City Mouse - Get Right

After quite a few years and a handful of EPs, City Mouse finally released their first full length last October. I picked up Get Right at the very end of 2017, and haven’t stopped listening to it since. The now Lansing, MI based Miski Dee Rodriguez and her supporting cast have captured lightning in a bottle with this album. Musically, they hit the sweet spot between punk and pop punk. Miski’s sometimes angelic, sometimes angry voice is the centerpiece. At its heart, Get Right is a breakup record. Its 12 tracks cover betrayal, heartbreak, anger, sorrow, and ultimately moving on and finding some sort of peace. I’m an old white dude who’s been happily married for two decades, but still these songs speak to me. Every track is great, but “Guardians” has been my favorite from the first spin. Check out City Mouse. I bet you’ll have as hard a time getting Get Right off your turntable as I do. Tom Trauma

Skeletonwitch - Devouring Radiant Light

Skeletonwitch are arguably moving away from their core sound of “black thrash” on this new record. There’s a lot of variation in song structure, lead guitars that don’t consign to the typical thrash tenets and some of the solos are bordering on classic rock territory (in the best possible way). In recent months, there have been a few records with thrash/black metal influences that have really got their claws into me and this just seems to be the next in line. The contrast of the beautiful and the brutal has been so fantastically captured by bands in 2018 and Skeletonwitch are in danger of finding themselves on my turntable for a long time to come, thanks to this masterclass in balance and song dynamics. -Sam Houlden

Laura Jane Grace - Heart Burns

Since Andrew Seward rejoined Against Me! and Laura Jane Grace announced the upcoming Laura Jane Grace & The Devouring Mothers album , it got me thinking about AM!’s career thus far and the deeper cuts from when he was originally in the band. I was slowly looking through my record shelves a couple of weeks ago and came across Laura Jane Grace’s solo EP Heart Burns and pulled it out realizing that I had not listened to it in quite a while, though I remember thoroughly enjoying it when it first came out. I glanced at the liner notes and not only did I realize that the executive producer was Butch Vig, but Chuck Ragan and Matt Skiba contributed to the record as well. Then I was shocked to see that Heart Burns will turn ten years old this coming October. It seems like it was only yesterday that it arrived in the mail.

There is no arguing that Against Me! has exploded in popularity in the last few years, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a bunch of new fans out there that haven’t checked this EP out yet. They should. The seven songs range from poppy, power rock to acoustic folk, all of which have Laura Jane Grace’s powerful vocals, but the sound is a bit calmer and little experimental at times compared to what newer fans might be used to. Songs like “Anna Is A Stool Pigeon” and “100 Years Of War” have the same kind of biting lyrics that Against Me! is known for when the band gets political. It’ll be interesting to hear how Laura follows this up with the upcoming solo record in this year. For now though, I am so glad to have rediscovered this gem. Suggested Song: “Random Hearts” (best when played loud) -Ricky Frankel

The Tuts - Update Your Brain

Power-pop done right lodges in your brain on repeat. It’s the type of music that in the first few minutes of waking up, you find a melody slowly banging around your head wondering how the hell that earworm got there. The Tuts are that type of band. Over the last few weeks, I’ve found their song “Give Us Something Worth Voting For” off their LP Update Your Brain popping into my brain at random ass times. That’s just one example of the many gems found on the release. Other highlights include “Dump Your Boyfriend,” “Tut Tut Tut,” and single “1982.” For the unfamiliar, The Tuts come across as a mashup of The Exploding Hearts and Lilly Allen. The Tuts crowdfunded this release in just under two weeks and having been two years since, you’d best jump on this bandwagon now before their next album surely gains them wider notoriety. -Eric Rosseo

Ceremony - The L-Shaped Man

I must admit: for the three years that The L-Shaped Man has been in existence, the record hasn't left my proverbial turntable. While I continue to love and admire Ceremony's roots in power violence and the Bay Area hardcore scene, the sonic personality of the band's most recent full-length is an inviting departure from their previous outputs, exchanging any and all brutality for pure post-punk splendour. The record plays like a novella with resolute titles and tones, and I'm an unapologetic sucker for the story, despite the hundreds of times that I've heard it. Ceremony is a band that does not appear to feel limited by genre and is clearly open to experimentation, be it technical, structural, or vocal. For instance, frontman Ross Farrar's timbre on the record has completely shifted from primitive and aggressive to mesmerizingly haunting, a cross between the dark baritone of Ian Curtis and the detached whimsy of Gordon Gano. When I need my post-punk fix but want something more modern and hook-riddled, I can always count on The L-Shaped Man to sate me with its cavernous earworms. -Carly

Pinky Pinky - Hot Tears EP

This past February, I saw Pinky Pinky play a pseudo-abandoned warehouse in L.A. following the release of their Hot Tears EP. They were openers, but the recent high school graduates were ready for the headlining gigs. Months later, I find myself returning to Hot Tears. Singer/drummer Anastasia Sanchez has a smoothness to her drumming and a hoarseness to her voice that stands out in these surf-punk songs. Eva Chambers’ bass lines continually wander while guitarist Isabelle Fields jumps from garage punk (“Margaret”) to classic rock (“Dandler”) with straight-faced ease. Like their spiritual sisters in The Coathangers, Pinky Pinky’s strongest asset is their give-no-shits attitude that is so powerful when it comes from talent this strong. -Nick Poyner

Uniform - Wake In Fright

As I’m eagerly awaiting the upcoming release of The Long Walk, I can’t help but revisit Uniform’s second full-length, 2017’s Wake In Fright. The New York City duo (now a trio) sonically translate the landscape of their hometown, leaving no shady bodega unturned. The decadence is called out in howling vocals that will make your bones rattle. The grit is celebrated with rapid-fire drum machines and grinding synth basses. The omnipresent wailing of the streets is delivered through a wall of guitar. New York is no melting pot; it’s a giant bowl filled with every item on the buffet, each ingredient bringing its own strength to the palette. Such is the case on Wake In Fright. Noise-rock like this can sometimes be muddy, layers for the sake of layers. But here, nothing melts together, nothing gets lost in the shuffle. It’s loud and it’s unnerving, meant to make you scream. And I love every minute of it. -Chris DC

Red Death - Formidable Darkness

I saw Red Death about six months ago, and they were super impressive. They play a ferocious version of the thrash metal hardcore crossover sound originally made popular by Cro-Mags, DRI, and Megadeth. Their latest record, Formidable Darkness, has been in constant rotation these past few weeks. I love the song “Parasite’s Paradise” not just for its name but also for its stomping drum beats and rhythm guitars. A few other favorites here are “Slashed to Bits” and “Iron Willed” which are all about that late-80s thrash guitar lead. Lots of shred in these songs. All the metal bravado of their artwork and song titles aside, Red Death is a super cool crossover band. They’ve got a something for everyone, and Formidable Darkness is head-banging fun from start to finish. -Mike Musilli

Madness - Absolutely

A novice when it comes to Madness, I was recently at Princeton Record Exchange and came across the deluxe reissues of Madness’ first few albums by Salvo Records. Seeing that the expanded editions included bonus discs and multitudes of bonus tracks (including an entire live show) I picked the whole set up- it also didn't hurt that the double discs were only $8 a set… In the past I have purchased albums simply on the fact that they were reissued in deluxe format (the rationale being is someone devoted this much care and curation to the music, it must be at least kind of good) and BOY did that hold true for Madness. A little goofier, a little more melancholy, a little more worldwearly, and a little more pragmatic than the Specials, Madness looked at societal issues from the ground up while most of the others peered from the top on down. (Compare Madness’ “Baggy trousers” to Special’s “Dawning of a New Era”). Plus, it doesn’t hurt that Madness weren’t afraid to have FUN. Somehow, though, the band was able to be a little funny and a little goofy all without reducing themselves to parody or novelty. That just goes to show how strong and multifaceted this band was, even if their big hit was about having extra room in your trousers. -John Gentile