This Week's Releases

Hockey Dad — Boronia (Farmer & The Owl/Inertia)

Surf rockers Hockey Dad have brought more to the genre in Boronia — "they've championed its core attitude and aesthetic while hoisting it up head and shoulders above others in terms of quality and accessibility". The duo boast "songwriting chops and production know-how" and "points to a band poised for great things". We gave it four stars and our Album Of The Week.

The Amity Affliction — This Could Be Heartbreak (Roadrunner/Warner)

With awareness of its "hefty commercial potency" — "there are at least five potential 'hit singles' here" — The Amity Affliction have offered hooks "so shiny they're blinding", though others "feel generic as Times New Roman". " Acoustic-laced ballad All Fucked Up injects a modicum of freshness" while Fight My Regret "punishes". We gave it three stars.

Of Montreal — Innocence Reaches (Create/Control)

With Innocence Reaches, Kevin Barnes seems to be "more concerned with discovering who he is after a tumultuous year rather than trying to define who his listeners are". Feeling like "a kid describing a dream using Lego", highlights include glam-disco opener Let's Relate and Gratuitous Abysses, "a compact, fizzy little number that sounds like it arrived late, drunk and not the least bit apologetic from a completely different record". We gave it three stars.