Alela Diane – Cusp CD/LP (Alela Diane)
Cusp was written in January 2016 in a small cabin deep within snowy woods where Alela resided during a three-week artist residency at Caldera, Oregon, alone for the first time since becoming a mother. A broken thumbnail resulted in Alela’s signature finger-plucking being replaced by songwriting on a grand piano, resulting in the most piano driven album of her career, fueled by that energy that only comes with facing and falling in love with something new. Cusp explores the weight and beauty of creating life, with Alela refusing to stray from her perspective as a mother and woman.

The Dwarves – Take Back The Night CD/LP/Cassette (Burger)
Teen pop whiz kid Andy Now mans the boards for the Take Back The Night LP as the Dwarves embrace their ‘turd in the punchbowl of punk’ legacy. Old school vets like Vadge Moore and Saltpeter, studio pros like Nick Oliveri and Josh Freese and flat out demented scallywags like the Fresh Prince of Darkness join Hewhocannotbenamed for a spectacular and genuinely creepy record.

Brian Fallon – Sleepwalkers CD/LPxLP (Island)
Sophomore solo album from the singer and guitarist of The Gaslight Anthem and The Horrible Crowes.

Franz Ferdinand – Always Ascending CD/LP+MP3 (Domino)
Franz Ferdinand’s new album shows the Scottish quintet broadening their palate, as exuberant as it is euphoric, creating a sound that singer, Alex Kapranos, refers to as “simultaneously futuristic and naturalistic.” These are the louche tales of the Parisian night, the exhilaration of an Italian car racing down the autobahn; a feeling of euphoria so pure it could only exist on a knife’s edge. As such, best to press play expecting nothing more than a good time. “I hope that when you listen to it you feel exhilarated,” Kapranos adds, “Until you fully absorb the lyrics.” [Limited deluxe pink colored vinyl pressing also available.]

Jonny Greenwood – Phantom Thread [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] CD (Nonesuch)
“Greenwood is a student who revels in homework. Like [Paul Thomas] Anderson during the early conception of a film, there is allowance for open channels of influence from sources of curiosity. For this tale, Anderson studied the lives, if not the styles, of famous fashion designers Cristóbal Balenciaga and Christian Dior and the obscure gothic fairytales of M. R. James and Beatrix Potter’s The Tailor of Gloucester. In coordination close and far, Greenwood absorbed the musical trends of the 1950s, gleaning from Nelson Riddle and the full string-section jazz arrangements of Ben Webster, as well as Glenn Gould’s Bach recordings. The outcome rolls though accentuation of the haunting, beguiling and exhilarating, the delicate and intensifying, the fanciful and ominous, sewn with the discretion of a tailor to accompany the precise tone of every scene.” – Under The Radar [Vinyl edition due April 20.]

Hockey Dad – Blend Inn CD/LP (Kanine)
Australian surf-rock duo Hockey Dad return with their sophomore record. Where their 2016 debut Boronia celebrated the long days of summers past, of mates, the ocean and the sublime naivety of youth, Blend Inn is Billy Fleming and Zach Stephenson coming to us with more perspective following a year of relentless touring which took them far from the streets and waves of their hometown. The fast-paced, punk style of Billy’s drums is executed in perfect synchronicity with Zach’s jangly guitar, anthemic choruses and ever confident vocals to give life to their unmistakable and infectious brand of rock-pop.

Joan As Police Woman – Damned Devotion CD/LP (PIAS America)
Already acknowledged as a thrilling live performer and starkly honest lyricist, Damned Devotion finds Joan Wasser at her rawest. While her 2014 album The Classic was a soulful celebration of life and her 2011 album The Deep Field a lush moody expansion, this new release sees her stripping her compositions back to the core, the bare-all lyricism and timeless melodies harking back to her accolade-winning album To Survive (2008) and her universally acclaimed debut Real Life (2006). “My maxim is: if it feels scary to say it, it’s the thing you must say,” Joan says. On Damned Devotionthe thoughtful lyricism is married to Joan As Police Woman’s most accessible music to date.

Legend Of The Seagullmen – Legend Of The Seagullmen CD (Dine Alone)
Legend Of The Seagullmen is a genre-destroying supergroup featuring Danny Carey of Tool, Brent Hinds of Mastodon, director Jimmy Hayward (Jonah Hex, Horton Hears A Who) on guitar, and Pete Griffin of Zappa Plays Zappa and Dethklok on bass, and a few other rippers. Joining forces to make cinematic psychedelic rock, The Seagullmen sing of shipwrecks and giant mutant squid, crafting conceptual rock ‘n’ roll hymns of epic proportions on their self-titled full-length debut. Engineered by Toshi Kasai (Melvins, Big Business) and mastered by Gavin Lurssen (Queens Of The Stone Age), Legend Of The Seagullmen sees the band unveil massive sonically pulverizing slabs that decimate expectations since Rolling Stone excitedly leaked two demos back in 2015. [Vinyl edition due March 2.]

MGMT – Little Dark Age CD/2xLP+MP3 (Sony)
Little Dark Age is the long awaited new album from MGMT. The album is produced by MGMT, Patrick Wimberly (Chairlift, Kelela, Blood Orange), and long-time collaborator Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Spoon, Tame Impala). MGMT recorded Little Dark Age at Tarbox Road Studios in Cassadaga, NY. The new album includes the previously released title song “Little Dark Age,” and the tracks “When You Die” and “Hand It Over.”

Palm – Rock Island CD/LP+MP3 (Carpark)
On their second LP, Palm produces evidence of a distinct musical language, developed over time, in isolation, and out of necessity. On the island, melodies are struck on what might be shells or spines. Rhythms are scratched out, swept over, scratched again. Individual instruments, and sometimes entire sections, skip and stutter. There is the sense of a music box with wonky tension or a warped transmission in which all the noise is taken for signal. Despite appearing behind the instruments typical of rock music, Palm trades in sounds of their own making. The percussion is sometimes augmented to suggest a multiplication of limbs. The strings are manipulated to choke, crack, and hum like other instruments, or other bodies, might. This is music with dimensionality. Sonic objects are deployed, developed, and dissected in various states of mutation. The listener flits about between the field and the lab. The tone is warm in a way only the sun could make, the pace as forceful and as variable as a gale.

The Wombats – Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life CD/LP (The Wombats)
Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life sees The Wombats continuing to assert themselves as currently one of the bigger and best guitar pop bands. Written from three corners of the globe – drummer Dan Haggis in London, bassist Tord Øverland Knudsen nursing his new family in Oslo and frontman Murph in Los Angeles – the album was created over long distance writing sessions, supplemented by intense two-week in-person sessions in Oslo. With the addition of producers Mark Crew (Bastille, Rag’n’Bone Man) and Catherine Marks (Wolf Alice), Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life finds The Wombats pushing the boundaries of alt-pop innovation with a lush, ultramodern indie soundscape wrapped in Blade Runner synths, future grooves, celestial solos and space age melodies. [Limited clear vinyl pressing also available.]

Arcade Fire – Creature Comfort 12” (Sony)
Limited 180gm white 12” vinyl pressing of this single taken from the album Everything Now. Includes “Comfort My Sleng Teng” (Geoff Barrow Mix/12″ Vinyl Version).

Ramones – Leave Home [Reissue/1976] LP (Rhino)
Ramones – Self-Titled [Reissue/1977] LP (Rhino)
Ramones – Rocket To Russia [Reissue/1977] LP (Rhino)
Ramones ‎– Live At The Roxy August 12, 1976 [Reissue/1978] LP (Rhino)
Limited 180gm vinyl reissues of the Ramones first three LPs and a live album recorded in ’76.

Shovels & Rope – Busted Jukebox Volume 2 LP (New West)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The second installment of the collaborative effort between the critically acclaimed duo and some of their favorite musicians and friends. Busted Jukebox: Volume 2 again finds the band covering well-known songs or tracks they have either performed or arranged with other artists in the past. Features collaborations with Brandi Carlile, John Moreland, Hayes Carll, Nicole Atkins, Rhett Miller and more. 180gm colored vinyl pressing.

Twin Peaks – Sweet ’17 Singles 12” (Grand Jury)
Throughout the second half of 2017, Chicago’s Twin Peaks released a run of a half dozen limited-edition 7” singles the band affectionately dubbed Sweet ’17. Only 300 copies of each 7” were made, and subscriptions sold out almost immediately. Due to popular demand, TwinPeaks have compiled all of the songs from the series onto this new 12”.