Swedish garage rockers The Hives released their first album in nearly five years on Tuesday, and man, it was worth the wait. Lex Hives is easily not just our top pick of all of this week’s U.S. releases, but, along with The Walkmen‘s Heaven, dropped last week, one of IRC’s Top 10 Albums of 2012, and it’s hard to see how either of them would not still be by December.
Check back in a few hours or so when we publish the Album of the Week post: Lex Hives, including more music. In the meantime, here’s The Hives’ first lead single in nearly half a decade.
“Go Right Ahead” – The Hives from Lex Hives (only $5 for limited time via AMZ)
Vancouver Garage Rock Duo Japandroids Drop Sophomore Album, ‘Celebration Rock’
After their spectacular, deservedly well-hyped 2009 debut, Japandroids are back with a new album of original material, Celebration Rock, the band’s sophomore release (in 2010, they released Singles, a compilation of two previously released EPs). Celebration Rock is an appropriate title for the spirit of the album. The terrific lead single, “The House That Heaven Built,” features the duo’s energetic garage rock punk they’ve become so well known for. It’s not ironic at all that words and phrases like ‘adrenaline,’ ‘continuous thunder,’ ‘fire’ and ‘sway’ are contained in the song titles of the eight-track LP because Japandroids’ music is emblematic of each.
“The House That Heaven Built” – Japandroids from Celebration Rock on Polyvinyl
“Evil’s Sway” – Japandroids from Celebration Rock on Polyvinyl
In fact, the track “Continuous Thunder” is a great buzz phrase to use when describing Japandroids’ sound. The fact that two guys are creating that much noise is simply impressive. The first track on the album to get wide circulation is “Younger Us,” which was originally released as a 7″ single in 2010. The new album has a string of potential “garage rocker hits,” including “Adrenaline Nightshift” and “Evil’s Sway.”
San Diego’s Crocodiles Release New Album of Noise Pop for the Summer
The Crocodiles are an appropriate follow-up to Japandroids. Based in sunny San Diego, The Crocodiles broke out in 2009 with their debut album, Summer of Hate. The band’s new album, Endless Flowers, is a cross between noise pop, psychedelic, lo-fi and post punk revival, and features songs ripe for summer, like “Bubblegum Trash,” “Electric Death Song” and the album’s lead single, “Sunday (Psychedelic Conversation #9).” Endless Flowers is the band’s third studio album.
“Sunday (Psychedelic Conversation #9)” – Crocodiles from Endless Flowers on Frenchkiss
Double-shot: “My Surfing Lucifer” – Crocodiles from Endless Flowers on Frenchkiss
Track via SoundsBetterWithReverb.com
Fresh Tracks from New Drops by Teen Daze & Pomegranates
Teen Daze return with more of their electronic sounds on the instrumental piece, “Brooklyn Sunburn.” The track is a candidate for IRC’s summer songs playlists series. While the chillwave craze, if you will, has died done a bit from its heights in 2009 through 2012, we still dig that genre, and hope it’ll remain around as long as it keeps turning out music people want to hear.
“Brooklyn Sunburn” – Teen Daze from All Of Us on Lefse Records
The Cincinnati band Pomegranates officially dropped their fourth album, Heaven, this week, only one week after The Walkmen released their album by the same name. Plus, the Japandroids’ single, “The House That Heaven Built,” demonstrates an unusually high number of references to heaven in a short period of time. Additionally, the lead single from Pomegranates’ fresh release, “Pass Away,” is also similarly thematic.
“Pass Away” –Pomegranates from Heaven
Fresh Tracks from Pujol, Michael The Blind, Anna Ternheim, Dntel & Others
The following are new singles from fresh album drops this week by Pujol, Michael The Blind, Thieving Irons, Curumin and Dntel. Let us know what you think via the Comments section below (no sign-up required and your comments are accessible to tens of thousands of people a week.
“Providence” – Pujol from United States of Being on Saddle Creek
“Sympathies” – Michael The Blind from Are’s & Els on Alder Street Records
“Sleepwalking Into The Ocean” – Thieving Irons from Behold, This Dreamer! (self-released)
“Selvage” – Curumin from Arrocha on Six Degrees Records
“Bright Night” – Dntel from Aimlessness on Pampa
Stay tuned for Vol. II of this week’s Best New Releases, plus DIY Releases of the Week. We’re also putting together an entire DIY-only series of profile playlists – there are hundreds of notable artists and bands that have sent in music and we plan to feature – it’s just all about time. Most of the artists have never been featured on a major indie site.
Finally, look out for our Album of the Week (The Walkmen’s Heaven) and the latest installment of the DIY Artist of the Week. Last week’s pick – Thad Kopec – received more than 130 Likes on Facebook alone.
