It’s the first day of Spring! The weather’s getting warmer, and things are looking up, so treat yourself to our latest batch of rack additions. Not only does this edition feature The War on Drugs’ early Album of the Year candidate, but we’ve also got some 70’s power-pop bliss from Warm Soda, the icy cool of Trust, Burger Records surf-rockers traumahelikopter, and the summery nostalgia of Belle Brigade! We heard that all of these albums are on the warm-up mixtape for the AU Men’s Basketball Team (We’re Dancing‰ã¢), so give them a spin on your show!

With Love,
The Music Department

The War On Drugs – Lost In the Dream (Secretly Canadian)

It is about 70 degrees and you’re on the road, eager to get to anywhere but where you are now. Fueled by nervous energy, just enough to keep you going but steady enough to keep you in your seat; the sun every so often breaks through the clouds and you are happy. But then a breeze sneaks through the cracked window and goosebumps remind you that you are all alone. On their third album, Philadelphia’s psych rockers, The War On Drugs, capture this lonesome essence through fluid Americana melodies tinted with passed-out psychedelia and pulsing with that last bit of whatever you’re holding on to.

Opening with “Under The Pressure”, nine minutes of engine revving gently, piano and percussion that set the pace for frontman Adam Granduciel’s breathless dialogue, the past-their prime rockers prove some get better with age (with experience, heartbreak, and long journeys on the road to contemplate it all). War On Drugs’ guitar style finds no rhymes in the world of music it lives in today.

This allows their classic rock roots that meld with thinly veiled distortion, country braided with soft sax and psych swirls of everything else, to stand out strong. Granduciel is shouting over the car speakers on full volume, driving fast and the wind repetitively whips through the windows, so when he shouts alone, what the car beside him hears is dimmed but inside is bursting with agony, with emotion that somehow also has the endurance to push forth through flawless guitar solos until all that is left is amber country ballads, a few minutes to refuel the tank and set forth again. This album is exactly what you need right now because it is timeless.
– Molly Pfeffer

RIYL: Kurt Vile, Neil Young, Sonic Youth, Bob Dylan, Eels, Nightlands
Recommended: 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 10

Trust – Joyland (Arts and Crafts)

This album is much cooler than you are. I don‰’t mean this as an insult or a compliment, more as a statement of mere fact. If this album were somebody, it would be the young people at a party who have excellent, perfectly disheveled haircuts and a wardrobe of exclusively black, and never seem to visibly have fun at a party. That‰’s alright though, because without them, the party just isn‰’t worth going to.

Though Trust is often put in the genre of coldwave or darkwave, at its core, Joyland is a straight up synthpop record which, though it starts a bit slow, is full of legitimate dance floor smashes. Layers of synths make up most of each song here, and while most fall pretty squarely in the icy and groovy category, the occasionally ray of synthesized sunshine beams through, most notably on the title track which is downright cheery, seeing frontman Robert Alfons dropping his usual deep mumble for an endearing falsetto.

Other songs break up the midtempo dance monotony, such as the second track “Geryon‰” which propels itself forward at a mile a minute, and “Peer Pressure‰Û, which has more in common with Avicci than it does with Bauhaus. The record occasionally suffers from being too cool for school and maintaining the same sound for far too long, but when it comes to 80‰’s worshipping, self-serious solo acts, you can‰’t do much better than Trust.
– Richard Murphy

RIYL: Crystal Castles, The Knife, Joy Division, Depeche Mode
Recommended Tracks: 2, 5, 7, 10

Warm Soda ‰ÛÒ Young Reckless Hearts (Castle Face)

Warm Soda‰’s debut LP, Someone For You, was one of the most underrated albums of 2013. Taking after their namesake, Warm Soda boasted a sound on that album in which the vocals were undeniably sweet, while the choruses on highlights like “Jeanie Loves Pop‰” and “Someone For You‰” were delightfully sticky. Fortunately, not much has changed on follow-up Young Reckless Hearts, which is still as simple and good-natured as its predecessor.

Frontman Matthew Melton consistently sings in a hushed, polite tone that compliments the love struck power-pop tracks that populate the record. Melton and his band are unapologetic optimists, and if nothing else, their songs make you feel just as good about life as they do.

Nowhere is this truer than on “Things That We Said,‰” which has a melody that serves as further encouragement that, as the lyrics suggest, “everything is gonna work out fine.‰” Hearts is far from perfect, as the production lacks some punch, and some songs simply just don‰’t have a strong enough hook. (However, the less catchy songs are usually supplemented by some nice guitar work, as if Melton knew they needed something to stand out.) Regardless, Young Reckless Hearts is another winning collection from this group of lovers who won‰’t leave the garage.
– Cameron Meindl

RIYL: King Tuff, The Strokes, Free Energy
Recommended: 1, 3, 6, 7, 10, 12

traumahelikopter – I Don’t Understand Them At All (Burger Records)

“If it‰’s a joke/ how come no one is laughing?‰” I‰’m an experienced punk rocker, so self-depreciative pop anthems are my niche; but I‰’ve never heard anything close to the poetically beautiful contrast Dutch band traumahelikopter puts out. A quick glance at track titles like “Last Night I Dreamed I Killed Myself‰” and lovely lyrics “I‰’m gonna die alone‰” properly themed with the track “You‰” are enough of an indication of I Don‰’t Understand Them At All‰’s theme.

Don‰’t worry, the crafted melodies more than make up for the lyrics – the band‰’s setup is so barebones that the album heavily relies on guitar and vocals as musical staples. For such a simple and easy album, the sound is artfully structured to create a fullness from two guitars and a three-piece drumset. Even so, the sound varies to cover a spectrum of genres: from old school rock (where it almost has a country twang) to garage and even into the world of surfpunk.

No song gets too complex or overpowering to detract from the pessimistic themes, but still plays off the contrast and keeps the album amped up and perky. Depressing existentialism and heartbreaking loneliness has never sounded so outstandingly fun as it does on I Don‰’t Understand Them At All, enjoy the mixed signals.
-Barbara Martinez

RIYL: Mozes and the Firstborns, Surfer Blood, The Black Keys (if they were lonelier boys)
Recommended: 1-3, 6

Belle Brigade – Just Because (ATO)

Sibling duo, Belle Brigade produces musical perfection in this follow up to critically acclaimed 2011 debut album The Belle Brigade. Soft and sweet featuring the summery vocals of Barbara Gruska, Just Because harkens back to alternative songstresses that ran the airwaves in the 1990s such as Lisa Loeb and Shawn Colvin although perhaps a bit less angsty.

Opening “Ashes‰” has the perfect combination of a feisty little guitar riff and tantalizing lyrics that hit just the right chord. Personal favorite, “How I See It‰” is a whirlwind of glossy guitar pieces and Gruska‰’s delicate but sassy vocals that truly pack and extra punch.

However, Just Because hits a lull in the following track, “Not the One You Want,‰” a cliche relationship song that has an awkward country vibe to it. However, the album returns to finish off seamlessly with the much needed darker, angstier “Metropolis‰Û, a haunting piece definitely worth several replays. Just Because is the kind of album saved for the warmer months ahead.
– Tori Tropiano

RIYL: Lucy Schwartz, The Joy Formidable, Lisa Loeb
Recommended: 1,2,6,8,9,10