Best New Releases, February 28: Panda Bear, Cloakroom, and more
Just because there’s an Economic Blackout going on doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some new music. (You might as well go ahead and bookmark this page though, since you’ll have to reschedule your record shopping.) Nonetheless, there’s a lot of great music hitting shelves and DSPs today, including the latest from Panda Bear, a shoegazing wonder that’s also our Album of the Week, plus death metal, ethereal folk, grungy rock and more. Queue up the best albums of the week.
Blurbs written by Jeff Terich (JT), Langdon Hickman (LH), Colin Dempsey (CD), and Wil Lewellyn (WL).
Note: When you buy something through our affiliate links, Treble receives a commission. All albums we cover are chosen by our editors and contributors.
Panda Bear – Sinister Grift
Panda Bear has had a new release every year since 2022, first with Reset, then its dub version (and then its mariachi version), and now its proper follow-up, Sinister Grift. Much as with its predecessor, Noah Lennox invests in more conventional pop song structures with sunny melodies and infectious choruses. His layered vocal harmonies have often been compared to Brian Wilson in his mid- to late-’60s psychedelic prime, but Sinister Grift is maybe the first record of his that sounds like a proper Beach Boys record, and that bright pop sensibility suits him splendidly, whether on the Beck-like strut of “Ferry Lady,” or the anthemic psych-rock closer “Defense,” featuring Cindy Lee. – JT
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Turntable Lab (vinyl)
Cloakroom – Last Leg of the Human Table
Midwestern shoegaze trio Cloakroom return three years after the release of 2022’s Dissolution Wave with their most eclectic set of songs, which range from dreamy pop to driving post-punk. Last Leg of the Human Table is outstanding, and it’s our Album of the Week. In our review, we said, “The gauzy veil over Cloakroom’s melodies hasn’t dissipated, but the Midwestern trio continue to elevate what lies underneath it on their fourth album, Last Leg of the Human Table.” – JT
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Darkside – Nothing
Psychedelic/electronic group Darkside is back with their third album, Nothing, and appropriately, they’ve expanded from a duo to a trio, with drummer Tlacael Esparza now lending his percussive talent’s to the band’s sound on a set of more urgent, live-sounding bangers. In our review of the album, we said, “the group’s third album Nothing is where the real smashing happens, emphasizing their darker and noisier elements as they put even greater emphasis on a wild and frenzied immediacy.” – JT
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Turntable Lab (vinyl)
Yves Jarvis – All Cylinders
It’s good to hear records that slide into that space occupied by The Steoples and that one really good Leon Bridges record (I’ll leave you to figure out which one I mean). Yves Jarvis’ All Cylinders adds some of that honeyed ’70s AM soft rock, where jazz players and R&B players would work side by side with future yacht rock masters and former proffers going straight. There’s a major Michael McDonald vibe here that’s just immaculate and deeply missed by those of us with ears. This type of formalism in pop songwriting, that magical post-Motown window of the 70s where the looseness of gospel and blues and jazz started to creep back in, outlines a more or less bulletproof form. Jarvis has the wit to capture it; if you don’t like this stuff, you don’t have a heart. – LH
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Ichiko Aoba – Luminescent Creatures
Japanese singer/songwriter Ichiko Aoba has built a following from her gorgeous and intimate folk ballads, and she’s returned five years after the release of the acclaimed Windswept Adan with the wonderful Luminescent Creatures. In our review of the album, Ernesto Aguilar said, “By entwining the idea of deep-sea life, folk music and cinematic composition, Aoba fashions a listening experience that feels both ancient and newly illuminated—a universe all its own, guided by the soft glow of countless luminescent creatures.” – JT
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Turntable Lab (vinyl)
The Men – Buyer Beware
A record of straightforward punk rock by masters of the form. The Men have experimented enough over their career that when they decide to pare down like this, it’s done with sharpness and intent. That catching chromaticism of early punk, pinched from surf rock but distorted like heavy metal, rules the roost here, with solos that sound like they are bursting from broken amps. It’s iterative on genre, sure, but there’s a reason why when I say “punk”, this is what anyone thinks of. Plus the melodic moments that call to kind Hüsker Dü leave us with an alternative record that sounds like it’s plucked from that peak period before it split off from hardcore and went on its merry (and much more commercially successful) way. – LH
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Turntable Lab (vinyl)
Grima – Nightside
Melodic, atmospheric melodic black metal, with a bayan—not an accordion, by the way—played by dudes dressed as tree spirits; it seems either completely bonkers or nothing worth batting an eye at, depending on how deeply you’re enmeshed in the genre. On their sixth album, Siberia’s Grima upend their formula by playing to the nosebleeds. The pacing is pedestrian to emphasize the music’s grandeur, which attempts to be as large as the Siberian Taiga. It’s as if Grima are trying to grow their audience by playing to their idiosyncrasies. Focusing on folky, mid-paced anthems ties them to their home region and provides them with a distinct pungency, without sacrificing their ghastly qualities. – CD
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Vacuous – In His Blood
God, death metal is magical, isn’t it? Don’t be fooled by the opener here, which is a classic ripper of an opening track replete with Slayer shrieks. The main body of this record splits the difference between the moody groove of Napalm Death’s experiments in the ’90s (underrated, by the way) and more macabre work that modeled itself off of Incantation and Immolation. Don’t expect the wheel to be reinvented, but if you want some solidly executed death metal that doesn’t feel like a tired retread, Vacuous has you covered. – LH
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Year of the Cobra – Year of the Cobra
On their new self-titled album, Year the Cobra has shed its scales of their more metallic doom tendencies in favor of songs with more focus on vocal melodies. Amy Tung Barrysmith’s singing and basslines are more nuanced with melody as the duo now embraces a sound that feels like they are a long-lost grunge band from the ’90s. This makes for a more infectious listen, drawing from a broader range of emotional intelligence. Not in such a way that would alienate their stoner doom audience base, but rather it gives them more of an introspective Indica buzz while kicking up a huge arena-ready sound for just two people. – WL
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
