Dune Rats — The Kids Will Know It's Bullshit (Ratbag/Warner)
While their debut album was "drenched in bong water", The Kids Will Know It's Bullshit sees the lads "up the ante and trade in their cones for a six-pack of stubbies". "Gone are the mellow surf rock vibes and lethargic riffs", we're instead left with "DIY punk's frenzied guitar and boozy, swirling, can't-quite-see-straight vocals". We gave it four stars and our Album Of The Week.
The Menzingers — After The Party (Epitaph/Warner)
The Menzingers show us "an entirely relatable aural journey of feeling lost and uncertain, knowing that you should probably mature". Highlights include songs like Midwestern States and Bad Catholics, and "despite the sometimes-sobering subject matter, each song manages to be upbeat enough to lift your spirits". We gave it three-and-a-half stars.
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Sampha — Process (Young Turks/Remote Control)
Sampha's debut is "built upon with an eclectic sense of intimacy and spacious arrangements", following "years of featured cameos". Vocally, Sampha treads "a course between fortitude and fragility", though there's "just enough bounce in his voice to keep the stories spinning across the expanse". We gave it four stars.
Big Sean — I Decided (G.O.O.D. Music/Universal)
Black Star Riders — Heavy Fire (Nuclear Blast)
Carus Thompson — Island (Independent)
Common Kings — Lost In Paradise (Sony)
Communions — Blue (Fat Possum/Inertia)
Duke Garwood — Garden Of Ashes (Heavenly Recordings/[PIAS] Australia)
Elbow — Little Fictions (Universal)
Glenn Skuthorpe — See My World (Independent)
Hadal Maw — Olm (EVP)
Hollow Coves — Wanderlust (Independent)
Homeshake — Fresh Air (Sinderlyn/Remote Control)
Horisont — About Time (Century Media/Sony)
Less Than Jake — Sound The Alarm (Pure Noise/Sony)
Matteo Vallicelli — Primo (Captured Tracks/Remote Control)
Moon Duo — Occult Architecture Vol. 1 (Sacred Bones/Rocket)
Morgan Bain — Hush (Ten To Two)
Ocean Grove — The Rhapsody Tapes (UNFD)
Sarah Belkner — But You Are, But It Has (MGM)
Soen — Lylaia (UDR)
Syd — Fin (Columbia/Sony)
TEN FE — Hit The Light (LXVI)
Tobin Sprout — The Universe And Me (Burger Records)