The Peep Tempel, Jagwar Ma, Lisa Mitchell, LANKS, The Laurels and more
The Peep Tempel — Joy (Wing Sing Records)
They're not just purveyors of "bracing, noisy punk-rock" — it's "a little bit sharper. A little bit more accessible. A little bit (read: marginally) shinier". With "exceptional lyrics and character-driven vocal delivery" from Blake Scott and "tightened" style and songwriting from the entire band, Joy is "a decisive improvement on an already-outstanding formula". We gave it four stars and our Album Of The Week.
Jagwar Ma — Every Now & Then (Future Classic)
It's been "perhaps too long" between drinks for Jagwar Ma, and Every Now & Then is filled with "a lot more production and a bit too much seriousness". The album is "full of promise and introspection" but feels like "a failure to launch", with a number of "repetitive (albeit well- and cleverly-produced) Afro house-infused shoegaze" songs. We gave it three-and-a-half stars.
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Lisa Mitchell — Warriors (Warner)
With "an ear for a good melody and a good line", Mitchell has abandoned her "piano and acoustic guitar" for "sparer", "gloomy corner", taking "a leaf out of Lorde's book - sonically and thematically". Her "cutesiness" has given "way to something richer, and surely more enduring" and it is "her best release to date". We gave it four stars.
Beth Hart — Fire On The Floor (Provogue/Mascot Label Group)
Black Rheno — Let's Start A Cult (Rocket)
Conor Oberst — Ruminations (Nonesuch/Warner)
Darkthrone — Arctic Thunder (Peaceville/Rocket)
DEPARTE — Failure, Subside (Season Of Mist)
Dr John Cooper Clarke & Hugh Cornwell — This Time It's Personal (Sony)
Duchess Says — Sciences Nouvelles (Slovenly)
Dusky — Outer (Polydor/Universal)
Jamie Lidell — Building A Beginning (Jajulin Records)
Jeff Rosenstock — WORRY. (SideOneDummy/Cooking Vinyl)
Jonny Fritz — Sweet Creep (ATO/[PIAS] Australia)
Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker — Overnight (Rough Trade/Remote Control)
Kings Of Leon — Walls (RCA/Sony)
KLP — Ember (EMI)
LANKS — Viet Rose (Independent)
Moby & The Void Pacific Choir — These Systems Are Failing (Warner)
Nils Bech — Echo (DFA/[PIAS] Australia)
Powell — Sport (XL/Remote Control)
Rebecca Ferguson — Superwoman (Syco/Sony)
Red Fang — Only Ghosts (Relapse)
Sleaford Mods — TCR (Rough Trade/Remote Control)
Suzanne Vega — Lover, Beloved: Songs From An Evening With Carson McCullers (Cooking Vinyl)
The Dillinger Escape Plan — Dissociation (Party Smasher Inc/Cooking Vinyl)
The Laurels — Sonicology (Rice Is Nice)
The Lemon Twigs — Do Hollywood (4AD/Remote Control)
The Naked & Famous — Simple Forms (Somewhat Damaged/Universal)
The Nation Blue — Black (Poison City Records)
The Nation Blue — Blue (Poison City Records)
Tom Chaplin — The Wave (Island/Universal)
Trophy Eyes — Chemical Miracle (Hopeless Records/Unified)
Two Door Cinema Club — Gameshow (Parlophone/Warner)
Zed's Dead — Northern Lights (Deadbeats/Caroline)