5 Albums from the Last 6 Months to Rock Your Summer

Rock Is Dead... Long Live Rock!

CoolDaughter #2 just got on the bus for what will be her last day of school. CoolDaughter #1 finishes up next Friday. Summer is upon us.

I thought about doing a mid-year list similar to the one I did last year, just listing my favorite records of the year so far. Instead, I thought I'd focus on something I've been noticing lately: It's been a good year for rock and roll.

It's easy to miss. If, like me, you spend much of your day listening to Sirius XMU, you may not have even noticed it. The National, Vampire Weekend, Ducktails, and Waxahatchee, to name a few, have all produced records this year that I love. None of them are really a rock record, though. The So So Glos and The Bronx definitely gave us some high energy, high octane sounds, but I'm calling those punk. mbv may be my favorite album of the year. Shoegaze.

What I'm talking about here is almost the sound of classic rock: guitar solos with lots of string bends, the hint of some country twang or maybe some 70s glam, heavy on pop sensibility. Sure, most of these records display some punk influence here, some grunge there. But each of them, I think, has roots in what we all used to hear on 102.7 WNEW or 92.3 KROCK back when I was a teenager biking to the beach.

So, in chronological order of release, here are 5 albums to keep you rocking all summer long.

California X, California X. The self-titled debut from this Amherst, MA band draws heavily on the sounds of the 1990s: Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins, Dinosaur Jr. All of those bands, though, employed some tricks from Neil Young, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix. Those earlier influences may come through most clearly on opener "Sucker," but you can hear them all through the record if you dig past the grunge. Almost every song here hides a radio-ready pop gem beneath all of the noise.



Wolf's Law, The Joy Formidable. Every great rock single needs a memorable guitar riff, and "Cholla" has, probably, the most memorable riff of the year so far. It's clear that this Welsh trio has arena aspirations, and don't be surprised if their proggy style, led by Ritzy Bryan's guitar, carries them all the way to that 20,000 seat arena show, broadcast live on the Internet by American Express.



New Moon, The Men. Sludgy, shoegazy, noise punk. That describes the sound of the early records from The Men. With New Moon, the band take what they started on Open Your Heart and expand upon it. "I Saw Her Face" is a twangy masterpiece reminiscent of Neil Young and The Rolling Stones. You'll get your Brooklyn punk here, but you'll also feel the space of the rural setting where the band recorded on many of the songs.



Cruise Your Illusion, Milk Music. Like California X, this band from Olympia, WA draws heavily from the same pool of influences that ended up producing much 1990s alternative rock. There are definitely similarities here to the sounds of many of Milk Music's Northwest forebears. You have to go back about 20 additional years, though, to find the Seattle artist who most heavily influences up-and-coming indie guitar hero Alex Coxen. Something about Coxen's tone gets fleeting images of Jimi Hendrix running through the mind for most of the record.



...Like Clockwork, Queens of the Stone Age. The band reached number 1 on the Billboard charts for the first time with ...Like Clockwork, their first record in six years. Leader Josh Homme combines all of his influences -- 1970s AOR like Bad Company, Bowie-style glam, Elton John (who appears on the record) -- with his distinctive personality to produce potential rock classics in songs like "If I Had a Tail" and "My God Is the Sun."



Sure, I enjoy my share of bleeps and bloops or jangle pop or surf pop or twee or punk. Sometimes, though, you just want to sit back in your chair, sunglasses on, watching the waves pound the shore with some rock and roll pumping in your headphones.

Have a safe, productive and rockin' summer.

Milk Music Review Up at SIMGE

Cruise Your Illusion

I feel like I haven't posted over at Speak Into My Good Eye for a while now. That all changes as I've got a review of Cruise Your Illusion, the debut LP from Olympia, WA's Milk Music up there today.

When you listen to the record, you'll be reminded of many of your 1990s favorites from the Pacific Northwest. If you listen a little more carefully, though, I think you'll also hear allusions to the most important act that Seattle has ever given to rock and roll.

Milk Music / Waxahatchee Take Me Away

It's Been a Long Couple of Days Already

Maybe it's my age, but I've found it harder and harder to get back into the grind lately following any amount of time off. We all had a nice holiday weekend here. I took the girls to see Taylor Swift. We had a big, family dinner on Sunday, and I got my dual nerd fix of The Walking Dead finale and the Game of Thrones premiere.

Now, it's more commuting for CoolMom and more conference calls for me.

During any free time I have today, I'll be turning to the debut release from Olympia, Washington's Milk Music, Cruise Your Illusion, as I prepare to do some sort of review of the album. The album is another entry in the 1990s fuzz / grunge revival that seems to be one of the themes of 2013. It's out now on Fat Possum, and you can still stream it at Pitchfork.

Then, this evening, Mike from Speak Into My Good Eye will be joining me for a trip to 285 Kent in Brooklyn. We'll be seeing my current obsession, Waxahatchee. Look for a review of that one in the coming days.

So, even though things have been quiet at CoolDad Music for the last few days, there's lots brewing.

Milk Music Announce LP. Finally.

Cruise Your Illusion

Brooklyn Vegan turned me onto Olympia, Washington's mid-80's alt rock acolytes (think Dino Jr. and Hüsker Dü) Milk Music.  Now BV gives us the news that Milk Music will be releasing an LP on Fat Possum on April 2nd.  They've even provided a new track to stream.

You can go grab a couple of live Milk Music performances, including a live performance from New Jersey's own WFMU, over at the Free Music Archive if you'd like to hear more.