Is that. . . New Music I smell! I hope you're as excited as I am for our new music selection this week. See you next time!

Porches- Shirt

Label: Domino
Genre: Rock
Reviewed by: Marcus Mason
For Fans Of: Alex G, indie folk, Shed by Title Fight
Porches aggressively moves away from the softer synth-pop most realized from their second album, Pool, and towards a more abrasive, electronic-inspired sound. There’s great distorted guitar and sometimes glitchy-inspired production that might make you dance when you aren’t focusing on the intense and loud vocals. The distorted and blown-out production can be confronting and the vocals always have a slight angst and frustration, reminiscent of early Alex G, and tracks 2 and 8 have that early Alex G feel as well. Throughout the project, the vocalist uses this heavy autotune that can be hit or miss, and on certain moments I wish he would’ve gone without it, as I feel the rawer vocals add to the desperate mood reflected by the lyrics. I loved track 2, which I can only describe as early Jane Remover meets Alex G. This album is full of moments that will get stuck inside your head and keep you coming back.

Knitting - Some Kind of Heaven

Label: Mint
Genre: Indie / Slacker Rock
Reviewed by: Edison Lee
For Fans Of: Sonic Youth, Ride, Feeble Little Horse, Sebadoh, Pixies, Pavement
Knitting’s sophomore album blends dreamy indie rock atmospheres with noisy slacker rock guitar work to create a pleasant, albeit monotonous, album. Nothing is revolutionary about any of these songs, but much like other noisy pieces of indie rock tinged with dream-pop/shoegaze elements, they get the job done. The guitars are generally thin and bouncy, contrasted with thick and noisy effects. This, along with dreamy vocals, makes for a slightly shoegaze feel reminiscent of bands like Ride, Lush, and Slowdive, but the songs aren't fuzzy/dreamy enough to be considered shoegaze or dream pop. I would compare them to more traditional indie rock acts like Pavement and Pixies. The songs are solid and dynamic, but they tend to bleed into one another. While it's nothing groundbreaking, there's enough fun indie rock antics and hazy guitar noise to keep it interesting throughout its half-hour runtime.

Suki Waterhouse- Memoir of a Sparklemuffin

Label: Mint
Genre: Subpop
Reviewed by: Kennedy Malcolm
For Fans Of: Mazzy Star, The Last Dinner Party, Faye Webster, Cults
As her sophomore album, you can feel the growth of her music in the progression of these songs. The album as a whole feels like a collage of different styles, where she flips between indie-rock, Lana Del Ray ballads, and her pop/indie-pop roots. In all honesty, it sometimes feels a little all over the place and can be a bit repetitive sonically, but overall is a good listen. You can really feel the 90’s influence in this album, and there are moments in tracks 6 and 8 where I would argue there is a bit of a 70’s rock influence going on. Track 1 is a great opening track for the album, in that it sets up the rest of the track list by changing sounds halfway through. It goes from a mellow indie sound to a more indie-rock vibe and uses some heavy drums that really make the song. Track 2 blends pop and distorted alt music to create a very 90’s alternative sound, and track 6 is groovy in a Fleetwood Mac kind of way. Special mention is track 8 because it sounds like it’s straight out of a 90’s Mazzy Star album if that’s something you like.

Lutalo - The Academy

Label: Winspear
Genre: Experimental Indie Folk/Rock
Reviewed by: Hayden Swenson
For Fans Of: Alex G, Slaughter Beach, Dog, Yves Tumor
Exploring genres such as folk, alt-rock, and shoegaze, Lutalo's debut full-length album is surprisingly diverse. Many of these songs feature a pastoral, dreamy atmosphere which greatly contrasts with the sharp electric guitar riffs of the heavier tracks. This lack of cohesion is jarring at times, but is aided by the consistent quality of Lutalo's personal, evocative lyricism. By touching on topics such as their childhood experience during the 2008 financial crisis and other issues in American society, Lutalo creates an album which is both aware of the past and undeniably modern.

Ginger Root- Shinangumi

Label: Ghostly International
Genre: Synth-pop/ Alternative disco
Reviewed by: Isabel Kantor
This sounded like a classic Ginger Root album, and its upbeat instrumentals and groovy sounds are unmistakably Ginger Root. The energetic synth paired with deep bass, heavy keyboard, and peppy drums easily sets Cameron Lew’s music apart from other artists. This album has the typical Ginger Root alternative disco sound paired with Lew’s retro singing, making it akin to his popular City Slicker album (which I love). Although most songs on the track had a relatively uniform feeling to each other, there were some tracks that had a unique sound like track 8, which was a bossa-nova. To add to that, there was also some trumpet action happening in some of the tracks (track 10, the beginning of track 11, and scattered in track 12) that added a more romantic, jazzy feel, reminding me of a Sailor Moon O.S.T. Overall, the album was so amazing, and I would recommend it to anyone with ears!