Caroline Says – No Fool Like An Old Fool CD/LP (Western Vinyl)
Sophomore LP from Austin via Alabama musician, Caroline Sallee aka Caroline Says. Moving beyond the surf-folk foundations of her debut, here Sallee loosens her earthly tether, allowing her songs to float to ever higher altitudes on clouds of loops, immaculate melodies, and hypnotic harmonies, as she sings about aging, the daily grind, and hometown stymie.

The Decemberists – I’ll Be Your Girl CD/LP/Cassette (Capitol)
The Decemberists explore a new sound with a new producer on their inspired eighth studio album I’ll Be Your Girl. The acclaimed Portland, Oregon-based band worked with producer John Congleton and embraced influences such as Roxy Music and New Order to spark a new creative path as evidenced on synth-driven lead single “Severed.” “The songs tend to the darker, more absurdist side of things and feature a lot of nice vintage synth work by Jenny and Chris, some heavy drumming from Mr. Moen and, of course, the sort of baroque bass work you’ve come to expect from Nate Query. All in all, everyone acquitted themselves quite nicely,” explains the band. [Limited edition colored vinyl pressing also available.]

Earthless – Black Heaven CD/LP (Nuclear Blast)
Earthless has a surprise for you. Whereas the band’s three previous albums featured anywhere from two to four completely instrumental space rock jams, the California trio’s fourth and latest, Black Heaven, is nothing like that. “It’s quite different,” drummer Mario Rubalcaba explains. “It has six songs, and most importantly it has vocals on about 70 percent of the record. There goes being pigeonholed as an instrumental band, I guess…” [Limited edition colored vinyl pressings are also available.]

The Fratellis – In Your Own Sweet Time CD/LP (Cooking Vinyl)
Irrepressible Scottish trio The Fratellis follow-up the success of their critically acclaimed Top 20 album Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied (2015) with fifth full-length effort which finds the indie rock legends maturing into a chameleonic powerhouse with a sound that is bigger, bolder, and still shot through with a whip-smart, pitch-black sense of humor.

Bill Frisell – Music IS CD (OKeh/Sony Masterworks)
A full album of solo-guitar music from the ridiculously prolific guitarist known for his impressive jazz, surf, fusion, roots, Americana and folk-jazz chops. “The whole process—choosing the tunes, playing the gig, tracking in the studio—ended up feeling like an investigation into memory. There was no planned concept, but what materialized almost felt like an overview. The focus of Music IS is on the telling of musical stories from Frisell’s original and inimitable perspective: some of the interpretations being naked, exposed and truly solo, while others are more orchestrated through overdubbed layering and the use of his unparalleled approach to looping.” – Guitar Player

Hot Snakes – Jericho Sirens CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)
After a 14-year hiatus from the studio, Hot Snakes kick down the door with their new album, Jericho Sirens. The record blasts out of the speakers with the furious “I Need A Doctor,” inspired by Rick Froberg’s experience needing a doctor’s note in order to miss an important work function. Throughout Jericho Sirens, Froberg commiserates with the frustration and torrential apathy that seems to be a fixture in our daily lives, while also reminding us that we have no fucking clue.

“Songs like ‘Death Camp Fantasy’ and ‘Jericho Sirens’ are about that,” he says. “No matter where you look, there’re always people saying the world’s about to end. Every movie is a disaster movie. I’m super fascinated by it. It is hysterical, and it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. It snowballs, like feedback, or my balls on the windshield.”

Durand Jones & The Indications – Durand Jones & The Indications [Reissue/2016] CD/LP+MP3 (Dead Oceans)
Bayou-born soul sensation Durand Jones creates fiery original soul music, pairing soaring vocal work with dusty drums, slinking guitars and screaming organs. Certain to satisfy fans of Charles Bradley, Lee Fields, Aloe Blacc, and Leon Bridges. [Limited edition red colored vinyl pressing also available.]

Murs – A Strange Journey Into The Unimaginable CD (Strange Music)
With stellar production by Michael “Seven” Summers, Murs brings personally introspective and socially conscious lyricism to the fold while still maintaining his unique sense of humor, creating an album that s truly one of a kind.

Starchild & The New Romantic – Language CD/LP+MP3 (Ghostly International)
“Black boys have a whole world of complexity that society makes us stomp out of ourselves.” Language, Bryndon Cook’s full-length debut as Starchild & The New Romantic, communicates his refusal to do so. Describing himself early-on as a “young romantic boy from Maryland,” Cook has long been a dreamer, a student of black music’s rich lineage and its intersection with pop. On Language, Cook refines his phonics for funk, electro, and R&B, and arrives at a revelation, best summarized by a single motto: “my sensitivity is my strength.”

Thundercat – Drank CD/2xLP (Brainfeeder)
Brainfeeder presents a special “chopped not slopped” mix of Thundercat’s incredible album Drunk (2017) by DJ Candlestick and OG Ron C of legendary Houston DJ collective The Chopstars. Slowed down and chopped up, the mix has been appropriately re-titled Drank. It appeared online last year as an unofficial homage to the virtuoso bassist, songwriter and producer’s third and universally acclaimed album and received hearty approval from Thundercat. [Limited edition purple colored vinyl pressing also available.]

Dean Ween – rock2 CD/LP (Schnitzel)
Second official “solo” album from Ween co-founder Dean Ween – aka The Deaner. The new album, which follows up last year’s The Deaner Album, was recorded in Melchiondo’s studio situated near his hometown of New Hope, PA, with help from his Ween bandmates Dave Dreiwitz, Claude Coleman Jr. and Glenn McClelland, along with the Dean Ween Group lineup of Mike Dillon, Bill Fowler, Ray Kubian and Scott Rednor. “I’m pretty proud of this one,” Melchiondo says of the album. “It represents the first time that I was able to take what we do onstage and put it on a record. 2017 is a strange time to be a musician, live music is really your main outlet for making a living. I never thought at this stage of my career that I would be putting in this much time on the road and in the studio, but I am, and I’m enjoying it more than I ever have.” [Limited edition red colored vinyl pressing also available.]

Yo La Tengo – There’s A Riot Going On CD/2xLP (Matador)
There’s a riot going on. You don’t need Yo La Tengo or anyone else for that matter to tell you that. These are dark times, in our heads as much as in the streets. It’s easy to lose contact with the ground. Confusion and anxiety intrude into daily life and cause you to lose your compass. There are times that call for anthems, something to lift you out of your slump and put fire in your feet. And sometimes what is needed is a balm, a sound that will wrap around you and work out the knots in your neck.

Cocteau Twins – Head Over Heels [Reissue/1983] LP (4AD
Cocteau Twins – Treasure [Reissue/1984] LP (4AD)
Vinyl reissues of the Cocteau Twins’ second and third albums. Head Over Heels was their first album as a duo of Elizabeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie. It features the band’s signature sound of Guthrie’s lush guitars under Fraser’s mostly wordless vocals and is considered an archetype of early ethereal wave music. With their 1984 follow-up, Treasure, the band settled on what would, from then on, be their primary lineup: vocalist Elizabeth Fraser, guitarist Robin Guthrie and bass guitarist Simon Raymonde.

The Dwarves – Lick It: 1983-86 2xLP (Burger)
The Dwarves – Free Cocaine 1986-88 2xLP (Burger)
The Dwarves’ 34-track 2xLP extravaganza Lick It: 1983-86 chronicles punk rock’s reigning over-the-hill bad boys’ incredible teenage psychedelic years when they were called the Suburban Nightmare and worshiped The Cramps. Hear the early paisley garage Dwarves tear through their first LP (Horror Stories) and early singles that predate their rebirth as punk icons with plenty of tambourines, Farfisa organs and background vocals with attitude. Free Cocaine: 1986-88 collects material from the band’s F**k-You-Up-And-Get-High Years. The pus-charged and violently dripping assemblage of scum from punk rock’s reigning over-the-hill bad boys includes compilation cuts, the Toolin’ For A Warm Teabag 12”, the Lucifer’s Crank 7″, the That’s Rock’n’Roll 7″, the I Wanna Kill Your Boyfriend 7″, the She’s Dead 7″ and the Sex & Violence 7″ plus 15 unreleased tracks.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Polygondwanaland LP+MP3 (ATO)
Standard black vinyl edition now available. Following Flying Microtonal Banana, Murder of the Universe and Sketches of Brunswick East, Polygondwanaland finds the Australian psychedelic rock band journeying into the depths of the mind and the limits of the universe once again. “The stirring, quiet percussion of ‘Inner Cell’ tiptoes into ‘Loyalty’ for a slow buildup, before it splashes into the punctuated vocals of ‘Horology,’ a sea of guitar tapping and rich, warm woodwinds,” writes Pitchfork. [Domestic issue of the band’s 13th studio album Gumboot Soup – originally released last December and their fifth album of 2017 – is due March 30.]