This Week's Releases

18 August 2016 | 2:46 pm | Staff Writer

Drapht, Bayside, Alex The Kid and more

Ball Park Music — Every Night The Same Dream (Stop Start/Inertia)

The five-piece have made "somewhat of statement of identity" with this record, as they "attempt to replicate the sound and energy of their live show". With "gritty riffs, heavily distorted instruments and bustling with ambition", the album is "stubborn in its commitment to experimentation". We gave it four stars and Album Of The Week.

Crystal Castles — Amnesty (I) (Fiction/Caroline)

With Alice Glass gone, "this could be Ethan Kath's most effective 'fuck you' to his former partner as he takes ownership of the brand". With new singer Edith Frances at the helm, the band uses the "bewitching technique" of "distortion and overloading all frequencies" in songs like Concrete and Fleece. We gave it three stars.

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Drapht — Seven Mirrors (Sony)

Drapht continues to progress on his delivery and "his mastery of melody and pacing". Highlights include Raindrops (it is "illuminating"), Midnight At The Hospice and Odds, the latter "arguably the album's brightest spot; reflective, engaging and also fun". Paul Reid is "the most adult we've seen Reid on record" here — it's a "reinvigorating" listen. We gave it three-and-a-half stars.

and the rest of the releases…

AJJ — The Bible 2 (SideOneDummy/Cooking Vinyl)
Alex Cameron — Jumping The Shark (Secretly Canadian/Inertia)
Alex The Kid Speak Up (Pee Records)
Arc Iris  Moon Saloon (Bella Union/[PIAS] Australia)
Bayside — Vacancy (Hopeless Records/Unified)
Benjamin Francis Leftwich — After The Rain (Dirty Hit Records/Sony)
Black Foxxes  I'm Not Well (Spinefarm/Caroline)
BUOY — Break (October Records)
David Brent & Foregone Conclusions  Life On The Road (Caroline)
Dolly Parton — Pure & Simple (Dolly Records/Sony)
Ezra Furman Big Fugitive Life (Bella Union/[PIAS] Australia)
Factory Floor — 25 25 (DFA/[PIAS] Australia)
Faith No More — We Care A Lot (Deluxe Band Edition) (Koolarrow Records/[PIAS] Australia)
Feuds — Stay Lost (Independent)
Frenzal Rhomb — We Lived Like Kings (We Did Anything We Wanted) (How Much Did I Fucking Pay For This? Records/Caroline)
Gemini Syndrome — Memento Mori (Another Century)
Gonjasufi — Callus (Warp/Inertia)
Japanese Breakfast — Psychopomp (Dead Oceans/Inertia)
Katie Brianna — Victim Or The Heroine (MGM)
Lisa Hannigan — At Swim ([PIAS] Australia)
Meshiaak — Alliance Of Thieves (Mascot Label Group)
Mickey Cooper  Hit The Ceiling (Independent)
Rebel Yell — Mother Of Millions (Rice Is Nice/Inertia)
Ryley Walker — Golden Sings That Have Been Sung (Dead Oceans/Inertia)
Sabaton — The Last Stand (Nuclear Blast)
Salute — My Heart (37 Adventures/[PIAS] Australia)
Sam Coomes — Bugger Me (Domino)
Scott Walker — The Childhood Of A Leader (4AD/Remote Control)
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings  Miss Sharon Jones! Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Daptone)
Slow Club — One Day All Of This Won't Matter Anymore (Moshi Moshi)
Smoke Rings — Smoke Rings (Independent)
Soilwork — Death Resonance (Nuclear Blast)
Sugar Army — Beast (Independent)
Thom Sonny Green  High Anxiety (Infectious Music/Liberator)
Venus II  Inside Your Sun (Warner)