Melvins, 'Nude With Boots' (Ipecac)
Sludge-punk godfathers lumber on with caveman insouciance.
By Andrew Earles 07.02.08 1:59 PM
The Melvins' remarkable Houdini/Stoner Witch/Stag run of bone-rattling, first-class heaviness in the mid-1990s was updated with 2006's charming (A) Senile Animal. And it was no fluke, because now comes the even better Nude With Boots, studio album number 19 (!). Bassist Jared Warren and second drummer Coady Willis (a.k.a.
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Earlimart, 'Hymn & Her' (Majordomo)
Reliably skilled SoCal duo neither overpromises nor underwhelms.
By Josh Wimmer 07.01.08 2:53 PM
In a time when subgenres can seem as numerous as artists, it's a relief to find straightforwardly sincere, modern-rock songwriting done well. Earlimart's sixth full-length doesn't break new ground -- those Elliott Smith comparisons will keep on coming -- or approach the sublime sexiness of fellow Los Angelenos Rilo Kiley.
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Walter Meego, 'Voyage' (Almost Gold)
Chicago twosome uncorks fizzy, dance-floor spaz attack.
By Shannon Zimmerman 07.01.08 10:51 AM
The debut album from this pop-rock duo comes so frontloaded with carbonated keepers (especially the spastic gurgles of "Girls" and liquefied beats of "Forever") that the album's back half can't help but sag.
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Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, 'Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson' (Say Hey)
Songwriter turns troubles into poignant tour de force.
By Jessica Suarez 06.30.08 10:26 AM
Brooklyn patron saints Grizzly Bear and TV on the Radio helped Robinson record this atmospheric folk-rock album in 2006, but personal demons (addiction, even homelessness) led to the shelving of the project until now. Still, this is no record of redemption. While Robinson is consistently clever and self-deprecating, every line seethes with real pathos.
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Tilly and the wall, '0' (Team Love)
Bright-eyed Bright Eyes protégés still dancing as fast as they can.
By Mikael Wood 06.27.08 12:36 PM
When this Omaha outfit appeared in 2004 with a tap dancer where a drummer is supposed to be, only the band members (or Conor Oberst, who releases their albums) would've bet that Tilly and the Wall would still be around four years later. Yet here they are on their third full-length, and rather than calcify into indie-scene shtick, Tilly's music has gotten funnier and more vibrant.
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Nine Inch Nails, 'The Slip' (The Null Corporation)
In pop music's future, there will be no such thing as days off.
By Mikael Wood 06.26.08 10:06 AM
"Once I start, I cannot stop myself," Trent Reznor sings in "Discipline," the most conventional tune on the unconventionally released The Slip, which hit the Internet in May with a price tag even a Radiohead fan could love. ("Thank you for your continued and loyal support," the Nine Inch Nails mastermind wrote on his site.
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