Dent May – Warm Blanket (Paw Tracks)
Summer slipping slowly away…
Warm Blanket, the third studio album by Paw Tracks understudy Dent May, feels like his grab for the spotlight. He is clearly cut from the Paw Tracks/Carpark cloth, recalling Toro Y Moi’s soft grooves, Ariel Pink’s love of cheesy pop, and, most prominently, Panda Bear’s obsession with the harmonies of the Beach Boys. Armed with his soothing tenor, Dent May filters all of these influences through squeaky-clean production and straightforward, searching lyrics to deliver a smooth, feel-good album with some strong highlights, such as disco-tinged single “Born Too Late” and the weightless lullaby “Endlessly.” And then there’s the crowning moment, the gorgeous, heartbreaking ballad “Yazoo,” which perfectly expresses the mood of the album and its season; this silly time of year, when the weather feels like summer but we have to get back into the grind, and our summer memories begin to fade into and become indistinguishable from all those past.
-Jesse Paller
RIYL: The Beach Boys, Toro Y Moi, Panda Bear
Recommended: 3, 4, 9
Arctic Monkeys ÛÒ AM (Domino)
The sound of agonizing over whether or not to send a drunk text.
AM opens up with the “Do I Wanna Know?,” a stomping ode to a love that may or not be unrequited. Not that Alex Turner will ever find out, because it turns out he may be afraid to even ask. I would be remiss to not mention that at least three other songs on the record follow this same basic formula, but it sounds so good. “R U Mine?” is more or less the heavier, more guitar happy brother of the opening track, but doesn’t hold back with its pounding drums and righteous riffs. On other songs like “One for the Road” and “Knee Socks,” the Monkeys rely on a dark sense of shallow swagger to sell the songs, and others like “Why’d You Only Call Me When Your High” experiment with almost R&B-esque rhythms and vocal phrasing. The production and R&B experiments make this album reminiscent of The Black Keys’s Brothers, and it’s the lyrics, which paint Turner as a desperate, troubled young man in search for a love that alludes him that help to sell what can sometimes be a pretty homogenous record. The lyrical focus is a welcome return to form from Humbug and Suck It and See’s more abstract, psychedelic leanings, and bleary-eyed ballads “No. 1 Party Anthem” and “I Wanna Be Yours” prove that Arctic Monkeys are more than just a one dimensional rock band. AM may not be an incredibly diverse or ambitious offering, but it conveys enough relatable feelings and infectious tunes to get the job done.
-Michael Lovito
RIYL: The Black Keys, Franz Ferdinand, The Dead Weather
Recommended: 2, 3, 8, 9
King Krule- 6 Feet Beneath The Moon (True Panther)
19-years-old but an old soul at heart.
Archy Marshall is one hard guy to read. On the cover: scrawny smoker Brit whose mellow voice and slurred vocals sing words of everyday heartbreak. The actual text: well it’s hard to tell on this debut. Somewhat of a more poetic Mac DeMarco, King Krule captivates without being overly intricate, in the instrumentation aspect that is. Beats with hip-hop elements and the way Marshall spins his words are at the core of this album but so are pretty guitar melodies that don’t even need a backbeat to break hearts. Take “Foreign 2” which has clear Mount Kimbie influences and confessional “Out Getting RibsÛ. Something about the way King Krule’s reflective lyrics melt with his croaking voice and livelier guitar truly gets at the soul. But listening to this record for days straight and having its impact still unclear is slightly off-putting. Maybe 6 Feet Under The Moon should not be understood or dissected. It seems Marshall is simply singing the blues, something he does (sadly) very well.
-Molly Pfeffer
RIYL: Mac Demarco, Mount Kimbie, Girls
Recommended: 1, 2, 6, 9, 13