SIR RICHARD BISHOP – Oneiric Formularly LP (Drag City)
Former SUN CITY GIRLS guitar wiz Richard Bishop returns with another album for Drag City. This one has a lot of variety with technical acoustic strumming, some Fripp-ian soloing & even some DURUTTI COLUMN meets Marc Ribot jazz guitar.
FAKE NAMES – Fake Names LP (Epitaph)
FAKE NAMES is a punk rock super group featuring Brian Baker of MINOR THREAT/DAG NASTY, Johnny Temple from GIRLS AGAINST BOYS, Michael Hampton of EMBRACE/ONE LAST WISH & REFUSED singer Dennis Lyxzen. Melodic punk that probably sounds most like DAG NASTY of the fore mentioned bands & there is certainly nothing wrong with that.
FIRE-TOOLZ – Rainbow Bridge LP (Hausu Mountain) limited color or black
Reckless favorite FIRE-TOOLZ continues to develop her idiosyncratic sound on “Rainbow Bridge”, fusing jazzy vaporwave with metalcore into carefully designed sound collages. It’s a method that works in spite of its lack of obvious accessibility – make no mistake, this is intensely challenging music, but there’s a beauty to the almost mathematical approach Angel Marcloid uses to balance and counter the sounds here: video-game synths, black metal shrieks, metalcore blast beats and crushing industrial soundscapes. “Rainbow Bridge” pushes against the boundaries of what’s possible in extreme music, and in turn encapsulates that feverish blend of experiences and influences unique to music makers in the age of the internet. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
JASON ISBELL – Reunions LP/CD indie only “dreamsicle orange” already sold out but we have black
Jason Isbell was kind enough to allow indie record stores like Reckless to sell his new album one week early to help us through these rough times. Great music like this is one of the few things keeping us going at the record store & as humans in general. This “dreamsicle orange” color vinyl edition is already out of print. Thanks Jason!
HAYLEY WILLIAMS – Petals for Armor LP/CD solo album by the PARAMORE singer!
Hayley Williams is one of the most respected singers & performers around right now. PARAMORE seems to just get more & more popular & after hearing some of these songs, we understand why she decided to reserve them for her solo debut. The production is more minimal with a more electronic leaning sound. It’s in the same zone as PARAMORE though & we think their fans as well as those that are into everything from ST. VINCENT to ROBYN.
WINTERFYLLETH – The Reckoning Dawn LP/CD (Spinefarm)
The world is pretty bleak right now but there have been some great metal releases in 2020 & we’re going to add this new one from the British folk/black metal group to the list. The last album leaned more towards their folky Celtic roots but this one explodes out of the gate & doesn’t really stop. The band does an amazing job of pummelling you with walls of guitar without losing the melodic riffs in the din. Another great one from WINTERFYLLETH.
Other important new releases
AUSTRA – Hirudin LP (Domino) indie color
BUSCABULLA – Regresa LP (Ribbon Music)
DEEPER – Auto-Pain LP (Fire Talk) back in stock
DISCHARGE – Apocalypse Now LP (Cleopatra)
FRANCO FALSINI – Cold Nose LP (Universal France)
JOE HISAISHI – Kiki’s Delivery Service LP (Studio Ghibli) image album or soundtrack
JOE HISAISHI – Porco Rosso LP (Studio Ghibli) image album or soundtrack
JACKIE LYNN – Jacqueline LP (Drag City) back in stock
PIPER – Summer Breeze LP (Ship to Shore)
RAC – Boy LP (Counter)
RED KROSS – Show World LP (Third Man) reissue
RED KROSS – Phaseshifter LP (Third Man) reissue
THUNDERCAT – It Is What It Is LP (Brainfeeder) red or cream vinyl back in stock
JOHANNA WARREN – Chaotic Good LP (Wax Nine)