vancouver to Montreal on my own. Afraid to leave musical relationships I had. Afraid to bear the full responsibility of a project. Being open about those fears is a good way of dealing with them. You end up at this point where you hit 30 and you're like, 'Oh what happened? Am I done? Did I not activate my main creative energy?' It's a ridiculous idea but 30 feels a little like 1000 in rock n roll terms.” You can hear the frustrations and the jitters in the crashing loud-and-quiet motifs throughout the album's twelve tracks, which offer up a patchwork quilt of sound, similar to Faust's IV or Fugazi's Red Medicine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJo Passed originally consisted of Jo and his friend and drummer Mac Lawrie. The two moved to Montreal together, and toured the far-right corner of North America. After Jo’s return to Vancouver, multi-instrumentalist Bella Bébé joined the band in January of 2016, and multimedia artist Megan-Magdalena Bourne joined on bass, after working on a video for the song “Rage” (from Jo Passed’s \u003ci\u003eOut\u003c\/i\u003e EP).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHaving worked with Bella, Mac, and Megan to create the live experience of \u003ci\u003eTheir Prime\u003c\/i\u003e, it's touring and hearing people's reactions to the album that are at the forefront of Jo’s mind. “It's like I've put all my negativity into a place and now I'm lighting it on fire as a way of releasing it... by putting it out on Sub Pop, ha!” Indeed, sometimes you have to banish the bad vibes to get to the great ones.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jo Passed","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826133876832,"sku":"712431","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826133909600,"sku":"712432","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826133942368,"sku":"712434","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556523159648,"sku":"712436","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/jopassed-theirprime-cover-1500x1500-300.jpg?v=1581642606"},{"product_id":"the-afghan-whigs_up-in-it","title":"Up In It","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eUp In It\u003c\/i\u003e is The Afghan Whigs’ second full-length and their Sub Pop debut. The 1990 album, recorded by legendary producer Jack Endino, was critically acclaimed and garnered strong college-radio airplay. Until now, it was out of print on vinyl for over 25 years. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e*The LP and cassette versions contain the original 9 song tracklisting, but the digital download that comes with all formats includes all 13 songs previously found on the CD version. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Afghan Whigs","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":32611690840160,"sku":"700601","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826134007904,"sku":"700602","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826134073440,"sku":"700604","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556513624160,"sku":"700606","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/11348.jpg?v=1581642612"},{"product_id":"kristin-kontrol_x-communicate","title":"X-Communicate","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSometimes you have to rip it up and start again.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was a tough call for Dee Dee. \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/subpop.com\/artists\/dum_dum_girls\" title=\"Link: http:\/\/subpop.com\/artists\/dum_dum_girls\"\u003eDum Dum Girls\u003c\/a\u003e was her guise for the better part of a decade, an outlet through which she had crafted an instantly identifiable body of work. Demos made in a studio apartment on a nylon string guitar and posted on to a Myspace page pricked the ears of various labels including Sub Pop who the band signed with. From there, Dee Dee assembled her group of badass, black-clad cadets and toured the world. Over the course of three albums, four EPs, and a bold brace of singles, Dum Dum Girls morphed from the girl-group-gone-bad moves of debut album \u003ci\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/dum_dum_girls\/i_will_be\" title=\"Link: http:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/i_will_be\"\u003eI Will Be\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e (2010), to the plush noir-pop of 2014’s \u003ci\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/dum_dum_girls\/too_true\" title=\"Link: http:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/too_true\"\u003eToo True\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e, with its motorik beats and svelte harmonies; a dark heart burning bright.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut sometimes the project you pour your soul into ends up hemming you in. As her music evolved, Dee Dee found that she would be forever refracted through the prism of Dum Dum Girls’ early work: retro-leaning female harmonies, a backdrop of lo-fi, fuzzed-up guitars.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the top of 2015, she decided to shed her skin, ditching Dee Dee for her real name, Kristin, and adding Kontrol. It was a spontaneous idea – but it resonated with her.  As Karen O once counseled her, it may be a leap into the unknown, but little risk means little reward.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHer challenge was to start fresh, and go further back into her relationship with music. Her goal was to sweep all her loves together into one genre-less experience.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“The first music I felt was mine was classic 80s pop and 90s R\u0026amp;B, from Tiffany and Debbie Gibson to Janet Jackson and Madonna, to TLC and SWV,” she says. “But for years I was hellbent on the rock’n’roll thing, revering Joan Jett, Patti Smith, Chrissie Hynde” — a rebellion against her classical vocal training — “but with Kristin Kontrol I just wanted to try it all….I thought I’m Kate Bush covering Mariah.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArguably the biggest shift beyond the music is that, as Kristin Kontrol, she tells her stories using a sonic palette splashed with bold pop melodies, her vocals showcasing a range hitherto unexplored. The songs that emerge from Kristin’s universe are familiar but unique. You can hear the touchstones of new wave, R\u0026amp;B, synthpop, krautrock, postpunk, and even reggae, but \u003ci\u003eX-Communicate\u003c\/i\u003e uses genre rather than adheres to it, with a distinct nod to the present.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe visual aesthetic has morphed, too: Dee Dee in her inky ebony garb is gone, and in her place stands a newly minted, assured figure - but one that’s playful, too. “It turned out to be timely, unfortunately, that I’ve been fantasizing about this sort of Thin White Duchess concept for a while. Maybe Bowie is my patron saint. He’s certainly always led the charge to evolve.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“I feel free. I had to excommunicate myself to be able to explore. Even if I have to rebuild my whole career, I’d rather work tirelessly then feel stagnant. I feel excited again, and you can’t put a price on that.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/kristin_kontrol\" title=\"Link: http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/kristin_kontrol\"\u003eRead the full story on making \u003ci\u003eX-Communicate\u003c\/i\u003e over here.\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kristin Kontrol","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826134138976,"sku":"711601","price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826134171744,"sku":"711602","price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826134204512,"sku":"711604","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556525387872,"sku":"711606","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/kristinkontrol-xcommunicate-900.jpg?v=1581642617"},{"product_id":"the-afghan-whigs_congregation","title":"Congregation","description":"\u003cp\u003e1992’s \u003ci\u003eCongregation\u003c\/i\u003e, The Afghan Whigs’ third album, finds the Whigs’ soul and psychedelic influences shining through, and helped define the band’s sound for years to come. Until now, \u003ci\u003eCongregation\u003c\/i\u003e was out of print on vinyl since its original pressing sold out many years ago.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Afghan Whigs","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826134466656,"sku":"701301","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826134368352,"sku":"701302","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826134433888,"sku":"701304","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556518768736,"sku":"701306","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/11350.jpg?v=1581642623"},{"product_id":"the-afghan-whigs_uptown-avondale","title":"Uptown Avondale","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eUptown Avondale\u003c\/i\u003e, released shortly after \u003ci\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/the_afghan_whigs\/congregation\"\u003eCongregation\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e, features The Afghan Whigs paying tribute to their soul-music influences by performing covers of Stax and Motown classics. This LP pressing is the first time \u003ci\u003eUptown Avondale\u003c\/i\u003e has been released on vinyl in the US (its only previous vinyl pressing was a short European run in 1992).  \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Afghan Whigs","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826134532192,"sku":"701751","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556515033184,"sku":"701756","price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/theafghanwhigs-uptownavondale-cover-1500x1500-300.jpg?v=1581642629"},{"product_id":"doldrums_the-air-conditioned-nightmare","title":"The Air Conditioned Nightmare","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eThe title was spawned by Henry Miller upon his return to the US after ten years as an expatriate. Keen to rediscover the country he left behind, Miller found it a stifling place of big business, pollution, credit, misinformation and prejudice. In short: a spiritual, moral, cultural and aesthetic vacuum. “Nowhere else in the world,” he wrote in his 1945 collection of essays “is the divorce between man and nature so complete”.  \u003ci\u003eThe Air Conditioned Nightmare.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e*\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/doldrums\"\u003eRead the rest here!\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Doldrums","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826134630496,"sku":"711251","price":6.4,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826134663264,"sku":"711252","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556525092960,"sku":"711256","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/doldrums-airconditionednightmare-900px.jpg?v=1581642635"},{"product_id":"red-house-painters_old-ramon","title":"Old Ramon","description":"\u003cp\u003eOld Ramon, the sixth Red House Painters album, recorded in the\rfall of 1997 through the spring of 1998, was intended for release\rthat summer. But the mega-major label merger catastrophe that\rleft hundreds of bands homeless spared few. Red House Painters\rlooked for a brief moment like survivors, but subsequent delays\reventually turned into permanent layoff. \u003ci\u003eOld Ramon\u003c\/i\u003e sat in limbo\rand grew into legend as another great, lost album only the\rprivileged few would ever properly hear. They’ve unintentionally\rput the wait back into the term “long-awaited.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSinger Mark Kozelek kept busy with a series of other projects. He\rserved as producer for Take Me Home: A Tribute to John Denver.\rAs archivist for the 4AD Red House Painters Retrospective album,\rassembling rarities and live tracks. As solo artist with several\rtracks on the Shanti Project album, and two albums Rock ‘n’ Roll\rSinger and What’s Next to the Moon, a collection of AC\/DC songs\rreinterpreted. As live performer, touring the United States, United\rKingdom, Spain, Sweden and his first ever shows in South Korea.\rAs film scorer for the independent film Last Ball. And, finally, as\ractor in Cameron Crowe’s critically acclaimed Almost Famous.\u003cbr\u003e\rBut while playing a musician in a movie—Kozelek appears as the\rbassist of Stillwater in Almost Famous—was an exciting diversion,\rit also pointed out the absurdity and irony of the situation. He’d\rbeen writing and performing his own music since the 1980s, with\rRed House Painters since the early 1990s. He was a musician, not\rjust someone who might play one on TV.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\rWith \u003ci\u003eOld Ramon \u003c\/i\u003esitting on the shelf, it was like reading a book\rwith a chapter missing. Kozelek had written most of the album\rthroughout 1996 and 1997. There were “Between Days” and\r“Wop-a-din-din,” written during the months he stayed in Oaxaca,\rMexico about his time there and his cat waiting at home in San\rFrancisco; “Cruiser” written on an airplane ride from Los Angeles\rto San Francisco about a friend he’d met during the John Cale\rtour; and “Golden,” a song in tribute to John Denver, written and\rrecorded in a single day during December of 1997, just a few\rmonths after Denver’s tragic death. “Michigan” and “River” had\rbeen road-tested on the band’s previous tour.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\rThe album, in fact, had come together with a good feeling, reunit-\ring the band with their old friend and engineer Billy Anderson,\rwho’d worked on their earlier records \u003ci\u003eDown Colorful Hill\u003c\/i\u003e and the\rtwo self-titled releases (\u003ci\u003eRollercoaster\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eBridge\u003c\/i\u003e by their covers).\rSessions in San Francisco, Mendocino, California and Austin,\rTexas resulted in several hours’ worth of music being recorded.\rThe band had spread out and worked up various arrangements for\ra majority of the tunes. Sadly, a twenty-minute version of “Michi-\rgan” fell to the cutting room floor.\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut the ten songs packed onto \u003ci\u003eOld Ramon\u003c\/i\u003e (the title comes from a\rSpanish children’s book that caught Kozelek’s fancy) well\rrepresent the band that will take to the road for the first time in\rseveral years with extensive touring throughout the United States\rand Europe. Once freed from their major label commitments,\rreputable independent labels bid for the band’s services. This,\rhowever, is the album exactly as it was intended—untouched—three years to the month of its completion. Good news:\rThe wait is officially over.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Red House Painters","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826134728800,"sku":"705651","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826134761568,"sku":"705652","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556511232096,"sku":"705656","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/2101.jpg?v=1581642638"},{"product_id":"comets-on-fire_avatar","title":"Avatar","description":"\u003cp\u003eAfter 2004’s critically acclaimed \u003ci\u003eBlue Cathedral\u003c\/i\u003e, one might have expected Comets on Fire to blast off into the cosmos in an infinite flurry of lysergic spasmodicism. Surprising, then, that they should turn in an earthy, more accessible and downright beautiful album as their follow-up. Then again, it is a completely logical progression, but in reverse, sort of. On \u003ci\u003eAvatar\u003c\/i\u003e their astonishing new album, Comets display development in every direction: as musicians, as songwriters, as arrangers and as singers (?!), without sacrificing one ounce of the intensity that is expected from our heroes. As on \u003ci\u003eBlue Cathedral\u003c\/i\u003e, the diversity of the material is staggering. \u003ci\u003eAvatar \u003c\/i\u003eveers from swinging, bluesy explorations to piano-laced, progressive power balladry, to pure tribalism, evoking everyone from the Allmans, to Quicksilver, to Procol Harum, to some insane Fela\/Sun Ra\/Crazy Horse hybrid, yet remains wholly Comets on Fire. Though they play cleaner and clearer, their firepower is evident and abundant. They have shifted gears and opened themselves up completely. You should do the same.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Comets on Fire","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826134859872,"sku":"707041","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826134892640,"sku":"707042","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556522537056,"sku":"707046","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/2729.jpg?v=1581642642"},{"product_id":"the-helio-sequence_keep-your-eyes-ahead-deluxe-edition","title":"Keep Your Eyes Ahead (Deluxe Edition)","description":"\u003cdiv\u003eThis reissue celebrates the tenth anniversary of The Helio Sequence’s landmark album \u003ci\u003eKeep Your Eyes Ahead\u003c\/i\u003e with a full remaster of the original album, plus a second album of demos, alternate versions, and outtakes from the same era.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter 3 albums and ten years of touring and recording, The Helio Sequence (Brandon Summers and Benjamin Weikel) recorded their most dynamic, extraordinary album, \u003ci\u003eKeep Your Eyes Ahead\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003ci\u003eKeep Your Eyes Ahead\u003c\/i\u003e married the Portland duo’s signature layered keyboards and impossibly big guitars with crisp songwriting and a relatively minimalist approach. The finger picking on “Shed Your Love” is backed by exquisite strings and ambient noise, but Summers’ serene, self-assured delivery remains front and center. While songs from the band’s early releases spanned up to 7 minutes, even the longest, lushest, catchiest track on \u003ci\u003eKeep Your Eyes Ahead\u003c\/i\u003e (fiery anthem “Hallelujah”) clocks in at 4 and a half minutes, evidence of just how refined their craft had become. Vocals were recorded spontaneously in bedroom closets and living rooms, which may explain the haunting urgency you hear in Brandon’s voice, especially on the driving title track.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProduced by the band, \u003ci\u003eKeep Your Eyes Ahead\u003c\/i\u003e confirms in The Helio Sequence an energy and a range that continues to defy narrow categorization. Unapologetic pop and folk meld seamlessly to create songs that are bigger, more epic and polished than anything they’ve ever done. \u003ci\u003eKeep Your Eyes Ahead\u003c\/i\u003e is the sound of a band and a decade-old partnership that’s been invigorated. And that’s exactly how the songs will make you feel: invigorated.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Helio Sequence","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826135187552,"sku":"712731","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826135220320,"sku":"712732","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556520177760,"sku":"712736","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/theheliosequence-kyea-deluxe-cover-3000x3000.jpg?v=1581642651"},{"product_id":"mudhoney_let-it-slide","title":"Let It Slide","description":"\u003cp\u003eMade in Germany –  some on clear chartreuse vinyl.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mudhoney","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826135285856,"sku":"700952","price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/137.gif?v=1581642653"},{"product_id":"comets-on-fire_blue-cathedral","title":"Blue Cathedral","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eBlue Cathedral\u003c\/i\u003e is the third album from Comets on Fire and their first for Sub Pop. It is also the Bay area band’s most varied and richly textured album yet. With their first two albums, (2001’s self-titled debut\/self-released and 2002’s \u003ci\u003eField Recordings from the Sun \u003c\/i\u003eon Ba Da Bing!) they established themselves as flag-bearers of modern psychedelia. However, where their previous efforts are full-tilt psychedelic affairs, \u003ci\u003eBlue Cathedral\u003c\/i\u003e is harder to pin down (which elusiveness we heartily support). Their trademark sound is here enriched by more structured, keyboard-driven jams, churning Blue Oyster Cult-ish chooglers and slow burners reminiscent of Harvest-era Pink Floyd. They recently opened a string of dates for Sonic Youth and have also played shows with Rocket From The Tombs, Dead Meadow \u003cspan class=\"caps\"\u003eAND\u003c\/span\u003e Dead Moon, Sunburned Hand of the Man and more. They also made a \u003cspan class=\"caps\"\u003eBIG\u003c\/span\u003e fan outta Lord Head on High, Julian Cope, who said of them: “Comets on Fire deserve our gratitude…for their distillation of all the best rock riffs since High Rise’s take on Blue Cheer…” Naturally, we agree.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Comets on Fire","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826135613536,"sku":"706471","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826135646304,"sku":"706472","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556514377824,"sku":"706476","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/1954.jpg?v=1581642661"},{"product_id":"swan-lake_beast-moans","title":"Beast Moans","description":"","brand":"Swan Lake","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826137776224,"sku":"40655962","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/2916.jpg?v=1581642700"},{"product_id":"eric-matthews_the-lateness-of-the-hour","title":"The Lateness of the Hour","description":"","brand":"Eric Matthews","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826137841760,"sku":"704041","price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556513362016,"sku":"704046","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/2114.jpg?v=1581642703"},{"product_id":"male-bonding_nothing-hurts","title":"Nothing Hurts","description":"\u003cp\u003eEmerging from the fertile D.I.Y. rock scene in Dalston, a gentrification-proof London neighborhood with ample “lo-fi” bands and Turkish restaurants, noise-pop trio \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/male_bonding\"\u003eMale Bonding\u003c\/a\u003e plays fast. \u003ccite\u003eNothing Hurts\u003c\/cite\u003e, the band’s first full-length, gets it done in half an hour, and most songs clock in at around two minutes. But, there’s much more to Male Bonding than high-speed, high-impact punk. If you will know their velocity, you will remember their melodies. Every song on \u003ccite\u003eNothing Hurts\u003c\/cite\u003e, whether a clipped, snarling rock anthem (“All Things This Way,” “Crooked Scene,” “Pumpkin”) or something more foggy and contemplative (“Franklin,” “Worse to Come”), carries a hook that’s immediate and permanent. \u003ccite\u003eNothing Hurts\u003c\/cite\u003e was recorded in the fall of 2009 in New York and mixed and mastered by Pete Lyman at Infrasonic Sound.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Male Bonding","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826138693728,"sku":"708541","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826138726496,"sku":"708542","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556508807264,"sku":"708546","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/6473.jpg?v=1581642723"},{"product_id":"the-helio-sequence_keep-your-eyes-ahead","title":"Keep Your Eyes Ahead","description":"\u003cp\u003eAfter 3 albums and ten years of touring and recording, \u003ca title=\"Link: http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/the_helio_sequence\" href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/the_helio_sequence\"\u003eThe Helio Sequence\u003c\/a\u003e (Brandon Summers and Benjamin Weikel) have recorded their most dynamic, extraordinary work to date. \u003ccite\u003eKeep Your Eyes Ahead\u003c\/cite\u003e marries the Portland duo’s signature layered keyboards and impossibly big guitars with crisp songwriting and a newfound appreciation for minimalism. The finger picking on “Shed Your Love” is backed by exquisite strings and ambient noise, but Brandon’s serene, self-assured delivery remains front and center. While songs from the band’s early releases spanned up to 7 minutes, even the longest, lushest, catchiest track on \u003ccite\u003eKeep Your Eyes Ahead\u003c\/cite\u003e (fiery anthem “Hallelujah”) clocks in at 4 and a half minutes, evidence of just how refined their craft has become. Vocals were recorded spontaneously in bedroom closets and living rooms, which may explain the haunting urgency you hear in Brandon’s voice, especially on driving tracks like “Keep Your Eyes Ahead.” The band also took its time on the album. After the bulk of official recording was completed, a listen through all the demos and snippets on Brandon’s hard drive convinced Benjamin there were more gems in the rough (which is how both “Hallelujah” and “Keep Your Eyes Ahead,” as well as the mid-tempo “Back to This” were rediscovered and retooled).\u003c\/p\u003e\r\u003cp\u003eProduced by the band, \u003ccite\u003eKeep Your Eyes Ahead\u003c\/cite\u003e confirms in The Helio Sequence an energy and a range that continues to defy narrow categorization. Unapologetic pop and folk meld seamlessly to create songs that are bigger, more epic and polished than anything they’ve ever done. \u003ccite\u003eKeep Your Eyes Ahead\u003c\/cite\u003e is the sound of a band and a decade-old partnership that’s been invigorated. And that’s exactly how the songs will make you feel: invigorated.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Helio Sequence","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826138955872,"sku":"707091","price":14.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826138988640,"sku":"707092","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556519784544,"sku":"707096","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/3764.jpg?v=1581642734"},{"product_id":"beachwood-sparks_by-your-side","title":"By Your Side","description":"\u003cp\u003eUK single with a cover of Sades By Your Side.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Beachwood Sparks","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826139218016,"sku":"40503992","price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/1273.gif?v=1581642739"},{"product_id":"metz_strange-peace","title":"Strange Peace","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e*Loser edition LP is sold out. Black vinyl now shipping.\u003c\/b\u003e (10:56 am, 9\/25\/17)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSince releasing their \u003ca title=\"Link: http:\/\/https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/metz\/metz\" href=\"http:\/\/https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/metz\/metz\"\u003eself-titled debut\u003c\/a\u003e record in 2012, which The New Yorker called, “One of the year’s best albums...a punishing, noisy, exhilarating thing,” the Toronto-based 3-piece \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/metz\"\u003eMETZ\u003c\/a\u003e have garnered international acclaim as one of the most electrifying and forceful live acts, touring widely and extensively, playing hundreds of shows each year around the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow, Alex Edkins (guitar, vocals), along with Hayden Menzies (drums), and Chris Slorach (bass) are set to unleash their highly-anticipated third full-length album,\u003ci\u003e Strange Peace\u003c\/i\u003e, an emphatic but artful hammer swing to the status quo.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The best punk isn't an assault as much as it's a challenge — to what's normal, to what's comfortable, or simply to what's expected. Teetering on the edge of perpetual implosion,” NPR wrote in their glowing review of METZ’s 2015 second album, \u003ca title=\"Link: https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/metz\/ii\" href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/metz\/ii\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eII\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eStrange Peace\u003c\/i\u003e was recorded in Chicago, live off the floor to tape with Steve Albini. The result is a distinct artistic maturation into new and alarming territory, frantically pushing past where the band has gone before, while capturing the notorious intensity of their live show. The trio continued to assemble the album (including home recordings, additional instrumentation) in their hometown, adding the finishing touches with longtime collaborator, engineer and mixer, Graham Walsh.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eStrange Peace\u003c\/i\u003e isn’t merely a collection of eleven uninhibited and urgent songs. It’s also a kind of sonic venting, a truculent social commentary that bludgeons and provokes, excites and unsettles. With all the pleasurable tension and anxiety of a fever dream, \u003ci\u003eStrange Peace\u003c\/i\u003e is equal parts- challenging and accessible. It is this implausible balancing act, moving from one end of the musical spectrum to the other, that only a band of METZ’s power and capacity can maintain: discordant and melodic, powerful and controlled, meticulous and instinctive, subtle and complex, precise and reckless, wholehearted and merciless, brutal and optimistic, terrifying and fun.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Their whiplash of distortion is made with precision, a contained chaos. But you would never talk about them like that. Because METZ are not something you study or analyze,” wrote Liisa Ladouceur in Exclaim! “They are something you feel: a transfer of energy, pure and simple.” In other words: to feel something, fiercely and intensely, but together, not alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"METZ","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826139545696,"sku":"711991","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":32611832758368,"sku":"711992","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826139611232,"sku":"711994","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556513493088,"sku":"711996","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/metz-strangepeace-3000.jpg?v=1581642753"},{"product_id":"ian-sweet_crush-crusher","title":"Crush Crusher","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn writing \u003ci\u003eCrush Crusher\u003c\/i\u003e, Medford committed herself to exploring her own issues with self-image, self-respect\/worth, and the responsibility she has felt to others. Album opener “Hiding” was one of the first songs she wrote for the record while living in a frigid Brooklyn apartment during a winter break amidst her grueling tour schedule. In the song, Medford reflects on an interpersonal relationship that fell apart because of an inability to feel supreme comfort in sharing all the pieces of herself with someone. Nevertheless, a hopeful demeanor shines through on “Hiding” and in her writing across the album, with lyrics that embrace life’s hurdles and make them feel a little less scary.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMuch of \u003ci\u003eCrush Crusher's\u003c\/i\u003e songs deal with Medford’s internalized pressure to become a caretaker in many of her close friends’ lives. As a defense mechanism for her own insecurities, Medford projects a sense of invincibility and benevolence to feel more deserving of the love received from others; we hear this on “Holographic Jesus” when she repeats the phrase “the sun built me to shade everybody,” characterizing the sacrifice and responsibility she feels in ways that could easily go unnoticed. “Holographic Jesus” ultimately represents a façade of strength that Medford has clung onto and, in true Taurus fashion, is stubborn to let go of.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMusically, \u003ci\u003eCrush Crusher\u003c\/i\u003e is full of dissonant open chords and abnormal progressions, finding beauty in a level of conflict not seen on \u003ci\u003e\u003ca title=\"Link: https:\/\/www.hardlyart.com\/releases\/ian_sweet\/shapeshifter\" href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/ian_sweet\/shapeshifter\"\u003eShapeshifter\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e. To help achieve this expansive-but-focused sound, Medford enlisted the help of someone who was just as ambitiously experimental in their approach, producer and engineer Gabe Wax (Deerhunter, The War on Drugs, Soccer Mommy). Medford and Wax set up shop at Rare Book Room studios in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and completed the basic tracking with musicians Simon Hanes on bass and Max Almario on drums. “Coming into a space where some of my biggest inspirations like Bjork, Dirty Projectors, and Deerhunter had all once also recorded, I felt determined to push myself and test every boundary that I may have subconsciously created along the way. Gabe made me feel comfortable with attempting anything,” Medford says. By the end of the recording process, IAN SWEET wound up with an unconventional assortment of songs featuring disparate elements of psych- rock, trip-hop, and shoegaze that together forged a sound uniquely her own.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"IAN SWEET","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826139676768,"sku":"731101","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826139709536,"sku":"731102","price":13.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826139742304,"sku":"731104","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556522274912,"sku":"731106","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/iansweet-crushcrusher-cover-3600x3600.jpg?v=1581642765"},{"product_id":"wolf-parade_expo-86","title":"EXPO 86","description":"\u003cp\u003eRecorded and mixed at \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.hotel2tango.com\/\"\u003eHotel2Tango\u003c\/a\u003e, with Howard Bilerman, in late February and early March of 2010, \u003ccite\u003e\u003cspan class=\"caps\"\u003eEXPO\u003c\/span\u003e 86\u003c\/cite\u003e is the name of the third album by Montreal’s \u003ca title=\"Link: http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/wolf_parade\/\" href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/wolf_parade\/\"\u003eWolf Parade\u003c\/a\u003e. \u003ccite\u003e\u003cspan class=\"caps\"\u003eEXPO\u003c\/span\u003e 86\u003c\/cite\u003e follows the band’s 2008 album \u003ca title=\"Link: http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/releases\/wolf_parade\/full_lengths\/at_mount_zoomer\/\" href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/releases\/wolf_parade\/full_lengths\/at_mount_zoomer\/\"\u003e\u003ccite\u003eAt Mount Zoomer\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e, which itself followed their 2005 debut, \u003ca title=\"Link: http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/releases\/wolf_parade\/full_lengths\/apologies_to_the_queen_mary\/\" href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/releases\/wolf_parade\/full_lengths\/apologies_to_the_queen_mary\/\"\u003e\u003ccite\u003eApologies to the Queen Mary\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrike\u003e\u003cb\u003eIf you pre-order \u003ccite\u003e\u003cspan class=\"caps\"\u003eEXPO\u003c\/span\u003e 86\u003c\/cite\u003e by June 29th and are among the first 600 people to do so, you will receive a free limited edition set of two magnets featuring artwork from the new album.  We’re talking top quality, strikingly handsome magnets—your fridge is gonna be stoked!\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/strike\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wolf Parade","offers":[{"title":"2xLP","offer_id":31826140201056,"sku":"708701","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826140233824,"sku":"708702","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556526403680,"sku":"708706","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/6887.jpg?v=1581642787"},{"product_id":"the-ruby-suns_sea-lion","title":"Sea Lion","description":"\u003cp\u003eNew Zealand’s \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/the_ruby_suns\"\u003eThe Ruby Suns\u003c\/a\u003e formed in Auckland in 2004, under the somewhat longer and inarguably more rhyming name Ryan McPhun and The Ruby Suns. The band is now shortly, sweetly and simply called The Ruby Suns, and principal Ruby Sun Ryan McPhun is currently and ably abetted by Amee Robinson and Imogen Taylor. Although New Zealand is somewhat isolated in the southern most part of the Pacific Ocean, Ryan has remained true to his buccaneer instinct. He and his Dictaphone (portable tape recorder) have ventured into the wilds of Africa, the ancient monasteries of Thailand, and the haunting landscapes that surround his everyday. Recorded almost entirely in McPhun’s basement, \u003ccite\u003eSea Lion\u003c\/cite\u003e’s melodic musings found inspiration in the natural world and his travels within it. “Tane Mahuta,” sung entirely in Māori, is an indigenous-sounding ode to the great Waipoua forest near Auckland and “Adventure Tour” tells a tale of a memorable drive through New Zealand’s South Island. An African influence also exerts a strong presence in the album (“Kenya Dig It?” being the most obvious). Not only was he struck by the people (“Ole Rinka” is about a man he met in the Maasai Mara National Reserve), but he was also enamored of the music, especially Kenyan traditional music and modern day hip-hop. The depth and breadth of the Ruby Suns’ songs has, no surprise, grown dramatically since their 2005 self-titled debut. The epic \u003ccite\u003eSea Lion\u003c\/cite\u003e was intended to be a world music album, but reverb and psychedelic pop crept in to create a unique mixture of exotic sounds, accomplished with an impressive array of instruments—from steel-string ukulele to djembe drums to pots and pans, all set upon a cozy cushion of synths and cassette samples.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align:right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.thefader.com\/articles\/2008\/1\/29\/audio-q-a-the-ruby-suns-kenya-dig-it\"\u003eQ\u0026amp;A with The Ruby Suns in The Fader\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/drownedinsound.com\/release\/view\/12468\"\u003eDrowned in Sound review of \u003ccite\u003eSea Lion\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.pitchforkmedia.com\/article\/record_review\/48959-sea-lion\"\u003ePitchfork ‘Best New Music’ review of \u003ccite\u003eSea Lion\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Ruby Suns","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826140332128,"sku":"707662","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556522373216,"sku":"707666","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/4029.jpg?v=1581642791"},{"product_id":"husky_forever-so","title":"Forever So","description":"\u003cp\u003eYou probably haven’t heard of Husky before now. That’s because compared to most musicians in this era of uninterrupted connectivity and non-stop self-promotion, the Australian quartet might as well have crafted their debut full-length atop the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas. With its warm, acoustic timbres and carefully crafted songs, \u003ccite\u003eForever So\u003c\/cite\u003e is the sound of a band that from its inception cared more about making one sublime album than acquiring a million followers on Twitter.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\u003cp\u003eHusky is front man Husky Gawenda and keyboard player Gideon Preiss — cousins who grew up together — plus bassist Evan Tweedie and drummer Luke Collins. Though the four band members have disparate tastes, their shared passion for classic sounds, rich harmonies, and artful songwriting points back to the artists they grew up on: Crosby Stills \u0026amp; Nash, Bob Dylan, the Doors, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, the Beach Boys. After playing separately in small local bands, the foursome began playing as Husky in late 2008. In a junk-filled bungalow behind Gawenda’s rented house, using borrowed equipment and siphoned electricity, they cobbled together a studio. They used every corner of the little cottage – bathroom, kitchen, corridors – to preserve the vibe of that unique time and place and give instruments and voices room to breathe, echo and resonate. \u003ccite\u003eForever So\u003c\/cite\u003e is a fullly-realized album that holds up start-to-finish, from catchy opener “Tidal Wave,” with its hum-along harmonies and surprise psychedelic midsection, to the understated, intertwined brass parts that conclude “Farewell (in 3 Parts).”\u003c\/p\u003e\r\u003cp\u003eHusky took their recordings to Los Angeles to be mixed by Noah Georgeson (Devandra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, The Strokes). Shortly after completion, the band entered the track “History’s Door” into a contest conducted by Australia’s Triple J radio network to find the nation’s next great-unsigned band — and won! Before they even had a manager, Husky’s finely-wrought music was being promoted from coast to coast.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\u003cp\u003eAnd now you’ve heard about Husky. 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McPhun possesses (or is possessed by…) a voracious musical mind and this new album is the kind of head-spinning combination of big-picture vision and sumptuous detail that only comes from an artist with an urgent need to express all the stuff he’s seen. And you can dance to it! \u003ccite\u003eFight Softly\u003c\/cite\u003e veers from the path set by its predecessor, the 2008 release \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/catalog\/artists\/the_ruby_suns\/full_lengths\/sea_lion\/\"\u003e\u003ccite\u003eSea Lion\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e. Thematically, it’s not as wide-eyed or lighthearted, picking apart the relationships faced as we pass through the world—-with our surroundings, each other, ourselves. Sonically, it remains as beat-centric, though these beats are deliciously artificial—-stretched and compacted and distorted beyond recognition. Melodies are scuzzy and digital, no guitars strummed or basses plucked. 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Rather than an album of clearly-drawn influences, \u003ccite\u003eFight Softly\u003c\/cite\u003e is a unique, inscrutable synthesis, more itself than anything else.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Ruby Suns","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826140758112,"sku":"708631","price":14.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826140790880,"sku":"708632","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556510904416,"sku":"708636","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/6232.jpg?v=1581642818"},{"product_id":"butterfly-train_distorted-retarded","title":"Distorted, Retarded","description":"","brand":"Butterfly Train","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826140921952,"sku":"800212","price":11.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556517130336,"sku":"800216","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/1297.gif?v=1581642835"},{"product_id":"tacocat_this-mess-is-a-place","title":"This Mess Is a Place","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen Seattle band \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/artists\/tacocat\"\u003eTacocat\u003c\/a\u003e—vocalist Emily Nokes, bassist Bree McKenna, guitarist Eric Randall, and drummer Lelah Maupin—first started in 2007, the world they were responding to was vastly different from the current Seattle scene of diverse voices they’ve helped foster. It was a world of house shows, booking DIY tours on MySpace, and writing funny, deliriously catchy feminist pop-punk songs when feminism was the quickest way to alienate yourself from the then-en vogue garage-rock bros. Their lyrical honesty, humor, and hit-making sensibilities have built the band a fiercely devoted fanbase over the years, one that has followed them from basements to dive bars to sold-out shows at the Showbox. Every step along the way has been a seamless progression—from silly songs about Tonya Harding and psychic cats to calling out catcallers and poking fun at entitled weekend-warrior tech jerks on their last two records on Hardly Art, 2014’s \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/tacocat\/nvm\"\u003eNVM\u003c\/a\u003e and 2016’s \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/tacocat\/lost_time\"\u003eLost Time\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis Mess is a Place, Tacocat’s fourth full-length and first on Sub Pop, finds the band waking up the morning after the 2016 election and figuring out how to respond to a new reality where evil isn’t hiding under the surface at all—it’s front and center, with new tragedies and civil rights assaults filling up the scroll of the newsfeed every day. “What a time to be barely alive,” laments “Crystal Ball,” a gem that examines the more intimate side of responding emotionally to the news cycle. How do you keep fighting when all you want to do is stay in bed all day? “Stupid computer stupor\/Oh my kingdom for some better ads,” Nokes sings, throwing in some classic Tacocat snark, “Truth spread so thin\/It stops existing.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDespite current realities being depressing enough to make anyone want to crawl under the covers and sleep for a thousand years, Tacocat are doing what they’ve always done so well: mingling brightness, energy, and hope with political critique. This Mess is a Place is charged with a hopefulness that stands in stark contrast to music that celebrates apathy, despair, and numbness. Tacocat feels it all and cares, a lot, whether they’re singing odes to the magical connections we feel with our pets (“Little Friend”), imagining what a better earth might look like (“New World”), or trying to find humor in a wholly unfunny world (“The Joke of Life”).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThroughout the album, Tacocat questions power structures and the way we interact with them, recalling the feminist sci-fi of Ursula K. Le Guin in pop-music form. “Rose-Colored Sky” examines the privilege of people who have been able to skate through life without ever experiencing systemic disadvantage: “For all the years spent\/Hot lava shaping me\/For all the arguments\/I wonder who else would I be?” Nokes sings. “If I wasn’t on the battleground\/I bet I could’ve gone to space by now.” “Hologram” reminds us to step outside ourselves and try to see beyond imaginary structures that trap us: “Just close your eyes and think about the Milky Way\/Just remember if you can, power is a hologram.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe record is full of beautiful details, finding plastic beaded curtains catching light amidst feelings of despair. This Mess is A Place explores politics with more nuance than the topical songs of Tacocat’s past, inviting listeners in for more complicated exchanges and leaving space for introspection. “Grains of Salt” finds the band at the best they’ve ever sounded: Maupin’s spirited drums, McKenna’s bouncy walking bass, Randall’s catchy guitar and Nokes’ soaring melody combine to create a bonafide roller-rink hit that reminds us that it just takes some time, we’re in the middle of the ride, and to live for what matters to you. It’s a delightfully cathartic moment and the cornerstone of the record when they exclaim: “Don’t forget to remember who the fuck you are!”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan id=\"docs-internal-guid-7da06be3-7fff-d2bb-58a7-4690f1ef0b46\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eProducer Erik Blood (who also produced Lost Time) brings the band into their full pop potential but still preserves what makes Tacocat so special: they’re four friends who met as young punks and have grown together into a truly collaborative band. 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(7\/20\/16- 5:11pm PST)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe invocation of classic west coast psychedelia that permeates Morgan Delt's Sub Pop debut LP feels like a continuous sunrise, never concealing its influences yet perfectly putting its songs through a gauzy lens that blurs and obscures. Is such a thing even possible after witnessing umpteen reverb-jockeys creating their own take on the genre? Can anything truly different be done in the realm of being both original and reverent, wearing favorite records and artists' moves on one's sleeve? Definitely the case with our man here. After releasing a 6-song cassette in 2013 followed by a full length for the Trouble In Mind label, the California native now fine-tunes his sound world outwardly rather than honing in on a specific trajectory, allowing all of said influences to coexist together in a unique yet undoubtedly Californian vision.\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe resulting 10-song collection, performed entirely by Delt, recorded in his Topanga Canyon studio, and mastered by JJ Golden, is a home-fi construction with a more subtle, brain-tickling character than its predecessor, and somewhat reflects a realist take on the flower power fantasy of 1967. Doused in echo and haze, slow chords lap in like Pacific waves, flanked by gentle whispers of multi-tracked, cooing vox, phased guitars and fuzz that calmly surrounds the listener's head less than it jabs at the cortex. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe great thing about Delt's approach to such history is (and sorry to sound harsh) that unlike too many of his so-called L.A. psych-rock peers, there's no costume involved, no application of a conjured identity to match a specific image. He's no psychedelic Civil War re-enactor, so to speak. 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Black vinyl shipping now. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the 4 days it took to record the new record, The Thermals and producer Chris Walla worked in tandem to create what is the perfect follow-up to the chaotic pop madness of their 2003 debut, More Parts Per Million. Fuckin A is another twenty-eight minute triumph for The Thermals — screaming, piercing, as painful and discordant as it is joyous and melodic. Every track is pushed deep into the red, wrapped in a thick sheet of distortion, and served on a tattered blanket of very questionable fidelity. In other words, The Thermals are still The Thermals. 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