Best New Releases, February 7: Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory, Squid, and more
Another new release Friday is upon us, and despite whatever else is happening right now (none of it good!), at least we can take solace in knowing a new batch of great new albums is available to hear. Among this week’s Best New Releases is the new release from Sharon Van Etten’s new band, as well as the return of an excellent British art rock group, an archival shoegaze record, some great contemporary jazz and more.
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Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory – Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory
Sharon Van Etten has collaborated with a lot of great musicians over the years, but her latest is her first album written as a proper band, with songs that emerged from jam sessions they had while in the studio. Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory’s debut album (though by no means Van Etten’s debut) is our Album of the Week. In our review we said, “The kinetic energy harnessed by Van Etten and company is dynamic and infectious, each of the four musicians locked in and operating as essential parts of a greater whole—and sounding as if they’re having a hell of a lot of fun doing it.”
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Turntable Lab (vinyl)
Squid – Cowards
UK post-punk/art rock outfit Squid return with their third album and follow-up to 2023’s O Monolith, Cowards, a characteristically ambitious record that builds on their intricate songwriting with elements of pulsing krautrock and dreamy psychedelia. Early singles “Crispy Skin” and “Building 360” merged accessibility with elaborate arrangements, while there’s a dirty groove to “Cro-Magnon Man,” and the two “Fieldworks” counterparts veer into the abstract post-rock territory of These New Puritans. It’s another stellar record from a singular band, and we’ll have more on this one soon. In the meantime, read our interview with the band.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Turntable Lab (vinyl)
FACS – Wish Defense
Chicago art-punk trio FACS have maintained a steady, consistent pace of releasing a new album every one or two years, and they’re now on their sixth, continuing their ongoing if gradual growth and evolution into even more psychedelic terrain. The album takes on a slightly more somber tone in context, however, knowing that it’s the last to be recorded by Steve Albini before his untimely passing. Yet it’s another excellent release from the group, one that demands closer headphone listening and immersion. We’ll have more on this one soon.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Drop Nineteens – 1991
Boston shoegaze icons Drop Nineteens recently returned with 2023’s Hard Light, their first album in two decades, as well as their first live shows in just as long. And now, the group has officially released a long shelved and just-as-long bootlegged recording that predates their debut Delaware. Traded among fans as Mayfield, it sees release as 1991, featuring some stunning if sometimes raw tracks that positioned them as phenomenal shoegaze songsmiths from the beginning, even if it took a while for this to finally surface. We’ll have more on this one soon.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Turntable Lab (vinyl)
James Brandon Lewis Trio – Apple Cores
After teaming up with D.C.’s The Messthetics last year for an album that paired jazz with punk, saxophonist James Brandon Lewis delivers a new album with his trio, though to call it a more traditional jazz trio record sells it short. This album comprises pieces that are both atmospheric and animated, rhythmic and dreamy, offering a glimpse at the full spectrum of Lewis and company’s sound, with no shortage of groove to spare. Look out for more on this one soon.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
16 – Guides for the Misguided
Southern California sludge metal outfit 16 has been going for more than three decades, and have been delivering some of their most potent sets of riffs and mayhem in the past decade. Guides for the Misguided does nothing to dissuade this notion, as the brutal “After All” hits hard right off the bat, with both a nasty groove and a real chip on its shoulder. Yet “Fortress of Hate” has a grungy hookiness to it, while “Proudly Damned” leans more heavily into pure pummel. Guides for the Misguided is 16 at their best—angry, agitated and raw.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
