out this week...

The Good, The Bad & The Queen: The Good, The Bad & The Queen
Damon Albarn’s is back with his best release since 1997’s Blur.

Northern Whale
The Good, The Bad & The Queen [wicked-cool song]

buy The Good, The Bad & The Queen here


Dustin Kensrue: Please Come Home
A surprisingly great solo record by Thrice’s frontman.

Pistol [wicked-cool song]
Blood & Wine [wicked-cool song]

buy Please Come Home here


The Shins: Wincing the Night Away
Just what everyone would expect from The Shins... Wincing the Night Away is another fine indie pop record.

Phantom Limb [wicked-cool song]
Split Needles

buy Wincing the Night Away here


Of Montreal: Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
Weirdly poppy and enjoyable.

Suffer for Fashion [wicked-cool song]

buy Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? here

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if you don't know it now then you will do

Blur was my favorite band during a good chunk of my high school years. So clearly, I was beyond excited when I heard the news that Damon Albarn was forming a new project mid last year... and to stir up my excitements ever more, it was reported that The Good, The Bad & The Queen will feature guitarist Simon Tong from The Clash!! Now, that’s a supergroup!!! Months later, they released two singles... I thought they were decent, but overall, I wasn’t too impressed by them. As a result, I had this feeling that the full-length would be a let down. Despite this, I went ahead and gave the album a listen last week. All I have to say is, The Good, The Bad & The Queen is Damon Albarn’s best release since the 1997 self-titled Blur album! The record is ace! The two singles, "Kingdom Of Doom" and "Herculean", are both on the album; however, they sound so much better with the rest of the record than they are as singles. Although it sounds nothing like Radiohead, The Good, The Bad & The Queen produces this same atmosphere/mood as most Radiohead records. The album’s opening track "History Song", will pretty much hook everyone right in. Damon’s mellow and low-key vocal works perfectly with the modern twist of 60s-The Beach Boys slash Zombies sounding instrumentations. The Good, The Bad & The Queen is an unique and refreshing record, there is absolutely no reason as to why anyone should turn this one down!

History Song [wicked-cool song]
'80's Life
Kingdom Of Doom
Herculean [wicked-cool song]
A Soldier's Tale [wicked-cool song]
Green Fields [wicked-cool song]
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The Good, The Bad & The Queen comes out on January 22nd in the UK and 23rd in North America, you can pre-order the album here