Staff Picks for March 2023

Fortitude is a fitting, welcome follow-up to 2016's Magma and a brave new chapter in Gojira's continuing musical evolution as they weave old sounds with new ones in creating a sonic tapestry that showcases startling imagination, thought-provoking musical and human intelligence, complex emotions, and immense physical power.
- Thom Jurek

Lost in the shuffle between two monstrous pop albums, this double LP is their most fearless, uncomplicated, and artistically nourishing. Familiar piano balladry ("Daddy") and catchy mainstream fare ("Church," "Orphans") slide up against politically-charged moments of anger ("Trouble In Town," "Guns") and experimental dabbling into global flavors with an international cast of guest musicians. This is also home to one of their most epic songs, the rousing "Arabesque" featuring Stromae, Femi Kuti, and his band.
- Neil Z. Yeung

Historically written off as one-hit-wonders, the Montreal band made a string of smart, well-crafted pop records that went far beyond their best known song. Fans who snatched their debut for "The Safety Dance" were treated to a host of other strange delights that veered between edgy new wave and thoughtful, melodic synth pop.
- Timothy Monger

Released 50 years ago in March, 1973, Faces' final album continued their slapdash and effortless barroom rock, despite the fact that Rod Stewart was evolving into the massive solo star he would eventually become. The album kicks off with Rod's brash "Silicone Grown" but reaches a tidy conclusion with Ronnie Lane's title track, lamenting about lost opportunities and fleeting youth. Poor old granddad indeed.
- Zac Johnson

Opus III's first and best album was a lush, psychedelic set of ambient techno which combined surging beats with dream pop vocals. "It's a Fine Day" remains one of the true classics of the rave era, and was famously sampled by Orbital on one of their most iconic tracks. The album's other single, a dance cover of King Crimson's "I Talk to the Wind," works much better than one might expect. Opus III only lasted for one further album, but Kirty Hawkshaw remains an in-demand guest vocalist three decades later.
- Paul Simpson

With deep, insightful lyrics layered with intricate guitar plucking, sawing fiddle, and skipping banjo, Tyler Childers' Purgatory is everything one looks for in moving, authentic country music. The album cover is a picture of Lawrence County, Kentucky where the artist grew up, and the album discusses his experience with growing up in that area. A highlight of the album is "Lady May", which should (in my opinion) be hailed as one of the best love songs of the century.
- Aurora Sousanis

Maybe Keane was ahead of the curve on 2007's leftfield synth-pop switcheroo. Jumping from earnest, wide-eyed Coldplay/U2 worship to something akin to the Killers fronting a Bowie cover band, this effort is bright, often fun, and about ten years too early for its fans and the indie-rock sphere. While they dialed it way back for their proper full-length follow-up, this stands as their boldest, most fully-realized pure pop statement to date.
- Neil Z. Yeung

To celebrate the release of first new Nickel Creek album in almost a decade, revisit their first real album of original compositions. A remarkably mature collection of indie-minded progressive bluegrass songs, expertly played and sung by Chris Thile and siblings Sara and Sean Watkins.
- Zac Johnson

The Weirdos were Los Angeles's first great punk band at a time when the L.A. scene was all but ignored out of town, so they never got to make an album in their original incarnation. Weird World, Vol. 1 brings together the singles and EPs they released from 1977 to 1981, and the band's blazing attack and always pointed, sometimes surreal lyrics still sound explosive decades later. Rest in peace, guitarist Dix Denney.
- Mark Deming

The fact that Th' Faith Healers were originally picked up by the spacy English label Too Pure is certainly significant -- their music, while seemingly in line with indie-rock conventions, has so many elements of noise and drone in it that it appears to have crossed over to listeners of more spacy, organ-driven music. Imaginary Friend manages to satisfy all of these different interests, floating back and forth between soupy waves of distorted guitars and clean, ringing, indie-rock tones. The real thrill of the band's songwriting lies in the way surprising pop moments can emerge from the mess of sound.
- Nitsuh Abebe

Experiencing the Michigan band's sophomore album could be compared to looking through an old forgotten box of letters and pictures on a rainy day: Memories and hopes that are simultaneously beautiful and frail soak through the skin as the LP unfolds. Stand-up bass and violin give the group's deconstructed, would-be jangle-rock the timeless feel of a black-and-white photograph, while understated guitar and vocals cut through to the heart of the matter. Computerized loops and samples add a grainy, hazy texture to the mix as voices, sounds, and thoughts collide, making everyone and everything feel near and far away at once.
- Matt Kantor

Brandy could have released another adult contemporary-oriented set, or linked with the dance-pop producers who have boosted many of her fellow artists. Instead, she made a modern R&B album, and it paid off. Two Eleven's most upbeat and commercial song, "Put It Down," became the singer's first Top Five R&B/Hip-Hop single in ten years, and it sticks out on an album dominated by aching ballads and grown slow jams, made with an uncharacteristically large cast of songwriters and producers including Sean Garrett, Mike Will, and Frank Ocean.
- Andy Kellman

Oddly enough, one of the best Americana albums of 2005 came out of Australia. This Brisbane-based seven-piece band twangs and drawls with the best of them, particularly on the leadoff track "Patience Back" and the barroom stomper "Drunk Again." As the days get warmer and the windows can finally open up, consider cranking this at a moderate-to-loud volume.
- Zac Johnson

Intended as a teaser for the Ohio synth-punks' fourth album, Brainiac's final release reaffirms that they were in the midst of a creative renaissance at the time of frontman Tim Taylor's death. Trading Moog-driven freakouts for cybernetic thrash and ominously taut experiments that leaned into industrial and electronica, the EP underlines the potential lost with the band's sad, abrupt end.
- Heather Phares

Few bands made tension feel as good as the Feelies. The first song on their debut, 1980's Crazy Rhythms, is called "The Boy With The Perpetual Nervousness," and it reflects a taut, edgy energy that fuels the whole LP. But the band makes their neuroses swing in a very original way, and it was one of the most distinct and original albums of the 1980s.
- Mark Deming

Doubling down on the brutality, the groundbreaking crew manages to make their vicious debut sound poppy by comparison. This behemoth is the soundtrack to smashing, breaking, and screaming out your rage and frustration. Now that the band has returned, they deserve another listen and some recognition for pushing the boundaries of metal. Check out the churning "Pain," the feral "Wolves," the soaring "What I Always Wanted," and have yourself a throat-saving lozenge.
- Neil Z. Yeung

A poignant and layered outing from the late Scotsman whose folk-rock elegance and, at times, eccentricity remains regrettably unsung in the U.S.
- Timothy Monger

Thirty years on from its release, Star remains one of dream pop's most winning debut albums. Tanya Donelly builds on the eerie sweetness of her work with Throwing Muses, adding a sexy twang to "Feed the Tree" and a folk-rock lilt to "Gepetto" -- songs that, despite their delicacy, have had remarkable staying power.
- Heather Phares

Branford Marsalis' third solo album finds him coming off his 1985 tour with Sting and playing a mix of standards inspired by his New Orleans home, along with exploratory originals. While influences like Coltrane and Shorter still loom large, there's a gleeful, wry sense of fun, not to mention a dusky gravitas on the ballads that speaks to the saxophonist's burgeoning musical identity.
- Matt Collar

Though each track stands on its own Adele's fourth studio album must be appreciated in its entirety, perhaps best enjoyed in one sitting, curled up on the sofa, staring through the window in your parents living room. Her masterpiece depicts her journey towards acceptance and closure after divorce. Incorporating gospel and pop elements, it's her most sonically expansive work yet. Her extraordinary vocals detail her struggles with motherhood, love, and heartbreak as the orchestra and choir accompaniments swell and recede.
- Aurora Sousanis

This Auckland group issued just a handful of releases, including an EP for Flying Nun, before disbanding in 1990. Inspired by the #MeToo movement and a resurgence in interest in riot grrrl punk and other feminism-fueled acts, bandleader Dons Savage returned to the studio in 2018 at the prompting of Fire Records’ James Nicholls and quickly emerged with this album. It’s an all-killer, no-filler romp through gems like “Looking at Girls,” a song about a car crash caused by distracted driving. Throughout, lyrics are strangely ageless, with the ingenuousness of teens, wit of middle age, and poignancy of long-held regret.
- Marcy Donelson

Melanie was freak folk decades before the genre had a name, an East Coast hippie with a penetrating vocal presence, a gift for writing intensely personal songs, and no fear of where her music might take her, either stylistically or emotionally. "Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)," inspired by her appearance at Woodstock, was a hit, and it's one of several tunes here that reflects the beauty and strength of this wildly underrated artist.
- Mark Deming

Raw and jittering, The Swing arrived before the megahits Listen Like Thieves, Kick, and X, and is a perfect bridge between their punked-up new wave early albums and the pop powerhouses they would still become. Nile Rogers produced the hit "Original Sin" but his jagged, stabbing rhythms can be heard as an influence throughout. "Dancing on the Jetty" is an unexpected Duran-esque dance pop gem, and the album's late highlight "Burn for You" shines with cinematic grandeur.
- Zac Johnson

This album takes a deeply personal and poetic dive into Bird's world. "Valleys of the Young" struggles with the fears, effects, and purpose of becoming a parent while "The New Saint Jude" and "Saints Preservus" questions aspects of his religion. The marvelous duet "Left Handed Kisses" featuring Fiona Apple describes his hesitations about becoming a "romantic" and falling in love, while the short but sweet "Bellevue" concludes his journey with his gratefulness for finding someone who "feeds [his] hungry heart when the fields lie fallow. There is incredible variation and exploration in the instrumentation, tempo, and feel of each song. He takes risks and it pays off.
- Aurora Sousanis

One of the composer's many classic collaborations with director Blake Edwards, the adventurous score for this 1962 thriller was released a year after Breakfast at Tiffany's and a year before The Pink Panther. It's an extra quirky and diverse outing with jazzy lounge pieces, melancholy piano, and eerie suspense passages as well as guitar rock ("Golden Gate Twist") and even a nod to the flapper era with the "Charleston"-like "The Good Old Days."
- Marcy Donelson

The Irish-American traditional folk stalwart flashes his considerable instrumental chops on this nimble set for mandolin, tenor banjo, and guitar.
- Timothy Monger

Not all power metal is epic power metal, but there are certain power metal albums that make a point of being as epic as possible, and Sabaton's Coat of Arms is one of them. A lot of power metal operates in the fantasy realm lyrically, while Sabaton's lyrics deal with actual historical events -- specifically, events during wartime. Despite its historical perspective, Coat of Arms still has the overblown campiness of a Hollywood adventure/action movie.
- Alex Henderson

The sheer brazenness of Sheer Mag was a punch in the face when their early singles and EPs were passed around like contraband. On their full-length debut, Tina Halladay's impassioned and overdriven vocals fight through the guitar riffs leaving broken rubble in their wake on the more abrasive songs, while several of the tracks almost have an introspective feel without losing their raw edge.
- Zac Johnson

At over 70 minutes, Matter of Life and Death is closer to 1988's woefully underrated Seventh Son of a Seventh Son than it is to Piece of Mind, but with far less keyboard tickling. Recorded live in the studio, the band exudes prog-rock complexity and discipline yet manages to bristle with the kind of small-club intensity usually reserved for acts half their age.
- James Monger

Considering the declining quality that followed, this sophomore LP that gave Filter their biggest chart hit deserves reexamination. Stronger in hindsight, it might be their best (apologies to Short Bus), with evolved songwriting, matured perspective, and a surprise ballad to carry them to the peak of their mainstream success. Highlights like "Captain Bligh," "The Best Things," "Skinny," and "Cancer" show how underrated Richard Patrick is as a songwriter.
- Neil Z. Yeung

Before Billy Squier gained fame in the '80s for "The Stroke" and "Everybody Wants You," he fronted Piper, a band who opened for and shared management with Kiss and whose crackling, tube amp rock was just as thrilling. Cuts like "Telephone Relation" and "Who's Your Boyfriend" (the latter of which Squier carried over to his 1980 solo debut), combined the swagger of Kiss with the infectious power-pop hooks of the Raspberries and Cheap Trick.
- Matt Collar