{"title":"LPSALE","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-lp-loser-01.jpg?v=1581642338"},{"product_id":"deaf-wish_lithium-zion","title":"Lithium Zion","description":"\u003cp\u003eThere’s an inherent flaw in the perennially alternating “rock is back” and “rock is dead” arguments: they are based on the idea that rock music is a logic-based choice a person consciously chooses to make. Contrary to the critics who are looking to suss out cultural trends and movements, the decision to play loud, distorted, unabashed guitar-rock isn’t a strategic move but a higher calling (or curse, depending on one’s point of view). Some might say the pursuit of rocking out via deafening amplifiers, crusty drums and a beer-battered PA is a spiritual one, an affliction that either strikes or doesn’t. Few groups today embody this sentiment like Melbourne’s aptly-named \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/artists\/deaf_wish\"\u003eDeaf Wish\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey’re more likely to ask a fellow musician what they do for their “real” job (for one, guitarist Jensen Tjhung works as a builder) than talk shop about publicists, ticket counts and online promotions. They’re a grisly rock group and they’ve already signed to Sub Pop, which is to say they’ve already succeeded beyond their wildest dreams, so anything that comes after (performing in strange new cities, 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) is a bonus. And if they come to your town, you would be wise to clear your calendar.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLithium Zion\u003c\/i\u003e is their fifth full-length album (and second for Sub Pop following 2015’s Pain), and, while it’s a rare case that a group’s fifth album is their best, it may in fact be Deaf Wish’s finest. Their previous albums were recorded in makeshift studios - a wise choice for capturing the hazardous riffing, chemically-stained vocals and fiery rhythms conjured by a group such as this - but this step toward a slightly more professional sound only enhances their power. The record opens with “Easy”, a languid rocker in the rich Australian tradition of groups like X and The Scientists. From there it’s onto “FFS”, a moody downhill rocker sung by guitarist Sarah Hardiman that confirms Deaf Wish’s relation to fellow Sub Pop employees like feedtime and Hot Snakes. “The Rat Is Back” is tense and epic; “Hitachi Jackhammer” pays a brief and noisy tribute to Hitachi’s second most notable device (you’d be forgiven for assuming this song is about vibrators). \u003ci\u003eLithium Zion\u003c\/i\u003e is a veritable buffet of garage-punk energy, post-punk pathos, sardonic wit and the fearlessness that comes with Aussie rock, a natural consequence for anyone living on a continent teeming with grapefruit-sized spiders and man-eating mosquito swarms.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs has always been the case, the whole group shares vocal duties, even drummer Daniel Twomey (you know the band is slightly unhinged if they’re letting the drummer sing). Hardiman and Tjhung are as ragged and hairy as ever, chugging along as though krautrock was trying to speed past the late ‘70s but got caught in the sticky grasp of punk. Such is the way of Deaf Wish, a group destined to write songs that are simultaneously stupid and sublime, vulnerable and ferocious, and play them with the unbridled intensity they demand. Anyone serving a life sentence to rock will surely concur.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\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-lp-loser.jpg?v=1581642420"},{"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":false},{"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-loserlp-mm.jpg?v=1581642481"},{"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\n\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\n\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\n\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\n\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\n\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\n\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\n\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\n\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\n\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\n\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. 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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-lp-black.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-lp-black-01.jpg?v=1581642532"},{"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\/thegotobeds-bloodsugarsecstraffic-lp-black-01.jpg?v=1581642566"},{"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-lp-loser.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":"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-lp-loser.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\/afghanwhigs-upinit-loserlp-mm.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-lp-loser-01.jpg?v=1581642617"},{"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\n\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\n\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\/crush-crusher-lp-cover-square.png?v=1581642765"},{"product_id":"the-ruby-suns_fight-softly","title":"Fight Softly","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe prime mover of \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/the_ruby_suns\/\"\u003eThe Ruby Suns\u003c\/a\u003e, Ryan McPhun has literally traveled around the world to arrive at \u003ccite\u003eFight Softly\u003c\/cite\u003e, the band’s 2nd album for Sub Pop, and 3rd overall. 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. McPhun’s soulful upper-register croon, swallowed into the mix, replaces group chants and full-throated singalongs. 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":"perfect-son_cast","title":"Cast","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSometime in 2016, just as the Polish singer and producer Tobiasz Biliński began to find success through the dim and fractured electropop of Coldair, he knew it was time for a radical change. The songs on \u003ci\u003eThe Provider\u003c\/i\u003e, Coldair’s much-lauded second album, had been an exorcism of sorts. Laced with songs about early death, chronic disappointment, and clouded minds, the record was, as he puts it now, his earnest attempt to “get all this old shit out.” That mission accomplished, he needed something new, a restart—the unabashedly radiant and unapologetically complex pop of Perfect Son, delivered in 10 perfect shots on Biliński’s Sub Pop debut, \u003ci\u003eCast\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn the past, Biliński’s music has flirted with and explored the darkness, first in a sort of Transatlantic freak-folk and then with the gothic refractions of Coldair. But on \u003ci\u003eCast\u003c\/i\u003e, Perfect Son steps boldly into the light without sloughing off emotional weight or depth. With powerful, sweeping production that recalls the best pop beats of Matthew Dear and arcing melodies that conjure the majesty of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/search\/results?utf8=%E2%9C%93\u0026amp;query=shearwater\"\u003eShearwater\u003c\/a\u003e, Perfect Son animates sensations of lust, belonging, and newfound trust with tumescent electronic arrangements that threaten the safety of any sound system. Biliński sings about falls throughout \u003ci\u003eCast\u003c\/i\u003e, but also about picking yourself back up, about pressing on despite or perhaps because of the bruises. In the process, he is lifted by music that feels unabashedly motivational, built to remind us that the best times are hopefully to come.\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003ePerfect Son, it should be said, is Sub Pop’s first Polish artist, the result of an extended interest in Biliński’s work and the country itself from label co-founder Jonathan Poneman. Several years ago, Biliński applied to play at South by Southwest as Coldair.  Poneman saw his performance, and was impressed. The two stayed in touch, with Poneman eventually signing Coldair to a publishing deal. “I bugged him about releasing my stuff constantly,” Biliński admits with a laugh. “And I guess he admired my persistence.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhen \u003ci\u003eCast \u003c\/i\u003ewas finally finished, Poneman didn’t need more convincing. These songs, after all, are magnetic, with the searching harmonies and deep drums of “Promises” and the rhythmic intricacy and serial synths of “Wax” pulling you close on first listen and holding you there for the foreseeable future. These songs and this story are about the power of human perseverance and deliberate reinvention, of knowing that you can confront and come to terms with the darkest angels of your being. \u003ci\u003eCast \u003c\/i\u003eis a testament to the possibilities of the future, brilliantly disguised as 10 grandiose and undeniable pop anthems.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Perfect Son","offers":[{"title":"Loser (color) LP","offer_id":32668242313312,"sku":"712840","price":8.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":32611886039136,"sku":"712841","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826146230368,"sku":"712842","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556512608352,"sku":"712846","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/perfectson-cast-lp-loser-01-1500x1500.jpg?v=1581642994"},{"product_id":"the-homesick_the-big-exercise","title":"The Big Exercise","description":"\u003cp\u003eIf their debut Youth Hunt marked The Homesick’s tryst with faith and pastoral life, the band’s upcoming second album The Big Exercise brings them to more grounded, tangible pastures. With its title ripped from a passage in the Scott Walker-biography Deep Shade Of Blue, the record is a concentrated effort by Jaap van der Velde, Erik Woudwijk and Elias Elgersma to explore the physicality of their music in fresh ways. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“When we were on tour in 2018, I bought Meredith Monk’s Dolmen Music in Switzerland,” Van der Velde recalls, “Elias and I have been completely immersed in her music ever since. But also the work of Joan La Barbara for example, who also did things with extended vocal techniques, that was also quite vital to us. We discovered that the human voice offers so many beautiful elements that can still feel very physical and intrusive.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDuring those formative years, the Dutch trio was often typecast as your resident tricksters. Hailing from the backwater Frisian municipality of Dokkum, Van der Velde, Woudwijk and Elgersma shrewdly courted spirituality under their own nonconformist whims, even if that wasn’t immediately obvious to outsiders. For those on the outside looking in, it was hard to tell whether the band was taking the piss or genuinely unraveling themselves as starry-eyed romantics.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Homesick relished and thrived in that very schism on Youth Hunt. When not ruminating on their environment under the guise of Dark Age Christianity, they wrapped their ambivalence into sure-fire pop earworms. Even the album’s production values were undeniably quixotic: the exuberant vocal retorts of Elgersma and Van der Velde drenched in reverb, as warped synths and distorted guitars launched skyward with the glee of a firework spectacle. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs an inverse to that mindset, The Big Exercise finds the band keenly second-guessing their core chemistry as a live unit, imbuing their angular post-punk workouts with baroque elements such as piano, acoustic guitar, percussion, and even clarinet. “It’s the opposite of trying to translate recorded music to the stage,” Elgersma comments. “We were already playing these songs live for quite some time, so for this album, we wanted to unlock the potential of these songs further in the studio.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOpening track “What’s In Store” was in part inspired by Van der Velde’s unprompted deep dive into the world of National Anthems, making his own attempt to conjure a similarly timeless melody. The song seamlessly bleeds into the chivalrous prance of  “Children’s Day” and the fragmented “Pawing,” righteously encouraging Erik Woudwijk’s nimble, cerebral drumming to become the band’s driving force. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe headstrong wanderlust of The Big Exercise is very fitting, given The Homesick’s exodus as a small-town Dutch band ready to trot the world. Contrary to Youth Hunt’s quest for belonging, roots, and provenance, however, the band’s creative trajectory is now dictated by a sense of otherness and imagination. The sharp contrasts are nevertheless ever-present; the music’s new sonorous depth is underpinned by wry meditations on family ties, alternate realities, and commonplace encounters. As the band’s chief lyricists, Elgersma and Van der Velde deliberately keep each other in the dark, allowing the syntax of words and music to entangle in surprising – sometimes delightfully absurd – ways.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I Celebrate My Fantasy,” for example, summons a mirage of creeping pianos, sylvan clarinet flourishes and cartoonish sprawls with mock-paranoia, as Elgersma documents a macabre vision he had during a mild case of sleep paralysis. True to the band’s method of holding the more mundane, fleeting moments under a magnifying glass, capricious closing track “Male Bonding” pulls a wide range of movements out of the top hat: the album’s rare heavy burst is promptly mediated by almost medieval-sounding prog rock-flirtations. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith aplomb, The Homesick made a record impregnated with impressions which – when superimposed – still fit neatly under the pop umbrella. That obvious nod to Scott Walker isn’t an aberration either: straddling pop sonority and the cacophonous fringes is something well worth aspiring.  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“That’s also a  phenomenal aspect of the position we’re now in as a band,” Van der Velde enthuses. “I consider The Homesick a pop band first and foremost. If you’d introduce a late-era Scott Walker-record to a layman, it would likely fall on flat ears. But put it in the right scene of a good movie, and that person may finally understand its potential. The Homesick is allowed to play around in that pop framework, and the goal is to explore what’s possible within it. You can do super radical and weird things, and at the same time convey it all as straightforward pop music. With this album, I hope people will hear things anew after multiple listens.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Homesick","offers":[{"title":"Loser (color) LP","offer_id":31826244173920,"sku":"713390","price":9.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826244206688,"sku":"713391","price":9.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826244239456,"sku":"713392","price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556525322336,"sku":"713396","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/thehomesick-thebigexercise-lp-loser-01.jpg?v=1581644657"},{"product_id":"whitmer-thomas_songs-from-the-golden-one","title":"Songs from The Golden One","description":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan class=\"track-title\" title=\"Hurts to Be Alive\"\u003eHurts to Be Alive\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan class=\"track-title\" title=\"Dumb in Love\"\u003eDumb in Love\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan class=\"track-title\" title=\"Brother Is Bigger\"\u003eBrother Is Bigger\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan class=\"track-title\" title=\"Partied to Death\"\u003ePartied to Death\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan class=\"track-title\" title=\"The Codependent Enabler\"\u003eThe Codependent Enabler\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan class=\"track-title\" title=\"Eat You Out\"\u003eEat You Out\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan class=\"track-title\" title=\"Dancing with My Dad\"\u003eDancing with My Dad\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan class=\"track-title\" title=\"Hopes and Dreams\"\u003eHopes and Dreams\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan class=\"track-title\" title=\"The Golden One\"\u003eThe Golden One\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan class=\"track-title\" title=\"He's Hot\"\u003eHe's Hot\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e","brand":"Whitmer Thomas","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826250367072,"sku":"731221","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826250399840,"sku":"731222","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556517425248,"sku":"731226","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/whitmerthomas-lp.jpg?v=1581644745"},{"product_id":"dude-york_falling","title":"Falling","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“There are two ways things can fall,” says Dude York’s Claire England. “They can fall and be ruined, or they can fall gently like a feather and be fine.” On \u003ci\u003eFalling\u003c\/i\u003e, their second full-length for Hardly Art, the Seattle trio explores that sentiment—evoked by the broken cake on the album cover and the soft confetti on the inside sleeve—through impossibly catchy and emotive songs that investigate the ways you can fall in and out of relationships, and sometimes fall back together.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eRecorded at Different Fur Studios in San Francisco with producer Patrick Brown, \u003ci\u003eFalling\u003c\/i\u003e finds Dude York sounding bigger and more fully-realized than ever with hits that would feel perfectly at home sandwiched between Jimmy Eat World and Third Eye Blind in early 2000s alt-rock radio rotation, while somehow still sounding utterly their own. Peter Richards (guitar) and England (bass) share equal songwriting and lead vocal duties on this record, a significant change from their previous album, 2017’s \u003ci\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/dude_york\/sincerely\"\u003eSincerely\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e, on which England fronted only two songs. The duality of their songwriting and vocals compliment each other emotionally and sonically, with Andrew Hall’s harmonies and driving drums providing their own unique character in each song. The collaboration is clear—each part is carefully crafted, with Richards’ guitar adding texture to the verses and then soaring into the particularly special kind of guitar solos that make you want to sing along.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eA line of nostalgia runs through the record as the songs investigate the deep ties we have to the pop culture that defined our youth. “I grew up listening to all this pop-punk and alt-rock that was mostly male-fronted, but I want to fill that hole I saw by recreating it now for myself,” says England. “I’m trying to capture the feeling of the music I listened to when I fell in love with music.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe title track is a gleeful ode to new, unexpected love where all the details matter. “We used to like all the same shit\/do you think we’d be friends in 2006?” England sings. The track is pure pop gold, with equal parts sweet sentiment and \u003ci\u003eJosie and the Pussycats\u003c\/i\u003e-soundtrack playfulness. “I was starting to think\/That it would be\/When passion lined up with practicality,” England muses on those pesky expectations of love, gleaned from radio songs and rom-coms. “But I secretly hoped when it happened to me there would be no doubt\/It would feel like falling.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eFalling\u003c\/i\u003e is tinged with a sense of longing—whether it’s for the beginnings of a relationship, for the way you thought it was going to be, or simply for the version of a former self you think you remember being. “I feel like a lot of the songs that were reference points consciously or unconsciously for this record dealt with everything very much in black and white, and that really resonates with you when you’re 14,15,16, 17...” explains Hall. “I think people who have nostalgia for those songs are exploring that grey area a little bit more.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eThe delightfully melodramatic “Box” sounds like a lost gem from the NYC early aughts post-punk revival, with Richards’ deep, emotive voice singing playful nods to The Killers and Dashboard Confessional while sneaking in lines of a fallout that cut deep—“Now on your own\/There’s no one left for you to hide from behind your phone”—before soaring into the Cure-like chorus “I’ll never love again.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe production on \u003ci\u003eFalling\u003c\/i\u003e is full of meticulous details and sonic tricks designed to hit that deep teenage place in your heart, whether it’s the dense, chugging guitars or impeccably-placed harmonies. “We all have very different reference points for music and then when we swap them in becomes something totally different,” says Richards. He didn’t grow up as attached to the radio-friendly emo music that defined the adolescence of the rest of the band, but when he got into the genre in the past few years decided he wanted to embrace it in his songwriting, which comes across in the heavy guitars and dramatic arrangements that shine on songs like “How it Goes.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eUltimately, the relationship Dude York is really investigating and playing around with is their relationship to music. By playing with tropes of romantic relationships, Dude York created a record that feels like a love letter to the alternative radio of yesteryear while managing to stay uniquely singular.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e-- Robin Edwards\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dude York","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826272583776,"sku":"731151","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826272616544,"sku":"731152","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826272649312,"sku":"731154","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556526960736,"sku":"731156","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/dudeyork-falling-lp-01.jpg?v=1581645088"},{"product_id":"la-luz_weirdo-shrine","title":"Weirdo Shrine","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn early 2015, La Luz adjourned to a surf shop in San Dimas, California where, with the help of producer-engineer Ty Segall, they realized the vision of capturing the band’s restless  live energy and committing it to tape. \u003cem\u003eWeirdo Shrine\u003c\/em\u003e finds them at their most saturated and cinematic -- the sound of La Luz is (appropriately) vibrant, and alive with a kaleidoscopic passion.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"La Luz","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826280677472,"sku":"730891","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826280710240,"sku":"730892","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556521717856,"sku":"730896","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/unnamed_374c1b6b-1df6-4b0a-9448-529a0d8a03d0.jpg?v=1581645265"},{"product_id":"male-bonding_endless-now","title":"Endless Now","description":"\u003cp\u003eMale Bonding is a noise-pop trio from London’s Dalston neighborhood. \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/releases\/male_bonding\/full_lengths\/nothing_hurts\/\"\u003e\u003ccite\u003eNothing Hurts\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e, the band’s 2010 debut was described by \u003ccite\u003ePitchfork\u003c\/cite\u003e as, “…the sound of a fast, fuzzy rock band racing from hook to hook, plowing happily through breakdowns and guitar blasts, springing through scrappy melodies with style. It’s one of the happiest surprises of the year so far.” This new Male Bonding album, \u003ccite\u003eEndless Now\u003c\/cite\u003e, was recorded at Dreamland Recording Studio in Woodstock, NY, the converted 19th century church that birthed such classics as The B-52s’ “Love Shack” and Dinosaur Jr.’s 1993 full-length \u003ccite\u003eWhere You Been\u003c\/cite\u003e. The band worked with producer John Agnello (Kurt Vile, Thurston Moore, Dinosaur Jr.) installed behind the altar and came up with an album animated by an infectious, evangelical zeal that reflects their roots in the D.I.Y. indie rock community. Eleven tracks—plus a wee reprise—imbued with the fierce urgency of now, and catchy as all get-out, \u003ccite\u003eEndless Now\u003c\/cite\u003e is 36 minutes of songs tailor-made to anchor mix tapes and playlists—if you can stand to separate them from the whole album.\u003c\/p\u003e\r","brand":"Male Bonding","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826289492064,"sku":"709341","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826289524832,"sku":"709342","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556525453408,"sku":"709346","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/10027.jpg?v=1581645413"},{"product_id":"grand-archives_keep-in-mind-frankenstein","title":"Keep in Mind Frankenstein","description":"\u003cp\u003eGrand Archives’ second full-length album, like much of its predecessor, was crafted at Paradise Sound in Index, WA with help from producer Ben Kersten (who also recorded \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/releases\/grand_archives\/full_lengths\/the_grand_archives\/\"\u003e\u003ccite\u003eThe Grand Archives\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e, the band’s 2008 debut). A few friends dropped by during recording. Brooke’s former Carissa’s Wierd cohorts, Jenn Ghetto and \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/sera_cahoone\/\"\u003eSera Cahoone\u003c\/a\u003e, sang backing vocals. The gorgeous streaks of pedal steel across the wistful sweep of “Oslo Novelist” come courtesy of Jason Kardong. For the most part, \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/artists\/grand_archives\/\"\u003eGrand Archives\u003c\/a\u003e played everything. Especially the weird bits. It’s a little darker than the first record and opens with the bittersweet elegy “Topsy’s Revenge,” inspired by the infamous 1903 newsreel footage of Thomas Edison electrocuting a rogue Coney Island elephant. Songs like “Dig That Crazy Grave,” a buoyant ditty redolent of Southern California and summer afternoons, and the insistent, soaring \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/assets\/audio\/5592.mp3\/\"\u003eSilver Among the Gold\u003c\/a\u003e find their place here as well. It’s an album made up of disparate elements artfully fit together and brought to life with affecting results: \u003ccite\u003eKeep in Mind Frankenstein\u003c\/cite\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Grand Archives","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826311741536,"sku":"708031","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826311774304,"sku":"708032","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556518932576,"sku":"708036","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/6659.jpg?v=1581645730"},{"product_id":"so-pitted_neo","title":"neo","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e*Loser edition white vinyl is now sold out. Black vinyl being shipped on all orders. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“We’re a band named after a YouTube video. I like that.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNathan Rodriguez, of Seattle’s So Pitted, is referring to a viral clip of a surfer, standing on the shore in front of mountainous morning waves, relaying to a reporter the glory of the ocean conditions from which he has just emerged. To most, the clip is a funny nugget of Spicoli brah-speak, culminating with the hero’s ecstatic assessment of the event with two brilliantly smashed together words. But to Rodriguez and his bandmates, Liam Downey and Jeannine Koewler, “So Pitted” is way more than just that gung ho, slacker-speak catchphrase. “That surfer gets carried away talking about what he loves, because to him that’s all that really matters,” says Rodriguez. “I don’t surf, but to this surfer ‘so pitted’ is following through instead of bailing. You can take that abstraction and repurpose it to anything you like.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo Pitted is every bit an experiment in social partnerships as it is a noise outfit. They bonded over a shared love of alternative music - Rage Against the Machine, Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, The Mars Volta. Rodriguez is a self-taught quick study who learned music theory on Wikipedia; Downey is a new wave fanatic who sticks pipe cleaners in his brain to speak to extraterrestrials; Koewler is a longtime ballet dancer whose love of aesthetes and bands like Cocteau Twins is a strong influence on her bandmates. Roles and positions have never been important to So Pitted: Rodriguez and Downey often switch instruments and both sing, while Koewler plays her guitar through a bass amp. Together, the trio just fits, a perfect balance for one another’s quirks, strengths, and shortcomings. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEnter \u003ci\u003eneo\u003c\/i\u003e, So Pitted’s debut album some years in the making. These eleven tracks are lean and snarling rebukes, torch songs not in the traditional, unrequited-love sense, but songs that will torch your house down. It’s fuzzy, angular, throbbing, pounding, yet catchy. Songs crash over and over, turning under themselves like waves, but, as the measures tick off, the dog-eared melodies arise. And yet, for all its power, growth, and complexities, \u003ci\u003eneo\u003c\/i\u003e is but a slice in time. It stands for anything new, and the necessity of revisiting ideas – nothing is above an update. In Rodriguez’s words, “Our whole process is not perfect, but I don’t think it’s supposed to be. 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With the release of \u003ci\u003eCool Choices\u003c\/i\u003e in 2014, Champion made what many considered the best record of her career, and a lot of people cried to it.\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"Normal1\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003ci\u003eSingle Rider\u003c\/i\u003e, Champion brings with her all those skills and vulnerabilities, but it is not a record for wallowing: it is a record for intense eye contact on the dancefloor. “Sometimes you are sad and you just want to dance about it,” said Champion.\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"Normal1\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDespite the new direction in her sound, emotion cuts through on \u003ci\u003eSingle Rider\u003c\/i\u003e in the classic Champion style, weaving simultaneously pleading-and-incensed vocals into anthemic pop songs. Champion wants her listeners to see that the rooms are all on fire and she has not given up. 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The London-based band combine layered androgynous vocals with muscular drums, astral synths and shimmering guitars in a celebration of the breathless sensations of youth and coming of age.\u003cbr\u003e\rFriends since the age of 11 and playing in bands together since their teens, the two reignited their musical bond again in early 2011. Initially exchanging ideas over long distance correspondence, they used breaks from travel and other projects for intensive, marathon recording sessions. Retreating to the familiar surroundings of their hometown, they worked intuitively and resourcefully in utilizing every means at their disposal (with siblings occasionally joining in on the recording process) with the sole objective of producing great recordings touched by a transcendental jubilance and vague air of the otherworldly.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\u003cp\u003eLive, \u003cspan class=\"caps\"\u003eTHUMPERS\u003c\/span\u003e are augmented by an interchanging cast of friends and musicians in faithfully bringing their immersive dynamics and grand scale sonic vision to the stage.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"caps\"\u003eTHUMPERS\u003c\/span\u003e will release \u003ccite\u003eGalore\u003c\/cite\u003e, their debut album, on February 11th in North America via Sub Pop. The record was produced by Pepperell and Hamson along with David Kosten (Bat for Lashes, Everything Everything).\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMP3 download included with all vinyl releases\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"THUMPERS","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826369708128,"sku":"710622","price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826369675360,"sku":"710621","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556520308832,"sku":"710626","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/13966.jpg?v=1581647044"},{"product_id":"bully_losing","title":"Losing","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eWhile Bully’s 2015 debut \u003ci\u003eFeels Like\u003c\/i\u003e tumbled headlong into the precarious nature of Alicia Bognanno’s young adult life, its follow-up \u003ci\u003eLosing\u003c\/i\u003e is their first for Sub Pop (which in many ways feels like their spiritual home; Bully’s sound is an outgrowth of the bands the label championed in the late ‘80s and ‘90s). \u003ci\u003eLosing \u003c\/i\u003eis a document of the complexity of growth: navigating breakups with sensitivity, learning not to flee from your troubles but to face them down no matter how messy they may be (“Well, this isn’t the summer I wanted,” she muses on “Blame,” before admitting that she’s trying to “cut down on booze and you”). Written as the group slowed down from touring constantly and Bognanno attempted to adjust to how different a home schedule is from a road schedule, her songwriting has matured from the quick one-two punches of \u003ci\u003eFeels Like\u003c\/i\u003e to tracks that contemplate the necessity of space in both song structure and emotion. Bognanno’s gruff yet dynamic voice is allowed to bloom, and it has a tenderness and openness to it here that’s new. There are multiple layers of wistfulness and care to her delivery of lines like “It just takes one disagreement for you to remember the one time I fucked up,” from “Spiral,” turning songs that could be one-dimensional kiss-offs into warm and complex expressions of regret.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe group returned to Electrical Audio in Chicago, another home for Bognanno, to record \u003ci\u003eLosing\u003c\/i\u003e. Their core—Bognanno, guitarist Clayton Parker and bassist Reece Lazarus—truly solidified during the process, a detail-oriented push for perfection in which each moving part was labored over and polished. Emily Lazar’s mastering adds the perfect cap to Bognanno’s engineering; this is a record that has both shimmer and heft. There’s power in the guitar attack, delicacy and toughness in the melodic hooks, precision in the drums, and backbone in the bass.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eWhile Bognanno wouldn’t call this a political record, she doesn’t deny that the current political atmosphere and its urgency and tension haven’t shaped some of her ideas on this record, too—though she does not want that to be its focus. Mostly, this is an internal record, a universalized diary and an exorcism—not of any one specific demon, but of the host of them that characterize contemporary anxieties. Bully are growing up, sure, but their fire is in no way diminishing.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bully","offers":[{"title":"Losing (color) LP","offer_id":39591797981280,"sku":"712110","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826370461792,"sku":"712111","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826370494560,"sku":"712112","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826370527328,"sku":"712114","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556517163104,"sku":"712116","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/bully-losing-lp-black-square.jpg?v=1581647070"},{"product_id":"death-vessel_island-intervals","title":"Island Intervals","description":"\u003cp\u003eDeath Vessel’s Joel Thibodeau’s slender, winsome voice, at once so comforting and so unsettling might be the greatest of his many strengths. Reed-thin but sturdy, youthful but somehow ageless, its deep benevolence is also slightly eerie, and the way he gently walks the line between intense feeling and contemplative remove lets him sing from a timeless place where he evokes the beauty of vanished people and places, sweetness too profound for words, loss too great for tears. Joel’s is a voice that demands its own sonic and lyrical world, and with \u003ccite\u003eIsland Intervals\u003c\/cite\u003e, his third record as Death Vessel (and second for Sub Pop), we’re treated to the sound of him finding a rich and strange new home among new friends in Iceland who probably saw him as a long-lost relative. 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Their impassioned debut album comes born out of the member’s experiences with love and distress, creating a sound uniquely dark and sincere. Although the band is just breaking out of their infancy, Moaning’s sleek and cavernous tone emphasizes the turmoil of the era they were born into. One where the endless possibility for art and creation is met with the fear and doubt of an uncertain future.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSolomon, Stevenson, and MacKelvie initially met as teenagers while growing up in the San Fernando Valley, and immediately developed a kinship through Los Angeles’s local music scene. The three began regularly frequenting DIY institutions like The Smell and Pehrspace, eventually selling out dozens of their own shows at both venues with their first few bands. Moaning’s conception came when Solomon sent Stevenson and MacKelvie the first demo for “Don’t Go,” setting the tone for the impulsive songwriting that would follow. The three fleshed out Solomon’s primitive recordings, adding in MacKelvie’s heavy syncopated drumming, and Stevenson’s melodic driving bass and synth parts, capturing each member’s personality in their sparse and fuzzed out tracks. Like many of their previous collaborative projects, Moaning forces pain up against pleasure, using the complexity of personal heart break to inform the band’s conflicted sound. The band chose the moniker Moaning, admiring the ambiguity the name held, and hoping to reference both an intimate wail and an anguished scream.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe band’s homemade video for an early, home-recorded version of “The Same” caught the attention of Alex Newport, a seasoned engineer and producer who had previously worked with At The Drive-In, Bloc Party, and the Melvins. With Newport, Moaning began working on the tracks that would make up their self-titled release, employing a lush, open ended production quality that had never been at the band’s disposal. Tracks like “Artificial” stand out among the recordings, where Moaning used the studio’s recourses to take their frantic live arrangement and give it the intensity merited by Solomon’s lyrics.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs a whole, \u003ci\u003eMoaning\u003c\/i\u003e drifts from sentimental to catastrophic, hiding meek and introspective lyrics within powerful droning dance songs, giving sonic nods to some of the band’s musical heroes like, New Order, Broadcast, and Slowdive. The band’s youthful attitude is met with the weight of topics like loss, routine, and mental health, reflecting the anxiety towards the status quo that much of their generation faces today. Where many young bands take years to find their footing as writers and performers, Moaning has built up a confidence in sound and vision from the ten years of playing basements, bars, and ballrooms together in their previous projects. Yet, even with their polished exterior, Moaning continues to make the sacrifice of deeply personal anecdotes and emotions to their audience for the benefit of their craft.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Moaning","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":32611861856352,"sku":"712161","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":32611862085728,"sku":"712162","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826412306528,"sku":"712164","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556511887456,"sku":"712166","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/moaning-moaning-lp-black-square.jpg?v=1581648009"},{"product_id":"gazebos_die-alone","title":"Die Alone","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDie Alone\u003c\/em\u003e is more complex than simple genre tags or clichéd descriptors allow. The band coined the phrase \"whoa-pop\" to describe their music and they say they're not mad at the term \"prog-punk.\" The album was recorded in guitarist TV Coahran's basement on an 8-track with Seattle garage-rock guru Kurt Bloch as engineer. No song sounds like another and yet the album sustains a dizzying, alluring vibe. \u003cem\u003eDie Alone\u003c\/em\u003e is the debut album from this Seattle four-piece.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gazebos","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826421874784,"sku":"730921","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826421907552,"sku":"730922","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826421940320,"sku":"730924","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556514836576,"sku":"730926","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/gazebos-diealone-cover-1500x1500-400.jpg?v=1581648287"},{"product_id":"s_cool-choices","title":"Cool Choices","description":"\u003cp\u003eS is the long-running solo project of Jenn Champion (Carissa's Wierd). After many months of trying to get their schedules aligned, the band ended up in the studio with Chris Walla, at the Hall of Justice in Seattle.  As he was setting up Champion's guitar amp combo and pulling gadgets off the shelves and microphones out of boxes he said to her, \"This is how you make a Van Halen record.\" And then they made \u003cem\u003eCool Choices\u003c\/em\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"S","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826450415712,"sku":"730841","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826450448480,"sku":"730842","price":11.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556519981152,"sku":"730846","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/s-lp1.jpg?v=1581649017"},{"product_id":"hausu_total","title":"Total","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe beauty of rock-music lies in the expanse of terrain that it encompasses as a definition. \u003cem\u003eTotal\u003c\/em\u003e aims to acknowledge that freedom; it is at times melodious and at others dissonant, all in all, a finished product, a totality. With this in mind: Total is the debut LP from Portland’s Hausu, and the band’s first for Hardly Art.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hausu","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826452185184,"sku":"730701","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826452217952,"sku":"730702","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556526174304,"sku":"730706","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/13060.jpg?v=1581649069"},{"product_id":"jaill_traps","title":"Traps","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen Jaill nonchalantly stepped into the room with 2010’s \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/releases\/jaill\/full_lengths\/thats_how_we_burn\/\"\u003e\u003ccite\u003eThat’s How We Burn\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e, the group had already turned out a small catalog of self-recorded and self-released albums and EPs. Sub Pop first heard the band on an LP bought through the mail, the cover still hot from the Kinko’s copier. And as that record (2009’s \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.subpop.com\/releases\/jaill\/full_lengths\/theres_no_sky_my_oh_my\/\"\u003e\u003ccite\u003eThere’s No Sky (Oh My My)\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e) demonstrated, Jaill’s Vinnie Kircher is equally comfortable crafting songs that either amble up slyly, or tumble out pell mell, with lyrics that betray his English major background. \u003ccite\u003e\u003cspan class=\"caps\"\u003eSPIN\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/cite\u003e said of \u003ccite\u003eThat’s How We Burn\u003c\/cite\u003e, “What elevates their [Sub Pop] debut beyond your average twee-punk rager is the gentle psych dabblings: extra delay on a guitar solo, an errant ‘ooh-ahh-ooh,’ a dubby Panda Bear flourish, and the swirling noise that murmurs through the background of the cheerful ‘Snake Shakes.’”\u003c\/p\u003e\r\u003cp\u003eRecorded throughout 2011 in Kircher’s crummy, poorly lit basement, with minimal gear and a control room of thrift store afghans, and mixed at NY’s Rare Book Room by Nicolas Vernhes, Jaill’s latest mangled masterpiece is entitled \u003ccite\u003eTraps\u003c\/cite\u003e. An acerbic exercise in both humility and aggression that transcends the humble environment of its creation, \u003ccite\u003eTraps\u003c\/cite\u003e finds the Milwaukee-based psych-pop three-piece confronting a malfunctioning universe with an inventive, lean and, dare we say, excellent 11-song album.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ccite\u003eTraps\u003c\/cite\u003e vinyl LP comes with a digital download code.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIf you pre-order \u003ccite\u003eTraps\u003c\/cite\u003e, you’ll get a limited-edition bonus seven inch featuring two songs not on the album!\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\u003cp\u003e\u003cdel\u003e\u003cb\u003eIf you pre-order \u003ccite\u003eTraps\u003c\/cite\u003e on vinyl LP, you’ll receive a limited-edition, colored-vinyl Loser Edition of the record [in this case, a bright green]\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/del\u003e (Sorry, the colored Loser Edition is now sold out.)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jaill","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826456641632,"sku":"709941","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826456674400,"sku":"709942","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556526698592,"sku":"709946","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/11568.jpg?v=1581649136"},{"product_id":"lyla-foy_mirrors-the-sky","title":"Mirrors the Sky","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn most aspects of life, it's usually a good idea to keep your options open, lest you deny yourself the opportunity to explore avenues that might lead to transcendence or, at the very least, a little bit more happiness. But sometimes the best course of action is to find your path and stay focused, which is what Lyla Foy has been doing with her music for the past couple of years. That discovery has led to the creation of her debut album, Mirrors the Sky, due in spring on Sub Pop.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEverything changed for the 25-year-old London songwriter one day in early 2012, when she canceled her evening plans to work on music at home. After years of various collaborations, she instead decided to tap into her creative energy all on her own, and that night her bit of happiness arrived in the form of the gorgeously stripped-down \"No Secrets,\" which she eventually shared with the world under the moniker WALL.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"When I first started writing for the project, I wanted everything to be really focused on the melodies, but also really simple and minimal,\" says Foy. \"Just using a lot of bass, and simple drum patterns. So it was completely different to anything I was doing at the time. I wanted to try something new, and that one song happened and I felt like it was the beginning of something.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut that was then, and this is now, and now Foy has decided to come out from behind her WALL and adorn Mirrors the Sky with her given name. Let's not make a big deal about the transition: She's still in the same musical mindset that produced \"No Secrets\"--in fact, that very same song appears on Mirrors the Sky in a slightly updated form - and she still plays with the guys who have helped bring WALL's songs to the stage. If anything, listeners can just appreciate the irony that now that she's fully integrated her bandmates into her music, she's ditched the band name for her own. Unlike the WALL recordings, Mirrors the Sky contains plenty of input from the guys.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile the vibe on Mirrors the Sky is still restrained romanticism and dreamy drama, Foy had no problem scratching her pop itch on songs like the electro-grooved \"I Only\" and \"Feather Tongue\" and the slightly rockier (in a Christine McVie way) \"Impossible.\" Just try getting those choruses out of your head. Blips and bleeps comfortably mix it up with live drums, and Foy's keys, guitar, and bass help fill in the rest of the gentle soundscape. Throughout the record, synthesized and organic sounds play off each other's strengths, giving everything a cool edge while burning with passion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLike usual, all of the songs started with Foy building layers of beats, keyboards, and vocal melodies in her computer, and she worked quickly to bottle her inspiration at the source, usually completing the skeleton of songs in a few hours.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Working fast is fun and keeps me excited,\" she says, \"rather than writing a song and playing it for a few weeks and then getting around to recording it.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a project that began as a single song in a London bedroom, Lyla Foy's hypnotically hushed songs have come quite a long way over the past two years, figuratively and literally, as her worldwide deal with Sub Pop will find her spending quality time supporting Mirrors the Sky across the globe. Funny how taking a singular route has led to such a momentous journey.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eMirrors the Sky\u003c\/i\u003e will be released on March 18th, 2014 through Sub Pop Records. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lyla Foy","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826467913824,"sku":"710782","price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826467881056,"sku":"710781","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556511428704,"sku":"710786","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/lylafoy-mirrorsthesky-text.jpg?v=1581649535"},{"product_id":"the-moondoggies_adios-im-a-ghost","title":"Adios I'm A Ghost","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAdios I’m a Ghost\u003c\/em\u003e is a quintessentially Northwest record. Musically and lyrically, it balances light and dark, marrying the boisterous blues of The Moondoggies’ debut album Don’t Be a Stranger, the symphonic sadness of Tidelands, and a temperamental timbre previously unheard from the band. Recorded at Bear Creek Studios, Adios I’m a Ghost is The Moondoggies’ third full-length for Hardly Art.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Moondoggies","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826485248096,"sku":"730711","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826485280864,"sku":"730712","price":14.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556511330400,"sku":"730716","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/13684.jpg?v=1581650005"},{"product_id":"mass-gothic_mass-gothic","title":"Mass Gothic","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLoser edition vinyl is SOLD OUT. Black vinyl shipping now!\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter nearly ten years as the creative force behind much-loved New York rock outfit Hooray For Earth, Noel Heroux had lost his way. “I was constantly cutting corners and phoning everything in,” he says. “I was super depressed. I was creatively frustrated. I was emotion- ally unavailable to the people I really, really wanted to be there for—and no matter how much I cared, I just couldn’t change. But when I realized that I needed to the end the band and just try again, my head cleared and the clouds parted. I’d been derailed somehow,” he adds. “So I allowed myself to return to the beginning.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis year marks the release of \u003ci\u003eMass Gothic\u003c\/i\u003e, the Massachusetts-bred, New York-based singer\/songwriter’s self-titled Sub Pop debut. Written and recorded at home over four months during the winter of 2013-2014, it’s a stunning reminder of not just Heroux’s own remarkable talents as singer and songwriter, but how unbridled creativity can sound and feel: Before Hooray For Earth had quickly become a fully-functioning band, it began as a solo project. No pressure or compromises—just Heroux, a four-track, and an irrepressible urge to “jot down all of the noise and music floating around in my head” and make it available to other people. “All I wanted to do was whatever I do when I’m alone and I’m unconcerned with what anyone else wants or expects,” he says. “I did my best to let go, and what came out was pure, uncut. It reminded me of the first few times I made music, when I was a young kid. I didn’t set any rules and I had zero expectations.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe result is an expansive, often exhilarating set of guitar-driven pop that required very little editing when it was done. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the iridescent doo-wop of “Every Night You’ve Got to Save Me” to the skyward crescendo of “Mind is Probably” to the falsetto-streaked clatter of “Want to, Bad,” it’s a radiant retelling of Heroux’s starting over, with “Nice Night” as its cathartic, electrifying centerpiece. “A lot of these songs are more or less a really dramatic, loud apology\/thank you note,” he says, referencing his partner, collaborator, and future tour mate, Jessica. “It didn’t matter where any of the sounds came from. I just cared that it sounded big and heavy, and that it was moving when it was done. It’s a clean slate entirely—and I’m so relieved.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mass Gothic","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826495307872,"sku":"711401","price":7.2,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826495340640,"sku":"711402","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826495373408,"sku":"711404","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556508610656,"sku":"711406","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/massgothic-massgothic-allformats-01.jpg?v=1581650242"},{"product_id":"the-gotobeds_debt-begins-at-30","title":"Debt Begins at 30","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eGive me a minute or three to extol the virtues of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\" href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/artists\/the_gotobeds\"\u003eThe Gotobeds\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e, the modern rock and roll sensation that has always sounded like they love to play. Never maligned by having the world’s weight on their backs, The Gotobeds - Cary, TFP, Eli and Gavin - return to the fray with their third full lengther, 'Debt Begins at 30'. The \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eesprit de corps\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e and anxiety-free joy that permeates their other LPs and EPs remains intact. The octane is high-test, the engine still has knocks and pings and the battery is overcharged. The Gotobeds - as Pittsburgh as it gets, the folk music of the Steel City - have more tar for us to swallow. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eDebt Begins at 30 \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eis an old-fashioned blast furnace and the liquid iron flows. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eDebt Begins at 30 \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eis not \"pub sop\" in any way or shape.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"normal\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Though I never considered The Gotobeds a band that needed assistance from their peers, \u003ci\u003eDebt Begins at 30 \u003c\/i\u003efeatures outside contributors on every track. The album's first single, \"Calquer The Hound,\" includes local buddy Evan Richards, and Rob Henry of Kim Phuc. \"Calquer The Hound\" has euphony, a sly bridge, plenty of trademark bash, and a spacey outro. It's a sanguine album opener, more Al Oliver than Starling Marte.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"normal\"\u003eOn \"Twin Cities,\" the lads tap Tracy Wilson, formerly of Dahlia Seed and currently of Positive NO!, to share the vox, and the result is an exuberant pop song proving The Gotobeds benefit from women ruling the scene. \"Twin Cities\" is more Dakota Staton than Don Caballero. \"Debt Begins at 30,\" the title trackular, includes the wizardry of Mike Seamans and legend Bob Weston. It's a brooding romp with tribal beats and slash-and-burn guitar, more Rocky Bleier than Le'Veon Bell.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"normal\"\u003eUnsurprisingly, The Gotobeds called partners-in-rock-crime \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/artists\/protomartyr\" title=\"Link: https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/artists\/protomartyr\"\u003eProtomartyr\u003c\/a\u003e a coupla times, with Joe Casey bolstering \"Slang Words\" and hook-fiend Greg Ahee shredding on \"On Loan.\" \"Slang Words\" is a savory wrecking ball with a crunching bite, more of a soft shell crab sandwich from Wholey's Market than a 4am slop feast at Primanti Brothers. \"On Loan\" is an anthemic jangle-fest with high-arcing fret work, more Karl Hendricks (rest his soul) than \"Weird Paul\" Petroskey.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"normal\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Silkworm guitarist Tim Midyett is tapped on \"Parallel,\" a grand song that enters a world of whimsy, melodic and uncomplicated, more Jaromir Jagr than Sidney Crosby. The likes of 12XU label boss Gerard Cosloy, Tre Orsi's Matt Barnhart, the wonderful Victoria Ruiz of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/artists\/downtown_boys\"\u003eDowntown Boys\u003c\/a\u003e, Pittsburgh wordsmiths Jason Baldinger and Scott MacIntyre, and yours truly strut stuff on other tracks. In my case, I just scream “dross” on \"Dross\" several times. Good judgment on the part of The Gotobeds to know that's the best I can do, more Max Moroff than Andrew McCutchen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003eAnyways, The Gotobeds have quickly reached the veteran stage, but, based upon \u003ci\u003eDebt Begins at 30\u003c\/i\u003e, their best days are ahead of them. It's a pleasure to be associated with such an excellent band.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e--Bob Nastanovich, 1\/13\/2019, Des Moines    \u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"The Gotobeds","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":32611920183392,"sku":"713031","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Loser (color) LP","offer_id":32611920281696,"sku":"713030","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826514411616,"sku":"713032","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556508577888,"sku":"713036","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/thegotobeds-debtbeginsat30-lp-loser-01.jpg?v=1581650627"},{"product_id":"lala-lala_the-lamb","title":"The Lamb","description":"\u003cp\u003eLillie West initially started Lala Lala as a way to communicate things that she felt she could never say out loud. But on \u003ci\u003eThe Lamb\u003c\/i\u003e, her sophomore LP and debut for Hardly Art, she has found strength in vulnerability. Through bracing hooks and sharp lyrics, the 24-year-old songwriter and guitarist illustrates a nuanced look on her own adulthood – her fraught insecurity, struggles with addiction, and the loss of several people close to her.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lala Lala","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826525945952,"sku":"731071","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826525978720,"sku":"731072","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826526011488,"sku":"731074","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556512936032,"sku":"731076","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/lalalala-thelamb-cover-3000x3000-300.jpg?v=1581650952"},{"product_id":"knife-knights_1-time-mirage","title":"1 Time Mirage","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eKnife Knights\u003c\/b\u003e were born of the love of mystery. From the start of \u003ca title=\"Link: http:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/artists\/shabazz_palaces\" href=\"http:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/artists\/shabazz_palaces\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eShabazz Palaces\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e – the groundbreaking project launched in 2009 by former-Digable Planets leader Ishmael Butler – confidentiality seemed essential: Butler wanted Shabazz Palaces to stand on its own strength, not his outsized reputation, so he adopted a nom de plume for himself. As the project’s network expanded, though, he needed new monikers for his partnerships. \u003cb\u003eKnife Knights\u003c\/b\u003e is the name he gave to his work with Seattle engineer, producer, songwriter, and film composer \u003cb\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.erikblood.com\/\"\u003eErik Blood\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, a vital force in the Shabazz Palaces universe. Now, after more than a decade of collaboration and the development of a rich friendship, Butler and Blood have made a proper full-length record together as Knife Knights: \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e1 Time Mirage\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e, an eleven-track odyssey that finds the pair and a cast of their friends weaving together a singular world of soul and shoegaze, hip-hop and lush noise, bass and bedlam. \u003ci\u003e1 Time Mirage\u003c\/i\u003e represents a playground for Butler and Blood, a free space for unfettered exploration, and a radically adventurous start to something much more than a mere production duo or side project.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRecorded in three fertile sessions interrupted by Shabazz Palaces tours and Blood’s recording projects, \u003ci\u003e1 Time Mirage \u003c\/i\u003eis a profound fulfillment of the partnership, realized at the crossroads of Butler’s and Blood’s mutual enthusiasms. Their shared interests have been split into pieces and fused together with enviable imagination. In the decade since Butler launched Shabazz Palaces and first christened his partnership with Blood as Knife Knights, much of the external mystery has, of course, fallen away. And \u003ci\u003e1 Time Mirage\u003c\/i\u003e is a very public step forward for the pair. The early sense of secrecy has given way to a spirit of friendship and creative candor, to the doors of experimentation being thrown open by old pals thrilled by the prospect of testing new ideas.  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStill, these eleven songs retain a core of intrigue and, indeed, mystery; each listen reveals yet another connection between infinite and interlocking pieces. To wit, Robert Beatty’s brilliant cover for \u003ci\u003e1 Time Mirage\u003c\/i\u003e depicts a futuristic vehicle, being coolly steered with one hand into some great, mildly ominous unknown. That’s how these songs feel, too—confident conquests of the dark that unlock sounds and spaces you have yet to imagine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Knife Knights","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":32700367929440,"sku":"712481","price":10.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826538070112,"sku":"712482","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32700367962208,"sku":"712486","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/knifeknights-1timemirage-lp-loser.jpg?v=1741201942"},{"product_id":"shannon-lay_august","title":"August","description":"\u003cp\u003eThere is an entire sub-genre of poetry devoted to rivers and their persistent, meditative flow. Emily Dickinson’s “My River Runs to Thee” compares them to the cycle of life, while Alfred Tennyson’s “The Brook” deems them eternal and Kathleen Raine’s “The River” muses on the dream-state they evoke. For transcendent folk-pop artist \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/artists\/shannon_lay\"\u003eShannon Lay\u003c\/a\u003e, the river is all of the above: It’s the metaphor driving her latest album, the exquisitely uplifting August (Sub Pop Records, out August, 23rd)—which doubles as an aural baptism renewing her purpose for making music. “I always picture music as this river. Everyone’s throwing things into this river, it’s a place you can go to and feed off of that energy,” she says, “and feel nourished by the fact that so many people are feeling what you’re feeling. It’s this beautiful exchange.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe album’s name, August, refers to the month in 2017 when Lay quit her day job and fully gave herself over to music. This was her liberation as an artist, and the album is devoted to paying that forward to her listeners. “It’s a thank you to the universe,” says the L.A. artist. The title track is a mystical, folk-psych expression that builds into a gentle gallop. “Open the doors that you cannot,” she sings with a feathery lightness. Notes Lay: “Everyone is capable of so much, but we have a tendency to stand in our own way.” The steady movement of the song captures the rapids of a river. “I was thinking about creating something with momentum,” she continues. “I started out with just the guitar and Laena Geronimo came in and added that gorgeous drone and when Nick Murray put his drum touch in there it was exactly what I never knew it would be.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLay may be the most chilled-out artist you’ll ever meet. Despite fronting her tranquil solo act and being a guitarist\/singer in the indie-rock band Feels, she never pressures herself to overachieve. (Even though she regularly does—in a glowing review, Pitchfork anointed her last album, Living Water “captivating.”) “I learned to not beat myself up if I’m not writing all the time,” she says. “Music really does come in these waves of inspiration.” During the album’s graceful finale, “The Dream,” Lay addresses embracing uncertainty. “I’ve always felt like a lucky person, life is a dream and it is yours to manipulate. Create the world you want to live in, create your own reality, create your path. We have so much more control that we could ever imagine.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith her life devoted to music, the artist often spends hours a day simply playing the guitar, challenging herself to become better “It just feels so good, doing something that is so much bigger than myself. I think so much of music is that, realizing that it’s coming from something beyond and you are just the messenger” says Lay, who took guitar lessons at age 13, which introduced her to Neil Young and The Beatles. After high school, she moved from Redondo Beach, Calif., to Hollywood and joined an indie-rock band. “It was an energy I needed to release,” she says. The exact type of energy may have changed, but her drive hasn’t. Her recent practice pays off transcendentally in songs such as “Nowhere,” a wistful kindred spirit to “August” that evokes Nick Drake. “It’s about getting somewhere and not doing anything or meeting anyone,” Lay says, “the idea of just having a quieter journey, zero expectation.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere are other lovely, solitary moments on August. The simple, soprano narrative “Shuffling Stoned,” for instance, serves no grander purpose than to capture a snapshot of the time Lay walked into a cool record store in New York City and watched the guy working there buy some weed off his dealer, as “this tiny, little spider crawled up on the records—it was such a cool, weird moment.” And “Sea Came to Shore,” in which Lay’s guitar finds its foil in a slightly askew violin, immediately teleports you, alone, to a breezy shore. “The ocean,” adds Lay, “is a good reminder of how small we are.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAugust was mostly written in three months, during Lay’s first solo tour for Living Water. “For the most part, all of the songs were just guitar and voice,” she says. In keeping with the humbled, contemplative nature of August, most tracks clock-in at three minutes or less. She saved indulgence for the production. “Some songs as they were had this room to grow,” says Lay, who recorded the album with her longtime friend, musician Ty Segall at his home studio on the East Side. “I believe whoever you record with tends to affect the mood of music and Ty really brought this jovial sense that I hadn’t really explored yet,” she says. “Once you get rolling with him, he just throws these ideas at the wall. And you’re like, ‘I would never have thought of that!’ I couldn’t have hoped for a better guide and energy to help create this record.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this sense, the album’s opener, the mantra-like “Death Up Close” is also its centerpiece. “With that song, I wanted to recognize that everyone else is going through something and reflect on that. Don’t be so close-minded to think you’re the only one who’s got issues, in fact, find comfort in the thought that everyone is on their own journey” Lay explains. What starts as an Eastern-influenced song morphs into an avant-garde sound bath. “I had this idea of the violin ascending. Then Mikal Cronin came in with the saxophone and just blew me away.  I love the idea of building a song like that, take people by surprise.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“A lot of my friends who are really tough have admitted that they shed a tear when they hear my songs, and I think that really speaks to the visceral aspect of folk music,” Lay says. “It’s this ancient form of expressing yourself.” Think of August as a warm hug for your psyche. “I want to create as much music as I can,” she says, “and leave this spot by the river where people can go sit and enjoy.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Shannon Lay","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826555797600,"sku":"713151","price":8.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Loser (color) LP","offer_id":31826555764832,"sku":"713150","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":32611895279712,"sku":"713152","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cassette","offer_id":31826555863136,"sku":"713154","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556521521248,"sku":"713156","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/ShannonLay_August_LP_Black_02.jpg?v=1608245862"},{"product_id":"we-are-loud-whispers_suchness","title":"Suchness","description":"\u003cp\u003eWe Are Loud Whispers is a dreamy duo featuring Sonya Westcott (Arthur \u0026amp; Yu) and Ayumu Haitani (4 Bonjour’s Parties). \u003ccite\u003eSuchness\u003c\/cite\u003e, their debut LP, displays intricate electronic orchestration, loops, and effects, while relaying an organic ease. Assembled over emails sent between Seattle and Japan, \u003ccite\u003eSuchness\u003c\/cite\u003e transcended geographical and language barriers – and traditional ideas of what a “band” is – in its making.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"We Are Loud Whispers","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826566381664,"sku":"730681","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826566414432,"sku":"730682","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556517818464,"sku":"730686","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/12910.jpg?v=1581651796"},{"product_id":"his-electro-blue-voice_ruthless-sperm","title":"Ruthless Sperm","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRuthless Sperm\u003c\/em\u003e. What’s in a name? A whole hell of a lot, actually. Sperm can ruin everything. Persistent little shits that fight their way to the prize. If just one soldier gets ahold of its egg of choice, things will break apart, bubble and mutate. A microscopic violence that leads to thirty plus pounds of sludge and flesh. Still, beauty tends to be the outcome after all this splashy mess and most parties find a happy, rewarding ending. Most parties. To the unfortunate others, the outcome can be more terrifying than anything dreamed up in a Polanski flick.\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eItaly’s His Electro Blue Voice follows a similar path to creation. Once the choice is made, it’s guaranteed the trip will be violent and unrelenting. Only the band doesn’t tell you up front which crooked path is gonna lead you to the finish line (at first, they may not even know). But whether it’s slathered in a thick glaze of neo-gothic guitar, an unexpected electronic pulse or leveled under a death trip full of panic inducing terror shrieks, His Electro Blue Voice have become masters at building soundscapes that leave brave listeners spent, soiled and with nothing positive on their mind.\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn \u003cem\u003eRuthless Sperm\u003c\/em\u003e – His Electro Blue Voice’s debut full-length, after a string of collectible singles\/EPs and an appearance on the Sub Pop 1000 compilation – they set their trajectories on a Kraut-driven rhythm; a haunting, cinematic wash or a mechanically-sound industrial thump. Thirty-plus minutes of shock-horror blasts, blaring cyber-synth attacks and that gloriously-repetitive Stoogeoid-meets-Killing Joke throb. The end result is a platter that’s as direct as it is deadly. Yet for all the bombast and bummer, His Electro Blue Voice still bring forth euphoric hooks and shards of shoegaze, if only to leave them strewn about within the mechanical wreckage. You can almost hear the sounds of the early 4AD roster in the grooves, left teetering between warped indie sensibility and creepy-crawl madness. Crazy sounding, but damned if it doesn’t stick in your head.\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRuthless Sperm by His Electro Blue Voice: subtle as a construction site and precise like a leather gloved killer. This is the apocalypse. This is end times. Thankfully we get a decent soundtrack to go with it.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\r\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMP3 download included with all vinyl releases\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"His Electro Blue Voice","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826574639200,"sku":"710541","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826574671968,"sku":"710542","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556519129184,"sku":"710546","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/13391.jpg?v=1581651980"},{"product_id":"pens_hey-friend-what-you-doing","title":"Hey Friend, What You Doing?","description":"\u003cp\u003eSpunky debut from homegrown girl urchins. Riot girl spawned a generation of female dominated bands that sounded like they had the weight of the world on their shoulders. That, definitely, is not \u003cspan class=\"caps\"\u003ePENS\u003c\/span\u003e.  Product of a London scene steeped in the lo-fidelity and ecstatic exuberance of US bands like No Age and Times New Viking, this all-girl trio rattle through tales of delinquency like “High in the Cinema” with barely a second’s reflection. Luckily, these scuzzy punk nuggets cranked out on budget organ and tinny guitar largely succeed in transmitting the spirit of excitement they were surely conceived in.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e~ Louis Pattinson \/ \u003cspan class=\"caps\"\u003eUNCUT\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pens","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826575327328,"sku":"760711","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826575360096,"sku":"760712","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/5947.jpg?v=1581651992"},{"product_id":"kyle-craft_showboat-honey","title":"Showboat Honey","description":"\u003cp\u003eThere is this curious equilibrium to existence: In order to create balance, the universe must giveth, and the universe must taketh. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/artists\/kyle_craft\"\u003eKyle Craft\u003c\/a\u003e, along with his now solidified backing band dubbed Showboat Honey, know this all too well. And this is why their self-titled album, the contemplative yet restless \u003ci\u003eShowboat Honey\u003c\/i\u003e (Sub Pop Records, July 12th, 2019) reflects that sturm-und-drang. “This is basically an album centered around bad luck and good fortune hitting at the same time,” Craft explains “Then, out of nowhere, I find love. Everything went to shit except that. I guess that’s how life works.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"normal\"\u003eNo track better captures this duality than the sweeping “Sunday Driver,” about sticking to your guns, despite a universe of blow-back. “At this point, you get baptized by certain fires and start to walk with the dead a little bit, like nothing can harm you anymore,” says the Portland-based musician. “That’s what self-love sounds like to me, as aggressive as that sounds.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"normal\"\u003eThe sticky-sweet title of the album is lifted from the brightly choral “Buzzkill Caterwaul” (“Once you were the showboat honey\/ But your ship sailed out”). “I wanted to make something that sounded like a raucous collision of Leon Russell and Patti Smith,” he says, “But ‘Buzzkill Caterwaul’ was the only tune that ended up showcasing that vision.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"normal\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThough aesthetics veer from song to song, \u003ci\u003eShowboat Honey\u003c\/i\u003e’s steadfast formula remains the same. Drummer Haven Mutlz holds down the machine with a ’60s\/’70s fast-molasses groove that locks in with the slinky rolling bass of Billy Slater. When Kevin Clark isn’t bouncing across the piano, his mellotron swells in and out of frame. Jack of all trades Ben Steinmetz’s organ parts well up from the deep of the songs, while lead guitarist Jeremy Kale’s solos rip through them like electricity. On top of it all, sits the tongue-in-cheek phantasmagoria created by Craft’s lyrics. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"normal\"\u003eLyrically, perspectives shift to imbue life into a cast of intriguing, mysterious characters, à la Bob Dylan. (“There is not a single thing in my life that has affected me more than the first time I heard Dylan,” says Craft. “It immediately changed my life.”) “Johnny (Free \u0026amp; Easy)” is seemingly about a date gone awry at a swinger’s party in the Hollywood Hills. And the twangy pop of “O! Lucky Hand” appears to shadow a poor sod desperate to elude a hex. Its antidote is the stunning, cinematic “Deathwish Blue,” which sounds like a deep cut from the book of John Lennon, about the lovesick salvation found in his bride to be, Lydia.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"normal\"\u003eIf that’s not head-trippy enough, the carefree sing-along “2 Ugly 4 NY” features a lyrical reference to a previous incarnation of Craft. Its lyrics—“Don’t wanna see Death strum for cash downtown\/ Or the look on his face when the change hits the case on the ground”—call out his early days in Portland when he went by the moniker of Hobo Grim. Busking downtown, he’d cover country tunes while dressed as the Grim Reaper so as to conceal his true identity. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"normal\"\u003eCraft started writing about as soon as he could play the guitar at the age of 15. He grew up in the isolated Mississippi River town of Vidalia, Louisiana where his chops weren’t honed in a woodshed, but rather an old, dingy meat freezer that was out of commission.  When asked about the first song he’d ever written, he laughs, saying it was an “angsty-rock tune” and “a rare bird of how bad a song could be.”     \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"normal\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAfter years of touring, two LPs with Sub Pop Records, and solidifying the band, he’s since grown into a prodigious songwriter, to say the least. The band recorded \u003ci\u003eShowboat Honey—\u003c\/i\u003eco-produced by Craft, Clark, and Slater—at their own Moonbase Studios in Portland over 2018. “We approached this record differently for sure,” Craft says. “I’d make a demo, and after putting the songs together, shoot it to the band for ideas.” Tracks such as “Broken Mirror Pose” ended up being highly collaborative, while others settled into Craft’s original vision. “Deathwish Blue,” for instance, was tracked in a similar fashion to his solo debut, \u003ci\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/megamart.subpop.com\/releases\/kyle_craft\/dolls_of_highland\"\u003eDolls of Highland\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e, with Craft tracking every instrument by himself. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"normal\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eKyle and the members of Showboat Honey worked at such a feverish wine-fueled pace that they actually ended up with two completely different albums. But at the end of the day, they decided to combine the two into what is now \u003ci\u003eShowboat Honey,\u003c\/i\u003e a moonstruck rock ’n’ roll record teeming with reckless abandon.    \u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"normal\"\u003e“We thought we had the album done at one point. But at the last minute, I was like, ‘Shit, this isn’t the album. This isn’t it,’” Kyle says. “It was just a gut feeling. I’m glad for that because I feel like I ended up writing some of the best songs I’ve ever written.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kyle Craft","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826584076384,"sku":"713111","price":8.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Loser (color) LP","offer_id":31826584043616,"sku":"713110","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":31826584109152,"sku":"713112","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556525977696,"sku":"713116","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/kylecraft-showboathoney-lp-loser-02.jpg?v=1581652181"},{"product_id":"koes-barat_koes-barat","title":"Koes Barat","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhen Alan\rBishop becomes obsessed with something, he often goes to great lengths (and\rtravels great distances) to turn that obsession into an essential artifact.\rSuch is the case with his latest group's Sub Pop debut, \u003ci\u003eKoes Barat\u003c\/i\u003e, a\rsincere, gripping tribute to a band of Indonesian brothers—the Koeswoyos—whose\rinstantly catchy garage-rock songs and ridiculously charming ballads caused a\rsensation in their homeland, Singapore, and Malaysia. They also made their\rgovernment \u003ci\u003every\u003c\/i\u003e uneasy: Basing your look on Western musicians and\rcovering Beatles songs were considered subversive activities in mid-'60s\rIndonesia. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\r\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBack in\r2010, Sun City Girls legend Bishop asserted his fandom of Koes Bersaudara (aka\rKoes Plus) with two archival releases of their music on his and Hisham Mayet's\rSublime Frequencies label. But that noble gesture wasn't enough to sate\rBishop's appreciation of this music that flourished from the mid '60s to 1970.\rHe also felt an overwhelming urge to interpret what he felt to be the best Koes\rtunes. To that end, he enlisted some of his favorite musicians in the\rSpoils—guitarist Milky Burgess, drummer Don McGreevy, and bassist Jim Davis—all\rof whom also play or played with Seattle’s Master Musicians Of Bukkake, and\rproducer Randall Dunn (Sunn O))), Marisa Nadler) to work the boards. \u003ci\u003eKoes\rBarat\u003c\/i\u003e was cut in less than a week of sessions, and the results hit your\rears with a revelatory smack. It is the most immediate, \u003ci\u003efun\u003c\/i\u003e collection\rthat the prolific Bishop has ever led.\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e“I just\rwanted to do it without thinking of it as an album,” Bishop says. I brought\rrough mixes of the songs to Jakarta and played them on various radio stations\rand then I played them for Koes Plus. All my Indonesian friends were very\rsupportive (laughing at\/charmed by my 'creative' pronunciation of the Bahasa\rlyrics), even the Koeswoyos were amazed how vintage the production sounded.” While\rBishop admires and is inspired by the Koeswoyo brothers' courage to make this\rkind of “forbidden” music while in the grip of an oppressive government, he\rultimately returns to the band's “amazing songs, their longevity in continuing\rto challenge themselves to continue producing\/recording album after album over\rdecades.” \r\r\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eWhat does\rBishop think 21st-century listeners can gain from this music? “I think this music\rstands the test of time. Their Indonesian fan base turns over from generation\rto generation, always increasing in number. They are perhaps the most popular\rand recognizable Indonesian music group of all time. Whatever can be learned or\rgained from this music is not my concern. People either get it or they don’t. I\rlove them to death and if this album can turn more people on to the Koes\rBersaudara\/Koes Plus legacy, even better.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\r\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eThis\ralbum is a Record Store Day 2015 exclusive, limited to 3,800 worldwide.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Koes Barat","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":31826613960800,"sku":"711231","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":32556522143840,"sku":"711236","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0110\/1882\/9920\/products\/koesbarat-900-300dpi.jpg?v=1581652389"},{"product_id":"tacocat_nvm","title":"NVM","description":"\u003cp\u003eLike a fluorescent-lit snack-aisle oasis in some desolate interstate road stop, brimming with Skittles and limited-edition Sno Balls, Tacocat’s Easter-egg-hued pop-punk-pop is bubblegum-sticky with hooks, bound to brighten up the most drab stretch of bummer backroad. 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Made on a creative whim with no outside expectations, the eleven-song collection combined Carter’s love of carefully-crafted pop with a loose, fun, off-the-cuff recording aesthetic. The album was released in 2017 and developed a small but loving fan base, and Minor Poet has grown from a passion project into a cross-country touring band with write-ups in publications such as American Songwriter, Magnet, The Wild Honey Pie, Impose, and more.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMinor Poet’s second album, The Good News, is a six-song collection that expands the boundaries of what constitutes the band’s sound. In just twenty-two minutes, the songs take apart the standard formulas of guitar-based rock and infuse them with vibrance and energy. On opener “Tabula Rasa,” interlocking guitars and a Farfisa organ carry the song through until everything drops suddenly into a doo-wop section that wouldn’t be out of place on a 1950’s greatest hits compilation. 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In the past, Carter played all the instruments and handled all the production, but he knew he that he had to reach outside himself to do justice to these songs. “I couldn’t capture the sounds I heard in my head,” Carter explains. “I wanted something that was vast and expansive but that at the same time could hit you immediately in the gut.” Paying homage to the “wall of sound” techniques made famous by Brian Wilson and Phil Spector, Carter and co-producer Adrian Olsen (Natalie Prass, Foxygen) overdubbed layer after layer of Carter playing an array of guitars, pianos, organs, synths, and percussion, as well as singing all the harmonies. The members of Minor Poet’s touring band were brought in to perform the core rhythm section, and local musicians stopped by to add crucial flourishes, such as the harmonizing guitar riffs in “Reverse Medusa” and the saxophone solo that closes out “Nude Descending Staircase.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt the center of everything is Carter’s voice, singing lyrics that seamlessly mix allusions to religion, mythology, art, and philosophy as he questions himself, his place in the world around him, what he owes to his relationships, and, in turn, what he needs to ask of others in order to stay healthy. Tabula Rasa is a concept that argues that humans are born blank slates, shaped through experience and environment. The last two years couldn’t have felt more applicable for Carter, who started out as a fresh face with little-to-no experience in the music industry and slowly grew into himself as a stage performer and bandleader through both good and bad times. 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