Okay, so this week really is salad days at the record shop; a good dozen or so really great new albums to check out.
For our Record of the Week we’ve picked Souvenir from Atlanta post-punk band Omni. We’re long standing fans and this feels very much like the one that is going to find them an ever bigger audience. The frantic and frenetic riffing is still there, but it’s like the frenzied guitar work has become more of a texture and the song structure, as well as excellent production, has really stepped-up. Tense and tight three minute bangers, this really is a great record. It goes in a flash, you stick it straight back on. Always a good sign.
+ Available on a limited Loser Edition pressing.
The big headline record of the week (and one literally written on the building) is TANGK, the fifth album from Bristolian punks IDLES. They’ve taken all that anger, energy and vitriol and made something supremely big. The album sounds massive, a proper stadium sized set but one really designed for the dancefloor. It’s like they spent four albums building up an army and the fifth album is the euphoric opening ceremony for all those who signed-up. There is still much commentary, but they are preaching to the choir rather than yelling like shamans. Throughout, it is hugely impressive.
+ Available on limited Pink or Orange vinyl pressings.
+ Available as a Deluxe limited edition on translucent yellow vinyl, housed in a holographic gatefold jacket with art and lyric booklet designed by Joe Talbot and Joshua Hughes-Games.
+ We also have a limited Glow In The Dark pressing which is available instore tonight and if we have any left Friday, we’ll stick them online!
Pratts & Pain is the full debut LP from Australian duo Royel Otis. We spoke very favourably a few weeks back about their excellent Speedy Wunderground single Heading For The Door, so we’ve been getting ready for this one. Dan Carey is again behind the desk and there is a real drive to the songs, from the jacked up guitar pop to the more swirling and woozy psychedelia. They really get in your head.
+ Pressed on limited Blue Vinyl.
Now how about this, folks. Blu Wav is the new LP from Californian icons Grandaddy. Man do we love this band, Jason Lytle is such an affecting songwriter. We’ve only listened a couple of times through, and there is this sadness balanced / contrasted with much optimism too. Blu Wav is meant to be a literal mash-up of “bluegrass” and “new wave”, it’s all about duality. We were never not gonna love this one, but it really does have its own distinct charm already.
+ Available in Indie Exclusive Nebula Splash colour vinyl.
Musow Danse is the debut LP from collective Les Amazones d'Afrique and it’s pretty big vibes. They were formed in Bamako, Mali, in 2014 by three renowned Malian music stars and social change activists, Mamani Keïta, Oumou Sangaré and Mariam Doumbia, and the collective has since expanded to involve many female artists from across Africa and the diaspora. Such crisp production, it really whips and cracks.
RAT WARS is the new LP from L.A. industrial-rock band HEALTH and it’s intense! The production is so massive, but it feels as indebted to electro pop as it does to industrial music, which is weirdly fun. Punched the air loads on the first play, it really has those moments.
+ Available on limited Red colour vinyl.
+ Order the album this week and you’ll go into a draw to win a signed test pressing. Visit us on socials for a NPN option.
Big Anonymous is the first album in eight years from Swedish singer, multi-instrumentalist and composer El Perro del Mar. It really is impressive stuff, fragile and honest, but full of lush cinematics and overwhelming production.
Also this week; Faith Crisis Pt 1 is the third album from Sydney band Middle Kids. The sultry Molly Lewis returns with On The Lips, a tribute to the exotica. Man can she whistle! The Pendulum Swing is the much-anticipated new LP from rising folk star Katherine Priddy. Britpop icons Cast release the all new Love Is The Call. The moments of rawness really have it going on. A double set via International Anthem Recording Co. too, with Jeremiah Chiu’s In Electric Time and the collaborative The Closest Thing To Silence from Ariel Kalma, Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer.
This week also marks the release of William Doyle’s Springs Eternal, our February Record of the Month. It really is a glorious record, read a little more here and if you can, come and join us this Saturday to see William play a few of the songs in the shop.
Now lastly, we have a Dinked Edition triple release!
One More Thing is the debut LP from Brighton based chillers Lime Garden. It’s another really great record on So Young and the band really captured a vibe with this one. Against Me! founder/songwriter, Laura Jane Grace, returns with Hole In My Head, an album that really showcases her powers as a songwriter and storyteller. Lastly, Strange Weather is the cosmic and shimmering new LP from East Los Angeles quartet Levitation Room. We have that on the stereo now and it’s making each faint beam of February light feel like pure white hot shimmering intervention! Man, do we ever love rock and roll!
Three very different albums, and three real stonkers under the Dinked badge.
A really, really great week of new sounds.
- Drift
