Category: New Releases

All the buzz last week was around the much anticipated and long-awaited follow-up to Surfer Blood‘s wildly popular and successful 2010 debut, Astro Coast. The buzz was well earned as most people who had not downloaded leaked copies found out over the past few days. In fact, Pythons is already easily one of the top albums of 2013, and it is almost predictably going to be high up on many year-end Best Albums of 2013 lists. As IRC contributor Devin William Daniels pointed out in his album review of Pythons, the band achieved one thing in particular – making the guitar the centerpiece of their catchy indie pop sound. The guitar is also the centerpiece of the sound of another artist we featured this week – Rob Eldridge, the founder and frontman of Pittsburgh band, Steelesque, IRC’s latest Artist of the Week.

In addition to Surfer Blood, another top album for our listeners this past week was yet another sophomore album, this time around from British producer Gold Panda, and Scottish brother duo Boards of Canada‘s first album in eight years, the dark and dense, Tomorrow’s Harvest. Another switch in mood would be the hard rock ‘journey’ of Deafheaven‘s Sunbather, which contributor J. Hubner wrote about in his review of the album. Other than those releases, there was not much from last week’s releases. Last week was probably was one of the thinnest weeks of the year for new releases.

“Beach Demon” – Surfer Blood from Pythons on Sire Records

“We Work Nights” – Gold Panda from Half Of Where You Live on Ghostly International

“Reach For The Dead” – Boards of Canada from Tomorrow’s Harvest on Warp Records

“Dark Corners” – Sonny & The Sunsets from Antenna To The Afterworld on Polyvinyl

“Raw Wood” – John Vanderslice from Dagger Beach on Tiny Telephone

“Cape Fear” – Estrangers from Season of 1000 Colors on Phuzz Sounds

Graham Repulski, The Human Natures, and The 88

Graham Repulski is a lo-fi indie musician and the CEO of Shorter Recordings in New Jersey. However, his new album, Cop Art, recorded with his band, was released via Big School Records. In fact, Repulski and his band are a “mysterious home recording act out of New Jersey [that] channels legends of lo-fi past, like Sebadoh, Guided By Voices, and Grifters, slathering on warped guitar noise a la Polvo, never shying away from all a cheapo production flourish.” There are also other DIY albums that dropped in the past week that warrant checking out, including The Human Natures and The 88.

“Why I Don’t Believe In Anything” – Graham Repulski from Cop Art

The Human Natures is a punk/chillwave one-man band of singer and songwriter Steve Beres from Cressona, Pennsylvania who self-released his new album that is “dense and sparse, noisy and meditative. Blues patterns collide with found sound and panicked talk-singing.” He writes that the LP, The Art of Standing Up, isn’t for everyone. “It is not a pop album and it doesn’t have hooks,” but is a “soundtrack” meant for “solitary drives and sleepless nights.”

“Two Cents” – The Human Natures from The Art of Standing Up

“I Saw The Light That Day” – The 88 from Fortune Teller

There are quite a few fantastic albums out this week from long-time indie and alternative artists as well as new bands on the radar for 2013. The songs from this week’s carefully-selected collection of EPs and LPs make for an impressive, diverse and lively playlist that is a little over an hour long; in fact, many of the hundreds and hundreds of playlists in the IRC archives still have active song links, unlike many other websites and blogs. Therefore, IRC is not just a record of the newest indie music, but it also serves as one giant soundtrack of the best popular, and DIY, indie music since 2008. And just like this week’s Best New Music Releases playlist, all of the playlists stream automatically and uninterrupted from the first song to the last simply by clicking the play button at the top of the list one time – there’s no need to have to keep manually clicking each song to hear them all, which frees you up to do other things like browse the web, read, play games while listening to the top singles for the first week of June.

Also, because of a growing number of requests, we are including quick links to purchase, via Amazon, both the CD and MP3 versions of each album selected from this week’s batch of new releases. In case you have missed any recent posts and playlists, check out the latest DIY Artist of the Week, Nick Jaina, an amazing singer/songwriter and musician from Portland who has opened for bands like The Decemberists, as well as Volume IV of the popular Bands That Rock series and another Volume IV installment for the 7 Overseas Bands You’ve Gotta Hear series, which is sort of similar to the 5 DIY Bands to Watch series. Some of you have asked about the Top 10 Songs page, which we have not updated yet for April and May – apologies, it’s in the works. We’re looking for a way in the future to show the Top 10 Songs in real-time, which will be a really cool addition to Indie Rock Cafe.

Big Deal, Portugal The Man, Camera Obscura, and Dead Stars

Among the top releases of the week are the new-to-us band, Big Deal and their album, June Gloom, featuring the summer-feeling pop single, “Dream Machines,” followed by Portugal The Man‘s second EP, and title track, Evil Friends. Also, check out Camera Obscura‘s new album, Desire Lines (see IRC’s Devin William Daniels’ CO review), and the new-to-us indie rock band, Dead Stars‘ impressive new EP, High Gain.

“Dream Machines” – Big Deal from June Gloom [CD or MP3 version] on Mute

“Evil Friends” – Portugal The Man from Evil Friends EP [CD or MP3 version] on Atlantic

“Fifth in Line to the Throne” – Camera Obscura from Desire Lines [CD or MP3 version] on 4AD

“Waste Away” – Dead Stars from High Gain EP [CD or MP3 version] on Uninhabitable Mansions

First Future Bible Heroes Album in Nine Years; Plus, QOTSA and Rogue Wave

Merge recording artist, and long-time indie favorites in the cafe, Future Bible Heros‘ latest LP, Partygoing is yet another impressive production. Formed in 1996 by indie rock pioneer, Stephin Merritt (best known as the songwriter/singer for the band Magnetic Fields, less so for Gothic Archies and the 6ths), Future Bible Heroes have only released three albums in 16 years. Merritt’s long-time collaborators, Claudia Gonson and Chris Ewen, joined forces for the first time since 2002’s brilliant Eternal Youth, FBHs’ best of their three LPs, with 1997’s debut, Memories of Love, following at a very close second. In fact, the indie trio just released a special remastered collection of all three albums, which is available as an MP3 download or CD collection via Amazon. The remastered collection also contains FBHs’ three EPs, and is a must-have addition to the music collection of serious lo-fi indie pop lovers, and especially so for fans of Merritt’s enormous contributions to indie music during the past 15 years. Another fantastic band formed the same year as FBHs, but who pack a much harder punch, is the alternative rock legends, Queens of the Stone Age. QOTSA delivers their latest album with the drop this week of Like Clockwork. Following QOTSA is the latest effort from another long-time indie band that we have followed closely for a decade now, Rogue Wave.

“Partygoing” – Future Bible Heroes from Partygoing [CD or MP3 version] on Merge Records

“If I Had Tail” – Queens of the Stone Age from Like Clockwork [CD or MP3 version] on Matador Records

“College” – Rogue Wave from Nightingale Floors [CD or MP3 version] on Vagrant

Upbeat Melodies from Rogue Wave, Splashh, GRMLN, Little Children, Houndmouth and Jon Hopkins

Following Rogue Wave‘s lively new single, “College,” are a series of new-to-us bands that keep the upbeat vibe going with fresh album singles like “All I Wanna Do” from Splashh, the hook-heavy pop of GRMLN‘s excellent lead track, “Do You Know How It Feels?” and the foot-tapping atmospheric melodies of the band Little Children’s song, “Falling.” The playlist is closed out by the catchy track “On The Road” from the band Houndmouth, and the extended electro/trance dance recording, “Open Eye Signal,” from Jon Hopkins.

“All I Wanna Do” – Splashh from Comfort [CD or MP3 version] on Kanine Records

“Do You Know How It Feels?” – GRMLN from Empire [CD or MP3 version] on Carpark Records

“Falling” – Little Children from Falling EP [CD or MP3 version] on Declared Goods Records

“On The Road” – Houndmouth from From the Hills Below the City [CD or MP3 version] on Rough Trade

“Open Eye Signal” – Jon Hopkins from Immunity [CD or MP3 version] on Domino

We’re a bit late with the past week’s best new releases, but of course, it has to kick-off with Shabazz Palaces remix of Animal Collective‘s “New Town Burnout” from the Baltimore group’s new remix EP, Monkey Been to Burn Town. Too bad the album cover art is pretty awful. Even though it’s a reissue, one of the week’s one top singles is King Tuff‘s fun, upbeat and quirky single, “Dancing On You,” from the remastered, excellent album, Was Dead. Sticking with the zany theme, the interestingly named Alex Bleeker and The Freaks hit it on the track, “Don’t Look Down,” from How Far Away, followed by Paperhaus‘ self released Lo Hi Lo LP’s single, “Helicopters.” The goodness keeps going with singles from new releases (and one reissue) by Baths, Brazos, Hooded Fang, Damien Jurado, Kermit Ruffins, CocoRosie and Feathers, the latter two are both DIY releases. In case you missed them, definitely check out the Artist of the Week: Nick Jaina, Overseas Band to Watch Deco Pilot, the fifth installment of Bands That Rock!, plus, Best New Releases playlist for the week of May 21st.

“New Town Burnout” (Shabazz Palaces Remix) – Animal Collective from Monkey Been to Burn Town EP on Domino

“Dancing On You” – King Tuff from Was Dead (reissue) on BurgerRecords

“Don’t Look Down” – Alex Bleeker and the Freaks from How Far Away on Woodsist Records

“Helicopters” – Paperhaus from Lo Hi Lo (self-released)

“Ironworks” – Baths from Obsidian on Anticon

“How The Ranks Was Won” – Brazos from Saltwater on Dead Oceans

“Ode to Subterrania” – Hooded Fang from Gravez on Full Time Hobby

“Omaha” – Damien Jurado from Where Shall You Take Me (10th Anniversary Deluxe LP) on Secretly Canadian

“I Got A Treme Woman” – Kermit Ruffins from We Partyin’ Traditional Style! on Basin Street Records

“Gravediggress” – CocoRosie from Tales of a GrassWidow (self-release)

“Soft” – Feathers from If All Here Now (self-released)

This week, the long-awaited – eight years as a matter of fact – new album, Random Access Memories, from the most famous helmeted musical group on this planet, Daft Punk, saw its official release, and fans from around the world are celebrating its electro-dance pop mastery. In fact, at the time of this posting, Random Access Memories‘ CD version is the No. 1 album on the Amazon CDs chart, and No. 3 for the MP3 version. If you you don’t have a copy of this album, it’s a must-have for your 2013 music collection.

Following right behind, the MP3 version of The National’s new album, Trouble Will Find Me, is No. 2 right now on the Amazon MP3 Albums charts, while the CD version is No. 2 on the CD Album chart, while last week’s No. 1 CD album, Vampire Weekend’s Modern Vampires of the City is holding it’s own right behind The National at No. 3.

The latest releases from Daft Punk and The National are easily the top two albums out this week, but there are also plenty of terrific singles from a dozen other new albums by Dirty Beaches, Man or Astro-Man, Radiation City, Club 8, The Baptist Generals, Jesse Ruins, JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound, Shannon and the Clams, Majical Cloudz, Attic Lights and the remastered release of The Talking Heads‘ classic 1980’s LP, Speaking in Tongues, while the new MP3 version includes bonus tracks, making it a no brainer purchase for die-hard Talking Heads’ fans. You can read more at the end of this post about the BNMR’s playlist.

“Get Lucky” – Daft Punk with Pharrell Williams from Random Access Memories (CD) from on Daft Life/Columbia

“Sea Of Love” – The National from Trouble Will Find Me (CD) on 4AD

“Love Is The Devil” – Dirty Beaches from Drifters/Love Is the Devil on Zoo

“Defcon 5” – Man or Astro-Man from Defcon 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 on Communicating Vessels/Chunklet

“Dog That Bit You” – The Baptist Generals from Jackleg Devotional to the Heart on Sub Pop

“Laura Is Fading” – Jesse Ruins from A Film on Lefse Records

“Say You Love Me” – Attic Lights from Super De Luxe on Elefant

“Childhood’s End” – Majical Cloudz from Impersonator on Matador Records

“Hollow” – Linda Draper from Edgewise (self-released)

“Zombies” – Radiation City from Animals In The Median on Tender Loving Empire

“Rouse Yourself” – JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound from Howl on Bloodshot Records

“Into A Dream” – Shannon and the Clams from Dreams in the Rat on Hardly Art

“Stop Taking My Time” – Club 8 from Above The City on Labrador Records

The Uses of the Built-in Yahoo Player

The other singles from this week’s top new releases are available for streaming with the built-in player; support your favorite artists and bands by clicking on the album link to quickly and easily make a purchase via Amazon, which offers the best deals of all online music stores. By default, all album links are for the MP3 version of the album, and often, there is a separate link to click to purchase the CD version. Like all the Best New Music Releases playlists on IRC, we like to include a diversity of tracks from the week’s top releases, and where, noted also include DIY releases; however, the majority of DIY releases are usually posted in other playlists besides the weekly BNMR playlists. The great thing about the built-in Yahoo media player is that you can just click the first track and it will automatically play through all the singles, but you still have the ability to go back, pause, go forward, or simply click the play button beside only the singles you want to listen to.

No better way to end this week’s playlist of singles then with a remastered version of The Talking Head’s classic track, “Burning Down The House.”

“Burning Down The House” – Talking Heads from Speaking In Tongues(CD) on Sire Records

To this day, many bands that sprout from San Francisco, especially those that embrace the “San Francisco sound” – that made the city ground zero of the 60’s music scene thanks to bands like Santana, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Starship, Janis Joplin, Quicksilver Messenger Service – are bound to be tagged with the ‘retro’ label at some point. The San Francisco Sound is embedded in the fiber of the city’s musical aura, and probably always will be. That said, we don’t think there’s anything wrong with being retro if it’s good stuff.

But Tim Cohen, frontman of the Fresh and Onlys and Magic Trick, challenges the retro label of the Cool Ghouls and their flashback sound: “First things first: Cool Ghouls are not a retro act. If you seek musical salvation in the form of mop-topped mannequins with vintage riffs and hand-me-down rags, please stop reading. Yes, the Cool Ghouls borrowed their name from George Clinton’s Funkadelic-era pre-show banter. Yes, they dwell penniless in the storied hills of culturally resurgent San Francisco. But these boys have their feet firmly planted in the soil of the now. They look not backwards for approving nods of hipster forebears, but rather skyward, hoping that the ‘supernatural forces’ they yodel for, guide them to all corners of a half-deserving world. Truth be told, this being their first official release, they may even be a bit naïve in their dogged pursuit of the true-blue, home-spun, rock and roll lifestyle.”

But, Cohen observed, if there was to be a 60’s-reverent comparison that fit the band, one would most likely find an artistic kinship with some the most inimitable, idiosyncratic, yet unmistakably influential bands of the retro-fitting oeuvre. The Troggs, The Monks, Sir Douglas Quintet come to mind immediately. (Save your Kinks and Rolling Stones references.) Like the aforementioned, the Ghouls are natural heirs to the folkloric lineage which precedes them, adding dashes of weirdness where needed. And despite their mid-fi leanings and natural fit within the current pantheon of San Francisco rock ‘n’ roll bands (Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Mikal Cronin), theirs is a timeless record, which will hopefully transcend the descriptors (garage, psych, etc.) that will undoubtedly plague it in the blogosfear. The reason being – they write good SONGS.’

Hence, the debut record, an adventurous, colorful romp seen through the eyes of old-souled youths, feels wholly coherent and intentional. The self-assuredness of their songwriting is evident. And no, the Ghouls are not afraid to wear their influences on their sleeves; this is partly what makes the record so digestible. It doesn’t claim to be anything other than what it is; a record for now, a record for then, and a record for forever.

The band has been getting some serious love from the blogosphere and the music press so far this year, and will set out on a West coast tour in June (see the tour dates on their official web page). The Bay Bridged wrote: “[The band’s debut] is uncontrived and unapologetically filled with joy in the most refreshing way.”

“Natural Life” – Cool Ghouls from Cool Ghouls

We surveyed IRC readers asking what’s their favorite album of the week, and not surprisingly, the vast majority picked Vampire Weekend‘s first album in three years, the just dropped Modern Vampires of the City. By the time Contra, the band’s sophomore album, was released in 2010, a backlash was already building up against the wildly popular outfit from New York by some of indie rock’s most righteous and cynical bloggers, writers and fans. The backlash, which had been brewing for at least a year by that point, was no doubt fueled largely by the over exposure of the band and their highly-acclaimed 2008 self-titled debut album that spawned a number of hit singles, like “A-Punk” and “Oxford Comma.” In a matter of months in 2008, which spilled over into 2009, it was almost impossible to escape the Vampire Weekend frenzy. And in 2010, they released Contra, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 – and effectively propelled the band out of ‘indie’ status to the world stage.

Whether you love Vampire Weekend, love to hate them (there are plenty of both just by the fact that they’ve been one of the most popular bands of the past five years), or you’re essentially indifferent, the fact is Modern Vampires of the City is a contemporary gem, if not a masterpiece, and will surely be at the top, or near the top, of dozens of ‘best albums of 2013’ lists that will start being published only a few months from now (usually by October and November, ‘best of’ lists start being pumped out).  It shot up to No. 1 right away on the Amazon music chart. The new album is the band’s most progressive, mature work to date, offering wonderfully crafted songs with colorful and adventurous arrangements and instrumentation, and lyrical themes about the gloomy aspects of love and mortality that are expressed by strange and provocative vocal effects backed by beautiful choruses.

Our only concern about the huge splash that the official release of Modern Vampires has created in the musical world is the overshadowing of many other spectacular releases this week. Plus, listen to new singles from just dropped albums by three artists we’ve been fans of for some time now – Small Black and Wild Nothing, plus 2013 band to watch, Wampire, and The Phoenix Foundation, Pure X, and of course, post-punk legends, The Fall.

“Diane Young” – Vampire Weekend from Modern Vampires of the City [CD version] on XL Recordings

“A Dancing Shell” – Wild Nothing from Empty Estate [CD version] on Captured Tracks

“Free At Dawn” – Small Black from Limits of Desire [CD version] on Jagjaguwar

“Trains” – Wampire from Curiosity on Polyvinyl Records

“The Captain” – The Phoenix Foundation from Fandango on Memphis Industries

“Things in My Head” – Pure X from Crawling Up the Stairs [CD version] on Acephale Records

“Sir William Wray” – The Fall from Re-Mit on Cherry Red Records

Classixx, Dungeonesse, Kisses, The Features, Eluvium, Bibio and More

Put on your dancing shoes for the electro-pop single, “Holding On,” from Los Angeles duo Classixx, who mix elements of disco, funk and house, punctuated by cool grooves, breezy melodies and hi decipal synths on the lead track from their debut album, Hanging Gardens. Dungeonesse keep the beats, grooves and shimmering synths going on their new single, “Shucks.” Another debut album out this week is the self-titled album from The Features, lead by the mellow single, “With Every Beat.” The track goes along at a slow clip with a heavy bass line, airy, melodic synths, sporadic guitar notes, looping vocal repetition of ‘every beat of the heart,’ and a kind of spooky, yet dreamy, ‘oooh oooh oohh’ background vocal dubbing.

For those who enjoy instrumental, atmospheric and dreamy arrangements, check out the stunningly beautiful new single from Eluvium that, to our surprise, in a way, got more thumbs up on Soundcloud than recent singles by fairly well-known artists. Warped Records recording artist Bibio dropped a new album this week, featuring the single, “A Tout A L’Heure,” that has an electro pop charm with programmed effects (there’s only so far you can go with computer generated beats and other sounds). Other tracks include new singles from MS MR and Kisses.

“Holding On” – Classixx from Hanging Gardens on Innovative Leisure

“With Every Beat” – The Features from The Features on Serpents and Snakes/BMG

“Shucks” – Dungeonesse from Dungeonesse on Secretly Canadian

“The Hardest Part” – Kisses from Kids in LA on Cascine

“Envenom Mettle” – Eluvium from Nightmare Ending on Temporary Residence Ltd.

“A Tout A L’Heure” – Bibio from Silver Wilkinson on Warp Records

“Hurricane” – MS MR from Secondhand Rapture on Columbia Records

Churches Remix: “Hurricane” – MS MR

“Magic Look” – Marques Toliver from Land of CanAan on Bella Union

Sam Amidon, The Quick and Easy Boys, The Blank Tapes

If you’re an indie folk fan, chances are you’ll enjoy the new album by Sam Amidon, lead by the single “My Old Friend.” We also have included the lead singles from new albums by The Handsome Family, and The Quick & Easy Boys. The Blank Tapes return with the band’s sophomore album this week. The single, “Coast to Coast,” is OK, but not what we expected from the band. The is indescridably flat and falls short of expectations, and likely even more disappointing to more die-hard fans of the band. When listening to the song, we kept waiting for it to break out, liven up and , but it never does. Almost any listener can hear that there is no meat on the bone with this song.

“My Old Friend” – Sam Amidon from Bright Sunny South on Nonesuch Records

“Hey Hey Hey” – The Quick & Easy Boys from Make It Easy (self-released)

“Coast to Coast” – The Blank Tapes from Vacation on Antenna Farm Records

We’ve been fans of the San Francisco band Sonny & The Sunsets since hearing their splendid single, “Too Young To Burn,” in 2010. That song, and the album it appeared on, Tomorrow is Alright, catapulted the band to indie stardom, and they’ve been riding high on that wave ever since with each recording or video they release, and each new gig or festival they appear at.

Last week, Sonny & The Sunsets dropped the new single, “Green Blood,” which features dreamy, spatial new wave synth notes, understated Joy Division-like beats (albeit with a drum machine), and the whispery, haunting singing from female vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Kelly Stolz.

The restless, somewhat risky, trend of changing gears so dramatically over the past few years continues on Antenna to the Afterworld, which is based on Smith’s alleged contacts with loved ones who are no longer of this physical world, a stark departure from last year’s Longtime Companion, a country-centric album, and stylistically Smith-sonian, that chronicles the end of a ten-year relationship.

“Green Blood” – Sonny & The Sunsets from Antenna to the Afterworld

As a writer ­­of songs, plays, and short stories, ­­Smith has never limited himself to one style or theme as his songwriting over the past three years so wonderfully demonstrates. Antenna to the Afterworld will be officially released on June 11th in the U.S..

Another single, “Dark Corners,” that we got a hold of from the upcoming album, demonstrates how the band’s use of synths fits perfectly, and sonically, with the sci-fi narrative: “I come from the planet of dogs… / And I walk on your streets… / and I can’t wait to find / My little place in your weird world.”

“Dark Corners” – Sonny & The Sunsets from Antenna to the Afterworld

New Sonny and the Sunsets June 2013 Tour Dates

06/13 Hamden, CT The Outer Space *
06/14 Brooklyn, NY Knitting Factory / Northside Fest
06/16 Pittsburgh, PA The Smiling Moose *
06/17 Lakewood, OH Mahalls 20 Lanes
06/19 Indianapolis, IN Radio Radio *
06/20 Detroit, MI The Lager House *
06/21 Chicago, IL Beat Kitchen *

* = w/ Little Wings

Leading of this week’s new releases are two blockbuster albums from veterans of rock and roll, two bands that no doubt have been, and continue to be, an inspiration to countless popular and obscure alternative and indie rock artists. First up, is the latest album from Iggy Pop and The Stooges, and it sounds excellent. As life-long fans of The Stooges, we’ve been impressed with their comeback since 2005. At first, like any die-hard fans of an aging rock band, we feared the band just could not possibly sound as great as they did during their hey days four decades ago – a time in which they were known as the crazy punk rock band with a skinny, shirtless Iggy Pop at the helm, belting out songs like, “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and “Lust For Life.” Nowadays, Iggy is not only an iconic figure in the world of rock, and in the culture as a whole, but he is often referred to as the “godfather of punk,” a title he definitely earned.

And yet all these years later, with most of the band members well into their 60’s (Iggy is 66), they’ve only gotten better as punk rock musicians. Iggy has always been in amazing shape and a ball of energy on stage, and still kicks it out on stage. The Stooges new single, “Burn,” sounds like a track that could have appeared on one of their three classic albums released between 1969 and 1973. The band never reached the level of success they deserved during that time span because the uptight music industry of those days thought they were too weird and dangerous to put serious money behind to promote. History now shows what a poor decision that was; Iggy Pop and The Stooges have been more popular and successful in the past 20 years than they were in their first 20 years, albeit they were not actively a band from 1973 to 2005.

“Burn” – Iggy and the Stooges from Ready To Die on Fat Possum Records

Despite that, The Stooges were an underground punk-rock sensation whose music over time is as much a part of the story of punk rock in America as any other band; in a way, Iggy and his bandmates practically invented punk. Unfortunately for the band’s die-hard fans at the time, The Stooges called it quits in 1973, oddly enough following the release of their most critically-acclaimed album, Raw Power, and one of the most important albums in the history of punk music, if not rock music as a whole. Over the ensuing decades since their disbanding, their music became more popular as time moved on, which was in part why they decided to regroup and release a new album in 2005. The album cover for Ready To Die is bound to be problematic for some people, especially considering the timing of it.

In addition to Iggy Pop and The Stooges, there were two other big-name, highly anticipated new albums dropped this week – veteran post-punk band Guided By Voices‘ new album, English Little League, led by the single, “Noble Insect,” and Akron/Family‘s Sub Verses, featuring the spectacular track, “Until The Morning.”

“Noble Insect” – Guided By Voices from English Little League on GBV, Inc.

“Until The Morning” – Akron/Family from Sub Verses [includes digital book] on Dead Oceans

Daughter’s Debut Plus Cayucas, El Khatib, Wolf People and Hands

With Iggy Pop and The Stooges proving once again their never-ending lust for punk rock, the pioneering GBV’s post-reunion wellspring of terrific songs resulting in another terrific album, and indie rock/experimental pop band, Akron/Family‘s latest collection of superbly crafted and executed songs, attention now turns to the exciting and impressive debut from buzz band Daughter, followed up by standout singles from new albums by Cayucas, Hanni El Khatib, Wolf People and Hands. A couple of days ago we asked all of you to name the best album for the month of April, and while Kurt Vile ultimately took the No. 1 prize for his amazing LP, Walkin’ On A Pretty Daze, right on his heels was Daughter’s If You Leave.

The trio actually began as the solo project of musician Elena Tonra, until guitarist Igor Haefeli and drummer Remi Aguilella jumped aboard in 2010. In 2010 and 2011, the trio dropped three well-regarded EPs before being signed by the top-notch record label 4AD, whose roster includes a stunning line-up of some of the best indie and alt. rock artists and bands of recent years, including Bon Iver, Ariel Pink, The National, St. Vincent, Purity Ring, Deerhunter, Camera Obscura, Iron & Wine, Grimes, Twin Shadow and Grimes, among others. Now 4AD can boast about the newest member of their musical family, Daughter. Here’s the lead single, “Smother,” from the band’s new debut. The album, easily one of the best debuts of 2013, is available as an MP3 download for only $6.99 or $7.99 for the CD version.

“Smother” – Daughter from If You Leave on Glassnote Records

“East Coast Girl” – Cayucas from Bigfoot on Secretly Canadian

“Family” – Hanni El Khatib from Head In The Dirt on Innovative Leisure

“All Returns” – Wolf People from Fain {+digital booklet} on Jagjaguwar

“Sun Medallion” – King Tuff from Was Dead (reissue) on Burger Records

“Trouble” – Hands from Synethesia on Kill Rock Stars

“Happiness” – Adventure from Weird Work on Carpark Records

“Staying In” – Ola Podrida from Ghosts Go Blind on Western Vinyl

“Brother in the Night” – The Weeks from Dear Bo Jackson on Serpents and Snakes Records

“Twin Peaks” – Alice Russell from To Dust on Tru Thoughts