STAFF PICKS
DARIO – Ben LeMar Gay
ASH – Little Simz
JAKE – Lifeguard and Hayden Pedigo
KIMBER – Hayden Pedigo
MARY – Mary and Joe Henderson reissue
ZACH – McKinley Dixon and Little Simz

TURNSTILE – Never Enough CD/LP(Roadrunner Records)  
Recorded between Los Angeles and their homes in Baltimore, Never Enough is produced by Turnstile’s Brendan Yates. The expansive collection is a restless and exhilarating evolution of the band’s genre-defying sound. A transformative journey, both fearless and alive, by one of the most forward-thinking and influential bands of their generation.

MCKINLEY DIXON – Magic Alive CD/LP (City Slang) 
Free Magic 8-Ball Keychain with purchase! McKinley Dixon arrives with Magic, Alive!, the final installment of his trilogy of records directly inspired by the works of Toni Morrison. His last record Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? received wide critical acclaim including a 9.5 review from The Needle Drop and 2023 AOTY from Rolling Stone, Consequence, The Line of Best Fit, Paste, Bandcamp and others.

NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS – Still Shakin’ CD/LP (New West Records)  
North Mississippi Allstars was founded by brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson in 1996 as a loose collective of musicians from North Mississippi and Memphis, TN, inspired by their neighbors, RL Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, Otha Turner and the late Fred McDowell. Still Shakin’ is a celebration of their life-changing first album Shake Hands with Shorty, released 25 years ago. They dipped into the North Mississippi repertoire and experience of the 90’s, touring with RL Burnside, recording Otha Turner, hanging at Junior’s Juke, filtering new interpretations thru their current instincts. The well never runs dry and the cast of characters never fails.

LIFEGUARD – Ripped And Torn LP (Matador Records)
Chicago’s Lifeguard release their debut album Ripped and Torn on June 6. The youthful trio of Asher Case, Isaac Lowenstein, and Kai Slater have been making music together since they were in high school, nearly a quarter of their lives. Noisy and immediate, cryptic but heartfelt, they draw inspiration from punk, dub, power-pop and experimental sounds, and bring them all together in explosive inspiration. Over their two prior summers on Matador, Lifeguard’s EPs carefully documented the band’s early, earnest, studio explorations. But their tremendous live shows, anchored by Lowenstein’s rock-steady backbeat, hinted that something greater was waiting in the wings. On Ripped and Torn, the barbed-wire sound frames Slater and Case’s newly rich two-part harmonies and collagiste lyrics. Producer Randy Randall (No Age) captures a claustrophobic scrappiness that conjures the feeling and energy of the house parties and live shows, where ears are easily overwhelmed, and ragged improvisations connect with the same force as melodic hooks.

CAAMP – Copper Changes Color CD/LP/CASS (Mom & Pop Music) 
Caamp (Taylor Meier, Evan Westfall, Matt Vinson, Joe Kavalec, and Nicholas Falk) is set to release their highly anticipated new album Copper Changes Color on June 6th, 2025. The album features a collection of songs written, performed and produced by the band, with recording and co-production by Beatriz Artola and Tucker Martine. The album was recorded over the course of two years in various locations, including Sonic Ranch and Sear Sound. Reflecting on the album, Meier shares: “Take your rings off and wash your hands. Wrap something tightly in newspaper; give it away. Water is running and, Copper Changes Color.”

FRANKIE AND THE WITCH FINGERS – Trash Classic CD/LP/CASS (Ras)  
Frankie and the Witch Fingers – Hooks so infectious they rot on impact. Trash Classic marks a feral mutation for Frankie and the Witch Fingers – a record that snarls with proto-punk venom, angular melodies, and electronic textures that cough and sputter like dying neon lights under a poisoned sky. This record pushes the Witch Fingers’ sound to a razor’s edge. Wiry and twitching, it bends into synth-punk and fractured new wave, with fragments of industrial grime caked under it’s nails. Guitars detonate and slice like cinderblocks through glass, while gnashing basslines slither through the sludge, alive and seething. Buzzy synths take the forefront, driving relentless rhythms that crack and pop, drenched in a chemically saturated sheen-part bug-eyed speed-freak pogo, part dance floor delirium. The result is a raw, twisted monument to rot and excess-toxic glamour and nihilistic salvation. Trash Classic isn’t just a record; it’s an auditory dumpster bible-a gutter gospel for those ready to dive into it’s filth.

BEN LAMAR GAY – Yowzers CD/LP (International Anthem)  
Yowzers is a new album by Chicago composer, improvisor, and musical folklorist Ben LaMar Gay. Gay’s de facto debut album—the 2018 compilation Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun—properly introduced him to the world by placing fifteen stylistically diverse tracks from seven then-unreleased albums next to one another. His critically-acclaimed 2021 song cycle Open Arms To Open Us followed. In addition to being featured on a staggering number of International Anthem releases (including albums by Makaya McCraven, jaimie branch, and Damon Locks), Gay is one of the most prolific collaborators in creative music today, making active contributions to Mike Reed’s Separatist Party, Joshua Abrams’s Natural Information Society, Bitchin Bajas, Theaster Gates’s Black Monks of Mississippi, and more.

LITTLE SIMZ – Lotus CD/LP (Forever Living)  
Little Simz is a boundary-breaking musician and cultural curator, recognized as one of the UK’s most captivating and visionary artists. A multi-award winner – collecting Brit Awards, MOBOs, and an Ivor Novello – across mixtapes, EPs, and five critically acclaimed albums, Simz’s music documents her story, her journey, her becoming – and in turn, her generation. – This summer, Little Simz returns with her 6th Lotus.. The record marks an exciting new chapter in her artistic journey, drawing from an expansive palette of musical influences including punk, jazz, afrobeat and more. True to form, Simz continues to push boundaries and defy genre constraints, creating a sound that’s both innovative and distinctly her own.

MARINA – Princess Of Power CD/LP (BMG)
Princess Of Power is the feverishly anticipated sixth studio album from Marina. Inspired by the superpower that is love, it marks the internationally acclaimed and award-winning artist’s first independent release. The album explores the concepts of power and leadership for a new generation. It’s a record that is built on the belief that love doesn’t make us weak, it’s something to be empower by and celebrated.

PULP – More CD/LP/CASS (Rough Trade) 
WORDS FROM JARVIS COCKER ON MORE This is the first Pulp album since We Love Life in 2001. Yes: the first Pulp album for 24 years. How did that happen? Well: when we started touring again in 2023, we practiced a new song called ‘Hymn of the North’ during soundchecks & eventually played it at the end of our second night at Hammersmith Odeon. This seemed to open the floodgates: we came up with the rest of the songs on this album during the first half of 2024. A couple are revivals of ideas from last century. The music for one song was written by Richard Hawley. The music for another was written by Jason Buckle. The Eno family sing backing vocals on a song. There are string arrangements written by Richard Jones & played by the Elysian Collective. The album was recorded over 3 weeks by James Ford in Walthamstow, London, starting on November 18th, 2024. This is the shortest amount of time a Pulp album has ever taken to record. It was obviously ready to happen. These are the facts. We hope you enjoy the music. It was written & performed by four human beings from the North of England, aided & abetted by five other human beings from various locations in the British Isles. No A.I. was involved during the process. This album is dedicated to Steve Mackey. This is the best that we can do.

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE – Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge 20th Anniversary CD/LP (Reprise)  
Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge celebrates 20 years with a deluxe reissue. The entire 13-track album that includes the hits ‘I’m Not Okay (I Promise)’, ‘Helena,’ ‘The Ghost of You,’ and ‘You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison’ has been remixed by Rich Costey and packaged in brand new artwork. Additionally, four bonus tracks recorded for BBC in 2005 have been included. Three of the bonus tracks are previously unreleased live versions of I’m Not Okay (I Promise), Helena, and The Ghost Of You. The fourth bonus track is a live version of You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison which was a B-side to limited edition UK CD single of I’m Not Okay (I Promise).

RED CLAY STRAYS – Live At The Ryman LP (RCA)
Double opaque candy red colored vinyl LP pressing. The Red Clay Strays bring the house down in their performance at Live At The Ryman. Produced by the multi-Grammy award winning Dave Cobb, the Live At The Ryman vinyl features four previously unreleased live performances including the fan favorite ‘Till Things Get Right.’

HAYDEN PEDIGO – I’ll Be Waving As You Drive Away LP (Mexican Summer)  
I’ll Be Waving As You Drive Away is the new album from Hayden Pedigo; a psychedelic, show stopping finale to Texas born and bred artist’s fabled Motor Trilogy. Fusing intricate American primitive guitar play with elegant ensemble accompaniments, lush mellotron choirs, and wordless, cinematic storytelling, I’ll Be Waving is a dazzling, emotionally vibrant portrait of a restless artist revealing his truest self. Objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are.

BORN RUFFIANS – Beauty’s Pride CD/LP (Yep Roc Records) 
Beauty’s Pride is a significant evolution in Born Ruffians’ creativity & artistry, both in terms of the writing and as the first album written in collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Maddy Wilde who joined the band in 2022. Born Ruffians are a band that has generally favored a sound that is lo-fi and contained. But on Beauty’s Pride, they’re doing the opposite – it’s a richer, bigger, full spectrum sound with lyrical themes that evoke a more universal storytelling spirit. While much of the trend in guitar/indie rock has been to favor more 1960s & 70s-inspired lo-fi recordings, here the band set out to create a record that sounds like it was made in 2025: it’s a maximalist indie rock album that embraces hi-fi production techniques. It’s filled with fear and optimism (and still plenty of anxiety as is Luke Lalonde’s charm), but in an engaging, unpretentious way, something which, again, reflects the year it was made, the cultural feelings of this moment, and the confidence of a band that has earned its stripes.

BRIAN ENO / BEATIE WOLFE – Lateral CD/LP (Verve)
Collaborative album from Brian Eno and Beatie Wolfe. Lateral sounds more like the familiar. But better. Lateral is Ambient-Landscape-Space-Music. Single LP pressed on eco-friendly black biovinyl OR Softpak CD with art card.

BRIAN ENO / BEATIE WOLFE – Luminal LP (Verve)  
Collaborative album from Beatie Wolfe and Brian Eno. Neither of us has ever made a record like Luminal before. Luminal is Electric-Country-Dream-Music. Single LP pressed on eco-friendly black biovinyl.

CYPRESS HILL & THE LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA – Black Sunday Live At The Royal Albert Hall CD/LP (Mercury Studios)
On July 10, 2024, Cypress Hill teamed up with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Troy Miller, to present a reimagining of their quadruple-platinum-selling Black Sunday album in it’s entirety, featuring unique orchestral arrangements inspired by the original recordings of DJ Muggs, along with a number of the band’s songs from their extensive catalog. This landmark event merges the worlds of classical music and hip hop, adding soaring orchestrations to such classics and fan favorites including Illusions,  I Ain’t Goin’ Out Like That,  (Rock) Superstar,  Insane In The Brain,  and many more.

JPEGMAFIA – I Lay Down My Life For You (Director’s Cut) LP (Peggy)  
Double vinyl LP pressing. JPEGMAFIA, a trailblazing force in experimental hip hop, releases his latest solo project, I Lay Down My Life For You. This album, his first since 2021, is a complex and innovative work that showcases his meticulous production skills. Featuring collaborations with Denzel Curry, Vince Staples, and Buzzy Lee, the album explores themes like capitalism, conscription, and propaganda through some of JPEGMAFIA’s most anarchic raps to date. The Directors Cut includes demos, extra singles and instrumental tracks.

CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (20th Anniversary) LP  (CYHSY) 
A fresh, creative reimagining of the classic album’s artwork on the occasion of it’s 20th anniversary celebration and a 2025 world tour beginning in the US and spanning South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.The limited deluxe gatefold vinyl edition embodies the album’s DIY spirit featuring peel-off gecko stickers for personal creativity, a bonus flexi 7 with the original recording of Heavy Metal, and stunning splatter vinyls in a refined redesign-paying tribute to one of the most influential indie rock records of all time.

ELI PAPERBOY REED – Sings Walkin’ And Talkin’ And Other Smash Hits LP [Reissue/2005] (Yep Roc Records)
Eli Paperboy Reed is celebrating 20 years of making soulful music with the re-release of his very first album, the hopefully titled Sings Walkin’ And Talkin’ And Other Smash Hits! The set was originally recorded in a basement studio in Allston, Massachusetts, all live to analog tape in mono and pressed as a limited run of 300 CDs in 2005. This self-released CD was mostly sold while Reed busked on the streets of Harvard Square in Cambridge, Mass in his early 20s. The first disc of the newly remastered double LP reissue will contain the original tracks from the CD, plus four additional tracks recorded the same December day in 2004. The second disc contains a live performance recorded for WHRB radio at Harvard University in 2005. This two disc set presents Reed’s humble beginnings in Boston by way of Mississippi and Chicago, playing his own rough and ready interpretations of downhome blues, R&B and gospel. With this 20th anniversary release and the celebration of two decades of legendary live performances, Reed cements himself as an elder statesman of the genre. To further mark the milestone, Reed will be touring with the members of his original band playing music from that first LP as well as across his storied career.

JOE HENDERSON AND WOODY SHAW – Jazz Patterns LP [Reissue/1982] (Real Gone)  
“Diamond in the rough” doesn’t begin to describe the number of carats this long-lost jazz treasure wields, nor the depths of its humble origins. Originally released in 1982 on the budget Everest label, Jazz Patterns was all-too-carelessly assembled collection of 1970 live recordings from saxophonist Joe Henderson’s Quintet, re-titled to give trumpeter Woody Shaw co-billing to capitalize on his subsequent commercial success. A few copies were made, sold for under 5 bucks each, and that was that. But, as Skip Heller’s liner notes (which we’ve added) reveal, what this shoddy little package (it didn’t even have the correct song titles for two of the tracks and misspelled the one it got right) actually contained was, get this, previously unreleased performances from the same September 24-26, 1970 stand at The Lighthouse Café in Hermosa Beach that yielded Henderson’s revered 1970 release If You’re Not Part of the Solution, You’re Part of the Problem!

PRIMUS – Frizzle Fry LP [Reissue/1990] (Prawn Song)
Limited purple / clear split colored vinyl LP pressing. Happy 35th Birthday to Frizzle Fry. In celebration, the album is available for the first time on a clear/purple split vinyl.

DEICIDE – Deicide LP [Reissue/1990]  (Real Gone Music)
Are you ready to experience the definitive death metal album? Deicide’s 1990 self-titled debut is not just one of the genre’s top-selling releases (if it’s not #1, it’s top three); it’s also a staggering philosophical and artistic statement. Uncompromising is definitely the appropriate if euphemistic term to describe it’s stance on organized religion, which doesn’t just include Christianity but also Charles Manson (Lunatic of God’s Creation) and Jim Jones (Carnage in the Temple of the Damned). But it’s Sacrificial Suicide and Dead by Dawn, which references the Evil Dead movie for maybe the slightest hint of levity on what is a very black album, that have become stone-cold classics. The ferocity of the lyrics is matched if not surpassed by the musical attack, featuring piercing twin guitar leads from brothers Eric and Brian Hoffman, and bassist/lead singer Glen Benton’s evil exhortations. The real hero-or antihero-of the band, though, just might be drummer Steve Asheim, whose double kick drum blastbeat barrages defy belief. Remastered for vinyl by Mike Milchner of Sonic Vision, Deicide comes in metallic red and white centurion vinyl.

WILLIE COLON & CELIA CRUZ – Celia Y Willie LP [Reissue/ (Craft Recordings) 
1981’S Celia y Willie marked the second of three timeless collab albums between the “Queen of Salsa” and “El Malo del Bronx,” now returning to vinyl in honor of Celia Cruz’s Centennial. Featuring (AAA) lacquers cut from the original master tapes and 180-gram vinyl, Latin music lovers will enjoy favorites like the socially conscious “Latinos en Estados Unidos,” the salsafied cover of the iconic Mexican song “Cucurucucú paloma,” the electric “Dos jueyes” and the irresistible “Come Down to Miami.”

COPELAND – In Motion LP [Reissue/2005] (Smartpunk Records)  
Truffle Vinyl. 20th Anniversary Edition of Copeland’s beloved 2005 record, In Motion.

JULIA MESTRE – Maravilhosamente Bem LP (Mr Bongo)
Proudly presenting Maravilhosamente Bem the powerful, female-centred third album by Brazilian singer, songwriter, actress, and creative director, Julia Mestre. Alongside being a member of the Latin Grammy-winning Brazilian supergroup, Bala Desejo, Julia has been steadily building a solo career where her unique vision and alluring soft, sultry voice take centre stage. Drawing inspiration from ’80s ballads, MPB, pop and disco productions, each song on this third album finds Julia creatively exploring different characters and tones.

ISAAC HAYES – Best Of Isaac Hayes [Reissue/  (Craft Recordings)
The Best of Isaac Hayes brings together 10 soulful cuts from Stax Records’ incomparable creative force. As composer, producer, singer and multi-instrumentalist, Isaac Hayes changed the face of music in the early 1970s, and this collection is the perfect introduction to his music. Including the Academy Award-winning ‘Theme From Shaft’ with it’s distinctive wah-wah guitar intro, ‘Walk on By,’ and ‘Never Can Say Goodbye’ all newly mastered by Paul Blakemore. Available on standard black vinyl.

Swan Real – Growing Up 7″ (Related Records)
Released June 8th, 2025 and limited to 500 copies, 4-track EP from Brookyln musician Swan Real out on Related Records. 7″ comes with download code that includes a bonus song called “Shame Date”

PREMROCK – Did You Enjoy Your Time? LP (Backwoodz Studioz)  
Did You Enjoy Your Time Here…? is the new studio album from Backwoodz Studioz artist Premrock (perhaps best known as 1⁄2 of ShrapKnel; the sobering yin to Curly Castro’s furious yang). DYEYTH picks up where Prem’s pensive Backwoodz debut, 2021’s Load Bearing Crow’s Feet, left off; clear-eyed, heartfelt, and unsparingly witty. The album boasts production from Sebb Bash, Blockhead, YUNGMORPHEUS, Child Actor, Controller 7, ELUCID, Small Professor, Jeff Markey, & Fines Double while Prem’s longtime collaborator Willie Green weaves everything together. Lyrically Prem is aided and abetted by some of the world’s best, Pink Siifu, billy woods, Cavalier, Nappy Nina, Illogic, AJ Suede, Mary Esther Carter and of course Castro. Each guest extracts the best out of the mixture and producing fruitful collaborations not merely guest verses. Featuring original artwork inspired by the record from Chicago artist Gabe Karagianis. The best turns of phrase are the ones that provide more than one meaning. Like staring at an abstract painting, words can mean different things to different people. A question or phrase that either elicits an extended existential pondering or simply a shrug. Could be in reference to the entirety of one’s life, spending 90 minutes in an establishment or 5 years in a romantic relationship. The brief exhilarating high of a designer drug, or the automated survey at the end of an online transaction. It is a simple but stealthily loaded question. Well, did you?

COMING NEXT WEEK!
CURE – Songs Of A Lost World Remixes CD/LP
BUDOS BAND – VII CD/LP
KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD – Phantom Island CD/LP
SQUAREPUSHER – Ultravisitor LP Reissue
SUN RA – On Jupiter LP Reissue
MISTER ROMANTIC – What’s Not To Love LP
C418 – Minecraft Alpha & Beta CASSETTE
WITCH – Sogolo LP
MARY HALVORSON – About Ghosts CD/LP
BUG CLUB – Very Human Features LP
MURDER BY DEATH – Egg + Dart LP
BRONCHO – NATURAL PLEASURE LP