Cabbage – Nihilistic Glamour Shots
After 36 song releases on EPs and a compilation, a couple of tabloid storms, putting two fingers up The Sun, and sticking up very publicly for the NHS (good for them) the lads from Mossley, east of Manchester, finally bring out their first LP proper, full of quirky explorations into culture and politics, referencing everyone from Caligula to Aleister Crowley, and shouting out against the hypocrisy of the government and the arms industry. More chorus-heavy postpunk is the result, and while seeing their live shows are more of a way to appreciate their music, it’s great to have a bunch of young jokers who don’t take themselves too seriously, but definitely take their subjects so. Out on BMG.
Cabbage – Arms of Pleonexia
Czarface & MF Doom – Czarface Meets Metal Face
A joy for any fans of clever wordplay and idiosyncratic hip hop. Czarface, a collaboration of Wu-Tang Clan member Inspectah Deck, MC Esoteric and producer 7L join forces with MF DOOM, that other king of reference and puns when it comes to popular culture, food, cartoons, comics and superheroes. There are plenty of noodling and skits, but once the MCs get in the flow, plenty of gems come through such as a group text with Steely Dan, Groot, Baby Groot, the ghost of Dave Brubeck, Alex Trebek and Boba Fett, and lines such as “The way I kick bars and darts, you’d think I mixed Marshall’s art with mixed martial arts.” Glorious. Out on Get On Down.
Czarface & MF Doom – Bomb Thrown
The Vaccines – Combat Sports
The London rockers return with their fourth album, and the first since 2015’s English Graffiti, which while gaining great commercial success, ventured into pop territory and a confusion of identity. After a departing drummer, and personal and health problems, tJustin Young and co collectively pulled up their rock trousers and returned to the basics that propelled them with their debut. Still fairly mainstream, but returning to more of a 70s and 90s fast and furious flavour. They simply couldn’t quit. Out on Columbia.
The Vaccines – I Can’t Quit
Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour
The Nashville country star is a something of a big kick up the arse for her genre - with a previous single, Follow Your Arrow, advocating same-sex relationships, and with this album she explores more themes that undermine traditionalism and complacency, with acid, futurism and more LGTBQ rights prominent. So as well as the slower, balladic material such as Butterflies and Space Cowboy, there’s also poppier, disco material here too to make people giddy up. Out on MCA Nashville.
Kacey Musgraves – High Horse
This week's selection is by The Landlord.
New to comment? It is quick and easy. You just need to login to Disqus once. All is explained in About/FAQs ...
This is only a selection, not a catalogue of releases. Feel free to recommend more and comment below.