This Week's Releases

The Bennies - Wisdom Machine (Poison City Records)

Southern punks The Bennies "party so well that a lot of their music is dismissed as some sort of parody", but newest full-length Wisdom Machine "may go a long way to changing minds" about that. Wisdom Machine is a smorgasbord of "more politically charged and musically bold tracks ... alongside hazy-eyed anthems", and stands tall as one of The Bennies' best — if not the best — efforts to date. We gave it four stars.

Elliphant - Living Life Golden (TEN/Sony)

Resplendently dressed in "sassy tracks with husky vocals and snappy beats", Elliphant's Living Life Golden wears the input of Swedish collaborators Jungle on its sleeve, the result being "a well rounded release, thrilling with intense bangers and lulling with smooth, glossy pop". We gave it three-and-a-half stars.

White Denim - Stiff (Create Control)

Rebounding from the loss of two founding members, White Denim offer up a surprisingly invigorated release in new full-length Stiff, which capably "eschews the poppier vibes of the last album, Corsicana Lemonade (2013), and crams as many ideas as possible into the soul-tinged goodtime rockers". Killer riffs, innovation and a never-say-die attitude all conspire to see White Denim still proudly "marching resolutely to the beat of their own drum as always, even if now provided by a different drummer". We gave it three-and-a-half stars.