Is there anything worse than showing up to the beach or the pool party and not having some good choons to listen to? Here are five new(ish) releases I’m digging this week.
King Tuff – King Tuff
King Tuff is a garage-rock project created by Kyle Thomas. The sound is less lo-fi, though and the album is well-engineered and heavy on both down-south 70s guitar boogie and punkish snarl. Thomas’ lyrics are highly original (even if his singing voice is almost a little too nasally at times). Check this one out if you dig acts like The Black Lips or Jay Reatard.
Starkey – Nucleus
Ok, I know I promised five albums, and this one’s an EP but it’s strong. Starkey is a Philly-based producer and deejay who was one of the first big American names to hit it big in the dubstep scene. You can download “Nucleus” for free by going to his Facebook page.
Metric – Synthetica
Metric are a Canadian band, but don’t assume that makes them lame. It doesn’t! They have a hot-ass lead singer I want to smash and they can fucking rock out. “Artificial Nocturne” is my favorite song on the new album but it’s chock full of goodies.
Killer Mike – R.A.P. Music
Killer Mike is an ATL rap veteran who’s long been associated with Outkast. He does a great job of mixing that down south dope boy music with a more mature, conscious voice. And even though every track on the album was produced by El-P, a New York cat, this joint just feels like a trip through the A. Oh, and Killer Mike still has one of the greatest voices in hip-hop. I want him on my GPS!
Hot Chip – In Our Heads
Hot Chip is a band of British geeks who play this crazy mixture of math-rock and discofied, groovy funk. It’s always distinctive, even if lead singer Alexis Taylor’s voice is dangerously close to annoying sometimes. Nevertheless, this band is ALWAYS just plain fun. They’re like a bunch of fucking nerds who suddenly got laid once or twice and now think of themselves as the ultimate lotharios. Rock on.
