January’s Big Album Releases

Josh Carvel takes a look at some of the big hitters from the music world this month.

Against Me! – Transgender Dysphoria Blues

Stand-out tracks: Transgender Dysphoria Blues; True Trans Soul Rebel; FUCKMYLIFE666

Against Me! were known principally as a well-established punk band with some cross-over mainstream rock success. Since May 2012, they’ve come into the spotlight for having a transgender lead singer. The drummer and bassist have since been replaced, but Against Me! have retained the trademark sound of their previous releases.

The cover of the new album features a representation of a female breast with a cube of muscle beneath it. It seems that lead singer Laura Jane Grace wants to examine what lies beneath surface appearance on this album. Tracks deal head-on with gender dysphoria in the strongest terms. One of the good things about this subject matter is that it isn’t just confined to Grace’s particular situation – it will strike a chord with anyone who has felt like outsider, or anyone who simply wants to stand up for what they are and what they believe.

Musically, the album is consistently great with only the occasional lull. The stand-out tracks mentioned above are stirring, focused, melodic, and among the best tracks Against Me! have released in a long time. Other songs of note include the intensely personal ‘Dead Friend’ and the confrontational closer ‘Black Me Out’, which puts the album’s overall theme aside and instead seems to vent frustration at certain major record label bosses. Against Me! have yet again managed to harness anger, indignation and uncertainty and channel it all into some concise, powerful rock tunes.

Gender Dysphoria Blues is a pretty solid album which highlights Grace’s struggle passionately and unashamedly, and is wholly deserving of the attention it will undoubtedly get as a result of the media coverage documenting her transition.

James Vincent McMorrow – Post Tropical

Stand-out tracks: Cavalier; Red Dust; Post Tropical

James Vincent McMorrow broke into the mainstream in 2011 with his cover of ‘Higher Love’, which gained ubiquity when LoveFilm used it in their adverts. McMorrow is a gentle, bearded, high-voiced folkie, sort of like that other gentle, bearded, high-voiced folkie Bon Iver. In recent times, Bon Iver has asserted his modernity by collaborating with Kanye West and using electronic instrumentation on his second album.

Similarly, ‘Post Tropical’ is McMorrow striving to be modern. And though the album cover looks a little like one of the example images you get on a box of colouring pencils, we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. Gone is the rustic atmosphere of his first album: the instrumentation is mostly electronic, with keyboards, digital drums and synthesised brass sounds.

The album does open with a disorientating dischord, but that’s about as controversial as it gets. From there on in, it’s gentle and atmospheric. In its best moments, it sounds serene and weightless. At other times, it’s a little unremarkable. Sometimes, it seems as if McMorrow has a bet on with someone about the highest falsetto note he can hit.

I don’t think ‘Post Tropical’ is astounding. Critics might point out that McMorrow’s sentimental falsetto croon gets a bit cloying after a few songs (‘critics’ meaning me in a bad mood). Still, the album is enjoyable if played late at night. And fans of chilled out indie music will love it.

Mogwai – Rave Tapes

Stand-out tracks: Deesh; Blues Hour; No Medicine For Regret

Another year, another Mogwai album. Mogwai have been making music and coming up with odd song titles since 1996. They are an instrumental post-rock band, though sometimes they utilise vocals sung with a soft Scottish accent.

I like Mogwai. I like their more contemplative, guitar-based works, such as their amazing soundtrack to Zidane, A 21st Century Portrait. But I’ve found it hard to warm to this album, and I struggled to pick some stand-out tracks.

Since their last full-length in 2011, Mogwai’s music has had a stronger emphasis on keyboards and electronic instruments, and I find this new aesthetic lacks the warmth of early Mogwai. Tracks like ‘Remurdered’ go on and on with clinical, harsh rhythmic pulses, without a huge amount of variation. It’s not bad, but it doesn’t draw me to hit replay.

I feel the same about the track ‘Repelish.’ This one features an excerpt of someone talking about Satanic messages in ‘Stairway to Heaven’. This might seem like an interesting idea on first listen, but it’s simply irritating second time through. Why do post-rock bands who want to use sampled dialogue never seem to take that opportunity to present something really meaningful or interesting?

Gripes aside, it’s not a terrible album. The second half is much better than the first: it’s more atmospheric, with greater shifts in the dynamic. Critics seem to have warmed to this harsher, electronic side of Mogwai. Still, I’m a little disappointed.

Warpaint – Warpaint

Stand-out tracks: Love is to Die; Disco//Very; Son

Warpaint are a Californian quartet who make dreamy, psychedelic-tinged rock music with a strong electronica influence.

This new release will please fans of the first album, but I’d be surprised if it wins over any new recruits. It’s sparse, hypnotic – even a little nauseating. You can listen to the whole thing without being able to recall how any of the melodies go.

There are three exceptions. The single ‘Love Is To Die’ has significantly more recognisable melody and sonic clarity than the other tracks, and features a brilliantly unexpected, lurching key change before the chorus. ‘Disco//Very’ is marked out by its driving rhythm, lyrical hooks and tight bass groove. And ‘Son’ almost feels like a piano ballad. But aside from these tracks, the album feels pretty much like Warpaint are trying to make mood music for an opium den.

This album is well-crafted, for sure – Warpaint have a lot of control over what they’re doing here. But you have to be in the right mood to appreciate it, and I’m not entirely sure what that mood would be.

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks – Wig Out at Jagbags

Stand-out tracks: Lariat; Houston Hades; J Smoov

Stephen Malkmus was the mastermind behind seminal 90s band Pavement. He has been making fun, informed, ironic, goofy and intentionally messy music since 1989. He has now made 6 full-length albums with the Jicks – more than he ever did with Pavement.

‘Wig Out at Jagbags’ is pretty great. The good thing about the Jicks is that though they have a more polished sound than was featured on most of the Pavement records, they still embody the same intelligent, eclectic sense of fun. If you want an excellent taster of this, listen to ‘Lariat’. This track is a great showcase for Malkmus’ talent at conjuring up a strong but completely unspecific sense of warm nostalgia with the music alone, even before he adds his quirky, cryptic lyrics into the mix.

Much of this album’s style is informed by classic 70s rock guitar leads and song-writing. Of course, that style is tipped on its head and spun around in various ways over the course of the 40 minute running time, and Malkmus’ idiosyncratic direction is still prominent, despite of all the homages and references.

This is a really enjoyable album that gets better the more you listen, and if you take a chance on this album and enjoy it, you’ve got a lot more great music to discover by working backwards from this release.

Bruce Springsteen – High Hopes

Stand-out tracks: High Hopes; Hunter of Invisible Game; The Ghost of Tom Joad

‘High Hopes’ is a collection of unreleased material from the past decade, including some cover songs, live material and reworkings of old songs. It’s main strength (judging only by my tastes, of course) is that guitar god Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine; Audioslave; The Nightwatchman) is featured on many of the tracks, adding some heavy rhythm guitar parts and busting out some typically inventive solos here and there – he gets not one but two spots for some epic soloing in the brilliant ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad’.

The album is a selection of fairly solid, simple songs – not too daring and plenty polished, but played with enough energy to make them enjoyable. There are roughly 3 sorts of tracks on here: energetic ensemble pieces like the title track ‘High Hopes’, some mid-tempo Springsteen-penned tracks, such as ‘Harry’s Place’, and reflective ballads such as ‘Hunter of Invisible Game’ (these slower tracks are actually the strongest of anything on here – ‘Down in the Hole’ is also well worth checking out).

This release will definitely tide Springsteen fans over till the next album, and for what it is, it could have turned out a great deal worse.

OTHER SINGLES WORTH CHECKING OUT THIS MONTH: San Francisco electronic/chillwave musician Tycho makes more beautiful sounds on single ‘Montana’, James Blake sounds like he’s deconstructing jazz on great new song ‘404550’, Boston post-hardcore/indie outfit Pile’s new track ‘Special Snowflake’ is a must-listen, bookish indie types Wild Beasts are back with the atmospheric track ‘Wanderlust’, and alternative rock veteran Beck gives us a taste of his reflective new album ‘Morning Phase’ with the single ‘Blue Moon’.