Thanks for waiting! As promised, here’s the playlist for last month’s tunage!

Various Artists, Bills & Aches & Blues (40 Years of 4AD), released 2 April. A compilation of current 4AD bands doing covers of the label’s most popular tracks? How could I even possibly think of passing this up? Heh. Surprisingly this compilation works super well, giving many of the already quirky songs an even quirkier sound. Well worth checking out.

Flock of Dimes, Head of Roses, released 2 April. Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak’s side project returns with a fantastic, noisy and even bluesy album full of great sounds and earworm melodies. “Price of Blue” gets some heavy play here in Spare Oom.

Dry Cleaning, New Long Leg, released 2 April. A relatively new 4AD signing and a great fit for said label…just this side of eccentric yet extremely enticing. You’re not entirely sure what vocalist Florence Shaw is going on about half the time, but her sultry mumble fits the jerkiness of the music just perfectly.

Brian Vander Ark, Planet Sunday Sessions Vol II, released 5 April. The Verve Pipe lead singer has been extremely busy as of late — uploading YouTube videos, keeping up with weekly Patreon posts, and even working on a new TVP album — he’s also dropped his second covers album, a curious selection of classics with a darker edge.

CLAMM, Beseech Me, released 9 April. A super young punk band from Melbourne that blows the doors off so many others nowadays (save maybe IDLES, who utilize a similar face-punching delivery), and I love it. Short, brutal, and noisy AF, just how I love it.

The Reds, Pinks & Purples, Uncommon Weather, released 9 April. Yes, it’s the super-local (my side of town) SF band with a new record! While the previous album leaned towards the softer melodic Felt-like sounds, here he’s moving a bit more towards the lo-fi jangle of early Luna.

London Grammar, Californian Soul, released 16 April. This is a band that’s kind of tough to describe other than perhaps a cross between the moodiness of Florence + the Machine and the synth sounds of bands like Small Black. A very atmospheric and beautiful sounding album!

Field Music, Flat White Moon, released 23 April. This highly melodic band is a perfect example of sneaking into your space and making you stop and say ‘who is this…?’ They’re alternately dreamlike, sometimes jazzy and eclectic, and never dull. I’ve been coming back to this one a lot lately.

Dinosaur Jr, Sweep It Into Space, released 23 April. Perhaps it’s the fact that the pandemic has closed so many recording studios, but it’s somehow managed to turn this band’s clock back to its clunky, boxy lo-fi origins, and I am not complaining at all. This record would sit quite nicely right around Green Mind or You’re Living All Over Me, and I love it.

Beachy Head, Beachy Head, released 30 April. A mash-up side project with members of Slowdive and Flaming Lips, you’d think it would be a weird pairing, but it works amazingly well! It’s a dreamlike psychedelia that’s a lot of fun to listen to.

Dropkick Murphys, Turn Up That Dial, released 30 April. These guys entered the pandemic with an amazing and memorable free streaming concert, and they’re leaving it with a new album filled with many of the then-unreleased songs, including the absolutely hilarious “Mick Jones Nicked My Pudding”.

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There were definitely more (a lot more) albums that came out in April that I didn’t mention here due to space, but yeah, that was definitely a solid month for releases! And with it being almost the end of May, there’s even more great tunage to come!