And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - "Worlds Apart" Austin, Texas' apocalyptic rockers haven't gone soft in their major label endeavors. "Source Tags & Codes" saw the band step up from Merge to Interscope, but they didn't relent. Instead they maximized their budget, paid for some serious studio time (including a string section) and made an epic album. The beast has been hibernating in the studio for some time, ready to emerge with "Worlds Apart," with a title track that calls on the rappers on MTV, but sounds so poppy it might as well make it to the TRL Countdown.
Magnolia Electric Co. - "Trials and Errors" Jason Molina feels the pain of the working-class man. The mastermind behind Songs: Ohia has made a career of resuscitating Americana that was killed when Neil Young made "Trans." This live record, recorded in Brussels in 2003, features many a sonic homage to the Transformer Man.
Ash - "Meltdown" Huge in the rest of the world, but with a remarkably meager reputation in the States, Ash hopes to finally cross the Atlantic with "Meltdown," their fifth and most rocking release to date. Since the early 90s, this Irish quartet has been creating bouncy rock 'n' roll tinged with influences ranging from Nirvana to Brian Wilson. Released to critical acclaim in the United Kingdom last summer, "Meltdown" is perhaps the band's most solid and cohesive collection of songs to date. Similar to their last American release, "Free All Angels," the US version of "Meltdown" will feature exclusive bonus tracks and a free DVD. It will be released on March 8, but in the meantime listen for their music in the film "Shaun of the Dead" and the upcoming Star Wars video game "Republic Commando."
Athlete - "Tourist" Athlete is a relatively new British band that plays excellent upbeat Brit-pop tunes in the vein of early Blur. The four-piece mixes infectiously catchy guitar riffs and keyboard parts with quirky electronic beeps and buzzes to create a very pleasant atmosphere. Besides other new acts out of the United Kingdom, like Bloc Party and The Futureheads, Athlete is another example of the current excellent British rock scene. "Tourist" is the follow-up to Athlete's 2003 debut, "Vehicles & Animals." It will be released on Jan. 25 in the United Kingdom. The US release date has not yet been announced, but in the meantime, give their debut LP a listen.
Oasis - Album Title TBA Poor Oasis. They just haven't been able to deliver since "What's the Story (Morning Glory)?" The countless albums following their sophomore record were all good, but were lacking the glue that held their first two records together. Noel Gallagher recently told the New Musical Express that this album is his favorite of the last four, but he seems to say that every time a new record comes out. Of particular interest is a song called "The Importance of Being Idle" written by brother Liam, which reportedly sounds like a Kinks song.
Feeder - "Pushing the Senses" Feeder returns with "Pushing the Senses," the follow-up to 2002's excellent "Comfort in Sound." This Welsh-Japanese trio's sound can be described as a mix of the Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins, and even a little Oasis. Although "Comfort" was Feeder's first release after the tragic suicide of the band's drummer, "Senses" is being described as the band's true recovery album. "Senses" illustrates the band's continuing maturation from the pop of their 2001 hit "Buck Rogers" into an emotionally powerful rock band. It releases at the end of January in the United Kingdom. The US.release date has yet to be announced, but should drop some time in '05.
Sleater-Kinney - album title to be announced Out of all the Sleater-Kinney album releases, it is argued that "Dig Me Out" is the worst - but even that had "One More Hour," one of the finest moments in indie rock. And not "chick rock" or "riot grrl" or any other engendered sub-classification of this marginalized genre, but simply "indie rock." The world finally got to hear what this Olympia, Wash. trio had under their belts with 2002's stirring political release, "One Beat," which dealt with 9/11 in a more graceful way than all of the muscle-flexing, turban-hating, "patriotic" releases country music had to offer. Sleater-Kinney's fifth album is a huge departure for them because it is their first not released on the Kill Rock Stars label. Their recent signature with Sup Pop is an exciting turn and the album for 2005 already rings of great things.
Spoon - tentatively titled "The Beast and Dragon are Adored" When will this album just come out already? 2002's "Kill the Moonlight" was met with unabashed critical acclaim, and just one of the many items in Austin-based Spoon's discography. After two years of idle EP release and blue moon reruns of their appearance on "Austin City Limits," Spoon is prepared to release their fifth album, rumored to be titled "The Beast and Dragon are Adored." Huh? Anyway, Spoon has yet to release anything that genuinely sucks, so this is bound to be a favorite for 2005. Be alert for excellent cover art, too. They also seem to have a knack for the snazziest album fronts this side of Frank Zappa.
New Order - "Waiting for the Siren's Call" New Order's "Get Ready" rocked 2001. The legendary British quartet juxtaposed their classic electro-dance sound with heavy, loud guitars. It even had a song featuring Billy Corgan. No one seemed to notice how totally sweet this record was. Their next album, tentatively set to drop on March 28, just might be their last.
Low - "The Great Destroyer" Everyone who released something in 2002 is back for 2005. Low, like Spoon and Sleater-Kinney, falls into this category, but alas, 2002's "Trust" was not nearly as good as its peers. While Low bestows this curious, intrinsic ability to be delicate, yet morose, yet buoyant (see: "Point of Disgust" vs. "Tonight" vs. "Canada" on "Trust,") there is no great precedent working in their favor to indicate that "The Great Destroyer" has much potential besides being a huge letdown. But nonetheless, the fact that Low continues to crank out such consistently manic-depressive music is something to marvel at. If Low's previous efforts sounded good to you, this may not be disappointing after all.
