Best New Releases, October 27: The Mountain Goats, Sofia Kourtesis and more
We’re nearing the end of the year and that means the release calendar is ever so slightly starting to slow down. A little bit. Kind of.
In any case, we’ve still got a roundup of some of the best new albums to hit streaming services and record stores today. Here are seven of today’s best new releases.
Note: When you buy something through our affiliate links, Treble receives a commission. All albums included are chosen by our editors and contributors.
The Mountain Goats – Jenny From Thebes
The Mountain Goats revisit the character of Jenny on their latest album, who first appeared in songs back on 2002’s All Hail West Texas, and now becomes the protagonist for the group’s latest set of songs. In our review of the album, Sean Fennell said, “All Hail West Texas is charming, nostalgic, and immediate. It is an incredibly important record to me and so many others, but Jenny From Thebes is the work of musicians on another level entirely.”
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Merchbar (vinyl)
Sofia Kourtesis – Madres
Peruvian-born producer Sofia Kourtesis first made her presence known via a series of EPs over the past five years, most notably with the acclaimed techno and microhouse of 2021’s Fresia Magdalena. Now she’s finally delivered her debut album through Ninja Tune, a hypnotic and lively set of dance music that’s gorgeous, lush, bright and joyful. It’s one of the most warmly magnetic sets of beat-driven music to arrive this year, coming alive through the intoxicating and blissful sounds of highlights such as “How Music Makes You Feel Better,” which more than lives up to its name.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Merchbar (vinyl)
The Serfs – Half Eaten by Dogs
Cincinnati’s The Serfs make their Trouble in Mind debut this week with their third album Half Eaten by Dogs, an eclectic set of post-punk and synth-pop that leans toward the stranger edge of both. It’s currently our Album of the Week, and in our review, I said, “The sounds on Half Eaten by Dogs oscillate between dingy punk clubs and cold war bunkers, brilliant beams of light and rusted networks of twisted metal.”
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Merchbar (vinyl)
Ragana – Desolation’s Flower
This week we named The Flenser our Label of the Month, with a growing roster of dark, heavy and innovative music that, as of today, includes the latest album from black metal duo Ragana. The Pacific Northwest group has released four full-length records over the past decade, along with a split LP with Thou, but their latest is one of their most immediately rewarding, emotionally charged, blanketed in a melancholy fog and gorgeously eerie. Though black metal that thrives on mood and atmosphere over, say, evil isn’t necessarily a new idea, Ragana’s take is masterful and affecting, another strong entry in a growing catalog of rich and haunting metal.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Merchbar (vinyl)
Year of the Knife – No Love Lost
A silver lining to a nightmare of a year that found Year of the Knife involved in a serious van accident that left vocalist Madi Watkins suffering a traumatic brain injury, No Love Lost is a blistering hardcore triumph featuring guest appearances from Dylan Walker of Full of Hell and Devin Swank of Sanguisugabogg. Though it could be a while before it can be experienced live, No Love Lost nonetheless carries a relentless heaviness that builds on the explosive sound of their debut, 2020’s Internal Incarceration. Pure Noise has also taken the step of releasing all the proceeds directly to the band, as they continue their recovery.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Pure Noise
Shabazz Palaces – Robed in Rareness
Shabazz Palaces return three years after The Don of Diamond Dreams with a new seven-song mini-album featuring guest appearances from Porter Ray and Lil Tracy (who is Ishmael Butler’s son). Spacious and otherworldly as ever, the new batch of songs leans heavier on synth-laden sounds and dreamier elements, emphasizing a psychedelic melodicism, particularly on standouts like the swirling headtrip of “Scarface Mace.”
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Superchunk – Misfits & Mistakes: Singles, B-Sides & Strays 2007-2023
It’s been only a year since the last full-length Superchunk album, Wild Loneliness, but the group has returned with a particularly thrilling gift for longtime fans: A 50-song(!) compilation of non-album tracks, including one-off singles, b-sides, compilation tracks and other various items they’ve issued in the past 16 years. Kicking off with the outstanding single “Learned to Surf,” the compilation features other outtakes, which include demos, acoustic versions, and a fair number of covers, including The Misfits (“Where Eagles Dare”), The Cure (“In Between Days”), Bananarama (“Cruel Summer”), Destiny’s Child (“Say My Name”) and The Minutemen (“Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing”).
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Merchbar (vinyl)
Adzes – Inver
Today also sees the release of the new album by New Zealand-based sludge metal outfit Adzes, Inver. We premiered the album in its entirety earlier this week, and here’s what we said about it: ” Songs like the ethereal “Strange Warmth of Decay” and the melancholy ‘Rainhammer’ showcase some of Adzes’ most graceful material alongside the abrasive contrasts of ‘Antipode,’ which juxtaposes thorny riffs alongside passages of more open space. It’s a heavy album that bypasses a lot of metal’s most obvious tropes, with richly rewarding songs worthy of a deeper headphone listen.”
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
