Hawkwind - Into The Woods
“Hawkwind in 2017 will either seem like an irrelevance or the continuation of a vital source, just as The Wind will strike you either as four minutes of flatulent pseudo-poetry (‘Causing sighing trees to overlay mosaics of trembling leaves’ indeed) or a stirring incantation neatly blending nature-imagery and sound FX. But chances are, by the astral boogie of Magic Scenes and chugging insistence of Wood Nymph, you’ll be seduced, ‘silent tendrils of the mist’ and all.”
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Blondie - Pollinator
“Pollinator is a more coherent and classy affair, self-consciously drawing on the band’s primetime New Wave sound without milking it for cheesy nostalgia. Long Time is certainly one of their strongest songs in years, a shimmering disco-rock anthem that could be a world-weary sequel to Heart Of Glass.”
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Moon Duo - Occult Architecture Vol 2
“Comprising guitarist Ripley Johnson and keyboardist Sanae Yamada, Moon Duo’s latest is an “intricately woven hymn to the invisible structures found in the cycle of seasons”. It is, in other words, a load of vacuous hippie bollocks but that does not, nor ever has, precluded the possibility of good sounds.”
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Black Lips - Satan’s Graffiti Or God’s Art?
“Shaking off their long-standing rep for onstage behaviour that’d have a disgusted GG Allin demanding a refund, Atlanta garage rockers Black Lips retreated to Sean Lennon’s studio compound to make their seventh album featuring Fat White Family’s Saul Adamczewski. And While Wayne, Lucid Nightmare and the 50s mirrorball romance of Crystal Night maintain the crisp retro spark of old, the rest of this somewhat inspired 55-minute mess smacks of the Fat Whites’ sticky-trousered narco-country.”
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The Afghan Whigs - In Spades
“Whether recounting tales as a self-styled lothario or providing sinister depictions of drug addiction and unsteady relationships, Greg Dulli’s work has always aimed to provoke. It should come as no surprise, then, that In Spades – The Afghan Whigs’ second album since their 2011 re-formation – traverses evocative concepts such as mortality and the supernatural while, naturally, throwing in a bit of trademark sleaze.”
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Fish On Friday - Quiet Life
“The quality of the band members and guests that have joined Belgian prog rockers Fish On Friday for their fourth album is the best indication of the band’s growing status among their fellow travellers. Bassist Nick Beggs (Steve Hackett, Steven Wilson) has signed up, adding an extra dimension to the rhythm section. Saxophone/flute player Theo Travis (Soft Machine, Robert Fripp, Bill Nelson, Steven Wilson) and guitarist John Mitchell (It Bites, Arena, Lonely Robot) have also contributed.”
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Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Lovely Creatures - The Best Of Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds (1984-2014)
“These 45 songs on 3CDs comprise the best overview yet of NC&TBS’s unique and evocative voodoo. The frantic, cacophonous carnival killers that Cave pieced together after dragging himself from the wreckage of The Birthday Party in 1983 is here in all its febrile glory on From Her To Eternity and Tupelo, the sort of songs that come naturally while climbing the walls waiting for your Berlin heroin dealer.”
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The best new rock albums you can buy this week
