While the pop world will be consumed with the new Megan Thee Stallion and Camilla Cabello albums, we’ll devote our New Music Friday to some fresh rock releases. Interesting variety, too, including a music video made entirely with AI.
Singles
1. AWOLNATION, Panoramic View (Two Twenty Five/The Orchard)
Okay, this is a beat of a cheat. Panoramic View was actually the first single released from The Phantom Five album back in March so this is technically a reservicing to radio. The album isn’t here yet–it’s coming on August 30–so this is sort of a reminder that AWOLNATION is coming with something new.
2. Cage the Elephant, Out Loud (RCA)
Here’s the latest single–the sixth overall–from Neon Pill, CtE’s sixth studio album, which appeared on the Friday before the last long weekend. It’s another sad one, but remember that the band’s Matt and Brad Schulz lost their father, the group saw some friends die, and Matt had a full-one mental breakdown that required hospitalization. They’re in Edmonton this weekend, and both Winnipeg and Toronto in August.
3. Kim Gordon, ECRP (Matador)
Kim may be 71 years old but she’s still one of the fiercest performers out there. Freed of the confines of Sonic Youth, she’s proven to be a formidable solo artist with The Collective (her fifth record) being, in my opinion, her best. This track isn’t from that album but a standalone single that comes with a video directed by her daughter Coco.
Albums
1. Imagine Dragons, Loom (KIDinaKORNER/Interscope)
Imagine Dragons are one of the best-selling pop-alternative albums of the millennium, moving 74 million albums, 75 million digital songs, and 160 billion streams. And that was just for five albums. Album number six arrives this weekend after a couple of advance singles. Their numbers will inevitably keep going up.
2. Guided By Voices, Strut of Kings (Rockathon/GBV Inc.)
Speaking of incredible numbers, Guided By Voices (led by the indefatigable Robert Pollard) are responsible for over 500 songs. Add in all the co-writes and Pollard’s repertoire is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1,600 songs. This the GBV’s 40th(!!!) studio album since 1987.
3. Anvil, One and Only (AFM)
Toronto’s Anvil just won’t quit. They’ve been plying their form of metal since 1978 and are now up to 20 studio albums. Metal fans have already given this one a thumbs up.
4. Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, South of Here (Stax/Concord)
It’s the fourth album from Nate and his crew and the first since 2021. Recorded in the desert outside of El Paso, Texas, (and the same place as the above Cage the Elephant album) and brings together the two faces of the band. The first is the introspective singer-songwriter style. The other grittier, more rocky, and with a touch of soul. This single falls into the latter category.
5. Redd Kross, Redd Kross (In the Red)
For a while back in the 90s, it look like the band led by Jeff and Steven McDonald was going to become the next big thing in power pop. That breakthrough never really happened, but the group has continued to find new ways of spinning 70s-style guitar madness into something more modern. If you’re looking for something that could work in a stadium, this eighth album (and their first in five years) should work just fine.
6. The Warning, Keep Me Fed (LAVA/Republic)
If you don’t know about these three sisters from Mexico, it’s time to get onboard with their fourth album. They rock harder than a lot of the boys and are a lot of fun to boot. Don’t get left behind.
7. Washed Out, Notes from a Quiet Life (Sub Pop)
Let’s end on a mellow note. Ernest Greene’s fifth album (his first since 2020) is a summerly, synthy thing. The first single (see below) came with a music video made with OpenAI’s Sora–the first, in fact, to use this program. The backlash may have been ugly, but there’s no putting this genie back in the bottle.
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