New Music Reviews (2/23)

Each week KEXP's Music Director Don Yates and other KEXP DJs share brief insights on new and upcoming releases. See what's coming up this week below, including reviews for new releases from Moaning, Soccer Mommy, Brandi Carlile, Thunderpussy, and more.

Moaning – Moaning (Sub Pop)
This LA trio's debut album is a promising set of moody, '80s-steeped rock ranging from driving, goth-tinged post-punk to fuzzy, shoegazerish dream-pop, combining a bleak, atmospheric sound with melancholy lyrics of heartbreak and loss. (Don Yates)

Soccer Mommy – Clean (Fat Possum)
This young Nashville-based artist (aka Sophie Allison) follows up a string of Bandcamp EPs and a compilation of re-recorded highlights (2017's Collection) with her official debut album. It's an impressive set of intimate, '90s-steeped indie-pop combining smartly crafted lyrics of love, vulnerability and identity with sparkling song hooks. (DY)

DJ Taye – Still Trippin (Hyperdub)
This LA-based, Chicago-bred producer/rapper's latest album is an expansive, inventive blend of footwork with trap, R&B and more, combining playful video-game synths and complex beats with a variety of rapped, sung (and often-manipulated) vocals. (DY)

Sidney Gish - No Dogs Allowed (self-released)
The second album from this 20-year-old Boston-based musician is a wonderful set of quirky, charming, idiosyncratic indie pop with a penchant for nuanced lyrics, whimsical melodies, and sharp songwriting. While there are shades of Courtney Barnett and Regina Spektor, No Dogs Allowed is a strong showcase of a new DIY bedroom artist with a strong sound that’s bound for a bigger stage. Name-your-price download at https://sidneygish.bandcamp.com/album/no-dogs-allowed. (Alex Ruder)

Black Milk – Fever (Mass Appeal)
This Detroit producer/rapper's seventh album is a strong set of expansive hip hop combining a warm, smooth, occasionally jazz-tinged sound with his urgent delivery and often-politically charged lyrics. (DY)

Imarhan – Temet (City Slang)
This Algerian band's second album is another potent set of Tuareg desert blues combining fiery electric guitar riffs, driving rhythms and hypnotic melodies. (DY)

Brandi Carlile – By The Way, I Forgive You (Low Country Sound/Elektra)
This Seattle artist's sixth album features some powerfully personal songs of expansive folk-pop, and while they're occasionally undermined by bombastic production and vocals aimed at the rafters, the high points hit hard. (DY)

• Read an interview with Brandi here.

Mint Field – Pasar de la Luces (Innovative Leisure)
This young Tijuana duo's debut full-length is a promising set of atmospheric dream-pop and shoegazerish post-punk, combining fuzzy guitars, shimmering synths and hypnotic song hooks with Estrella Sanchez's ethereal vocals. (DY)

American Pleasure Club – A Whole Fucking Lifetime of This (Run For Cover)
The latest release from this Baltimore project led by Sam Ray (and formerly known as Teen Suicide) is a striking set of intensely personal songs ranging from fuzzy, '90s-steeped rock and rhythmic, hip hop-influenced slacker-pop to atmospheric folk ballads. (DY)

Cadence Weapon - Cadence Weapon (eOne Music)
The 4th album from Edmonton, Canada-based MC/producer Rollie Pemberton (aka Cadence Weapon) is a strong set of expansive hip-hop that pairs his inquisitive everyman lyrics with exciting wide-ranging beats. The album's sound is heavily influenced by his temporary move to Montreal and immersion in the city's electronic/club scene, which led to newfound friendships with some of Montreal's finest – Kaytranada, Blue Hawaii, Jacques Greene, Harrison, Ango – who also assist on the album. Ex-Dirty Projectors member Angel Deradoorian and Dubbel Dutch also make guest appearances. (AR)

Ed Schrader's Music Beat – Riddles (Carpark)
For their latest album, this Baltimore duo hooked up with Dan Deacon, who produced, mixed, arranged and co-wrote almost all the songs. With Deacon providing a full, lush sound, the album ranges from driving post-punk to moody, atmospheric ballads. (DY)

Caroline Rose – Loner (New West)
This New York-based artist's third full-length finds her moving away from the rootsy folk-pop of her first two albums in favor of a brighter, synth-heavy sound ranging from caffeinated New Wave to soul-tinged electro-pop, while also showcasing some darkly funny songs touching upon sexism, capitalism and other weighty subjects. (DY)

Kung Foo Grip – 2.K.F.G. (self-released)
Nice 4-song clean sampler of this Seattle hip-hop duo's latest album. Produced by Keyboard Kid, the songs range from a buoyant inspirational jam to hard post-trap bangers. (DY)

Thunderpussy – Greatest Tits EP (Stardog/Republic)
This Seattle band's debut EP is a potent 4-song set of fiery hard-rock. (DY)

Hibou – Something Familiar (Barsuk)
The second album from this Seattle-based artist (aka Peter Michel) is the first to be recorded in an actual studio with a full band. The album's a fuller-sounding, more muscular take on Hibou's wistful dream-pop, combining jangly guitars, atmospheric keyboards, hazy vocals and often-dark, anxiety-fueled lyrics. (DY)

I Will Keep Your Ghost – Options EP (self-released)
This Everett duo's second EP is a well-crafted set of moody post-punk with ringing guitars, shimmering synths, and soaring melodies. (DY)

Avelino - NO BULLSHIT (More Music/OddChild Music)
As he preps for his long-awaited debut album, North London offers up this impressive mixtape that showcases his vibrant grime sound that's infused with R&B, pop, house, and dancehall flavors and sways between kinetic grooves with hard-hitting anthems. (AR)

Hurry – Every Little Thought (Lame-O)
The fourth album from this Philly trio led by Matthew Scottoline is a hook-filled set of jangly, '90s-steeped power-pop reminiscent at times of bands like Teenage Fanclub and The  La's. (DY)

S. Carey – Hundred Acres (Jagjaguwar)
The third solo album from this Wisconsin-based artist (and Bon Iver member) is a solid set of bucolic folk-pop combining a gentle, atmospheric sound with his hushed vocals and wistful lyrics revolving around nature and the beauty of simplicity. (DY)

V/A - Sweet As Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa (Ostinato)
Fascinating compilation that collects standout tracks off long-lost tapes recorded by Somali artists in the 1970s and 1980s before a civil war ravished the country. Ostinato Records founder Vik Sohonie says that this pre-civil war period was "when the arts, especially theater and music, reigned supreme, and Somali women were the captains of their art form." These tapes were originally located in the archive of Radio Hargeisa, a state-run public radio station, but when authoritarian ruler Siad Barre led a movement to quash any potential dissent or resistance and subsequently bombed the radio station, a few quick-thinking radio operators hid the archive throughout neighboring countries, knowing that the preservation of musical culture was crucial. Sweet As Broken Dates was nominated for Best Historical Album at the 2018 Grammy Awards. (AR)

Niki J Crawford - The Second Truth (Country Girl Entertainment)
Niki J Crawford is a LA-based vocalist and former member of Orgone. Her second solo album finds her working closely with drummer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Stewart Killen (also formerly of Orgone) for an assured set of throwback soul, funk, R&B, and roots-rock. (AR)

Clap! Clap! - DIG! DELVE! DAMN! (self-released)
The latest offering from Italian electronic producer Clap! Clap! (aka Cristiano Crisci) is a conceptual album based around samples from the Dutch Music Archives, a resource of recordings started by Dutch conservationist J.C. Lamster and Jaap Kunst, who would eventually coin the term ‘ethnomusicology.’ The result is another colorful set of cutting-edge global beats that filters unique historical samples through a vibrant blend of juke/footwork, house, instrumental hip-hop, and other progressive rhythms. (AR)

Syrinx Effect - A Sky You Could Strike A Match On (self-released)
The debut album from this Seattle-based duo comprised of Naomi Siegel (trombone) and Kate Olson (soprano saxophone) – both veterans of the U-District's adventurous improv jazz scene – is a promising set of exploratory instrumental jazz compositions enhanced by crafty live looping techniques and electronic flourishes. (AR)

Knapsack - Bend (Z Tapes)
The debut album from Chicago's Gabriel O’Leary (aka Knapsack) is a strong set of inventive electronic beats with a strong bedroom-pop vibe that showcases his charming productions that carry a romantic nostalgic streak akin to DNTEL via The Postal Service. (AR)

Scent - The Kim EP (Wichita Recordings)
As one of only two acts ever signed to Wichita Recordings as the result of an unsolicited demo email, there's still a lot of mystery and intrigue around this cheeky London-based trio. As for the music, it's a promising display of kaleidoscopic psych-pop with a loose, experimental, playful streak. (AR)

El Perro Del Mar – We Are History EP (The Control Group)
The latest EP from this Swedish artist (aka Sarah Assbring) is a solid set of brooding indie-pop combining a dark, atmospheric sound with often-politically charged lyrics for these troubled times. (DY)

Linda Guilala - Primavera Negra 7" (Elefant)
The latest release from this Vigo, Spain-based trio is a solid double-sided 7" single of dreamy shoegaze accented by the group's Spanish lyrics. (AR)