Out This Week 6/23

Kick off the summer solstice with these great releases! UK band Wolf Alice release their debut full-length, which KEXP's Music Director Don Yates describes as "an expansive blend of ethereal dream-pop, shoegazer psych-rock, bristling grunge-pop and much more, with a dynamic, wide-ranging sound on smartly constructed songs ranging from ethereal folk balladry to feral grunge-punk." Fort Worth, TX-based artist Leon Bridges also breaks through with a brilliant debut, "an excellent set of early ‘60s-steeped soul with consistently strong, beautifully crafted songs combining a warm and lean sound with Bridges’ sweet, soulful croon and often-poignant lyrics."

Desaparecidos return after 13 years with their sophomore release. This Omaha-bred band, led by Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, share a "strong set of politically charged punk in the tradition of The Clash with roaring guitars, soaring keyboards, urgent rhythms, anthemic choruses, impassioned vocals and sharply pointed lyrics railing against corporate greed, apathy and economic and racial injustice."

The debut from Nashville band Bully, led by Alicia Bognanno, "features a raw sound with fuzzy, grungy guitars and energetic rhythms accompanying her scuffed vocals and unflinching, sometimes cutting lyrics." Son Lux, previously a more-or-less solo project of Ryan Lott, has evolved into a trio with guitarist Rafiq Bhatia and drummer Ian Chang. Their first release together is a "fractured blend of electro-pop and neo-classical combines electronic beats and glitchy textures with instrumentation ranging from piano and guitars to strings and woodwinds on a variety of densely textured, shape-shifting songs." And sibling duo Cayucas return with their sophomore full-length, a quintessentially Californian release.

• The Acorn – “Influence”
• from Vieux Loup on Paper Bag Records
• Black Mountain – “Druganaut”
• from Black Mountain (10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) on Jagjaguwar
• Bully – “Trying”
• from Feels Like on Columbia
• Cairo Gang – “Ice Fishing”
• from Goes Missing on God?
• Cayucas – “Moony Eyed Walrus”
• from Dancing at the Blue Lagoon on Secretly Canadian
• Citizen – “Stain”
• from Everybody Is Going to Heaven on Run for Cover Records
• Class Actress – “GFE”
• from Movies on Casablanca
• Creepoid – “American Smile”
• from Cemetery Highrise Slum on Collect Records
• Dave Douglas – “Molten Sunset”
• from High Risk on Greenleaf Music
• De Lux – “Someday Now”
• from Generation on Innovative Leisure
• Desaparecidos – “City On The Hill”
• from Payola on Epitaph
• Elijah Blake – “Everyday”
• from Shadows & Diamonds on Def Jam
• Fist City – “Hey Little Sister”
• from Everything Is a Mess on Transgressive
• Kacey Musgraves – “Biscuits”
• from Pageant Material on Decca / Nashville
• Leon Bridges – “Coming Home”
• from Coming Home on Columbia Records
• Linden – “Rest And Be Thankful”
• from Rest and Be Thankful on Slumberland
• Meg Baird – “Counterfeiters”
• from Don't Weigh Down the Light on Drag City
• The Orb – “God's Mirrorball”
• from Moonbuilding 2703 AD on Kompakt
• Parlour Tricks – “Lovesongs”
• from Broken Hearts/Bones on Bar/None Records
• Pete Rock – “One, Two, A Few More”
• from Petestrumentals 2 on Mello
• Richard Thompson – “Beatnik Walking”
• from Still on Fantasy
• The Royal Jesters – “English Oldies”
• from English Oldies on Numero Group
• Smokey – “How Far Will You Go...?”
• from How Far Will You Go: The S&M Recordings, 1973-81 on Chapter Music
• Son Lux – “Change is Everything”
• from Bones on Glassnote Entertainment Group
• Tough Age – “Snakes & Ladders”
• from I Get the Feeling Central on Mint
• The Units – “Digital Stimulation”
• from Digital Stimulation on Futurismo
• Walter TV – “Surf Metal”
• from Blessed on Sinderlyn
• White Poppy – “Confusion”
• from Natural Phenomena on Not Not Fun
• Wolf Alice – “Giant Peach”
• from My Love Is Cool on Dirty Hit / RCA