Skip to content
Reviews

SPIN’s Review Roundup: 129 Lengthy and Tweet-Sized Takes on May 2013’s New Releases

Savages

By David Bevan, Grayson Currin, Jeanne Fury, Richard Gehr, Kory Grow, Keith Harris, Chris Martins, Puja Patel, Mosi Reeves, Jordan Sargent, Julianne Escobedo Shepherd, Brandon Soderberg, Philip Sherburne, Barry Walters, Christopher R. Weingarten, and Jon Young

Follow along!: @spinreviews

ROCK

HANNI EL KHATIB – Head In the Dirt
5: Retro-fashionisto sterilizes trash-punk, blues, hip-hop into mersh-garage.—PP

BEWARE OF DARKNESS – Orthodox
6: When not rawking, Jet-style, in skinny jeans, the Cali trio dons Lennon glasses, gets deep behind a piano.—JF

BLANK TAPES – Vacation
7: Garage-pop party goes on forever in sunshine state of mind. Best tunes are about tinnitus, hippie leprechauns.—RG

BRAZOS – Saltwater
6: Swoon or cringe, Martin Crane’s literate insistence, trance-inducing neutral-lactose voice, command a listen.—RG

JC BROOKS & THE UPTOWN SOUND – Howl
6: Sixties soul swagger meets ragged indie rock with somber results high on melodrama and spunk.—BW

BROTHER JT – The Svelteness of Boogietude
7: Garage vet John Terlesky’s alter ego spews a fab mashup of T. Rex, Prince, other mavericks.—JY

COCOROSIE – Tales of a Grass Widow
8: Sister act’s most gorgeously glitchy songs about child abuse, nature havoc, history’s end to date.—RG

MIKAL CRONIN – MCII
SPIN ESSENTIAL: Read full review

DEAD GAZE – Dead Gaze
7: Crunchy guitars, blown-out synths, and noisy drums pad nostalgia-rock emotion. Lo-fi skin, Americana heart.—PP

DEERHUNTER – Monomania
SPIN ESSENTIAL: Read full review

DIRTY BEACHES – Drifters
8: Electro-greaser gets funky, offers a double-decker of haunting hellscapes, eclectic grooves.—DB

DUNGEONESSE – Dungeonesse
7: Wye Oak’s Jenn Wasner trades folkie meditation for dance-floor release, plays diva with grace.—JY

THE FALL – Re-Mit
6: Nuggets, krautrock, and Dada party like it’s 1945 on Mark E. Smith’s intermittently hysterical, impish 30th release.—RG

HOODED FANG – Gravez
7: From within womblike echo, Toronto nailbiters accentuate the anxiety of surf-rock’s zigzag riffs and peppy grooves.—KH

JAPANTHER – Eat Like Lisa Act Like Bart
6: Scruffy Brooklyn art-punk duo still adept at instantly forgettable fun.—JY

LVMRKS – Pale Fairytale
7: Trail of Dead, Broken Bells, Red Sparowes members’ romantic, goth, Pretty in Pink score for Andie and Duckie.—JF

THE NATIONAL – Trouble Will Find Me
Read full review

SCOUT NIBLETT – It’s Up to Emma
8: Grunge folkie ups songcraft, adds frills, explores proto-metal. A cover of TLC’s “No Scrubs” FTW.—CM

NOAH AND THE WHALE – Heart of Nowhere
4: Plagiarized ‘80s college-rock term paper: margins justified, thesis OK, textual support lacking.—KH

THE PASTELS – Slow Summits
7: Know the difference between mushy and soft pop? These languid Scots still do on their first album in 16 years.—JY

THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION – Fandango
8: Kiwi psych-rockers invent their own private Laurel Canyon as sweet as eucalyptus on the breeze.—PS

THE POLYPHONIC SPREE – Yes, It’s True
6: Resilient sunshine-pop chorus pummels with vintage ’70s pep on first album in six years.—RG

PURE X – Crawling In The Dark
7: More slow-cooked psychedelic rock from Austin, swaps dream-woven pleasantries for nightmarish spells.—DB

RADICAL DADS – Rapid Reality
8: The Brooklyn trio’s second baby has a keen power-pop brain and unbridled lo-fi punk guts.—JF

SATURDAY LOOKS GOOD TO ME – One Kiss Ends It All
7: Long-running sweater-poppers return with more sugar, more twee, more precious melody.—DB

SAVAGES – Silence Yourself
SPIN ESSENTIAL: Read full review

SHANNON AND THE CLAMS – Dreams in the Rat House
8: Hunx pal Shannon Shaw reboots trashy ’50s rock, boosts the noise. The Cramps say, “Yes!”—JY

SMALL BLACK – Limits of Desire
8: Chillwavers grow up, grab guitars, toot trumpets, sing gushy melodies, graduate to #mellowcrest.—CM

SNOWDEN – No One in Control
5: No one out of control either. Tuneful washes of meticulous Anglophilia adrift between anthemry and reverie.—KH

STILL CORNERS – Strange Pleasures
6: London duo stirs guitars, synths, whispers into gauzy dream-pop straight outta Roxy Music’s ‘Avalon.’—RG

TEEN – Carolina EP
8: Brooklyn’s Teeny Lieberson and crew surpass a fine garage-techno debut with punchier, weirder EP. Bedazzlement looms.—JY

THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS – Love Lust Faith + Dreams
4: More overwrought adult-contempo prog-pop from the dude who stole Ellen Burstyn’s TV.—KG

TIJUANA PANTHERS – Semi-Sweet
6: Tripping at a Sonics reunion after enjoying a day at the beach and a vitamin C enema with MGMT.—JF

VAMPIRE WEEKEND – Modern Vampires of the City
SPIN ESSENTIAL: Read full review

W-H-I-T-E – III
7: A rebuilt Galaxie 500 with rose-tinted windshield: Runs on rainbows, hugs curves as smoothly as Spiritualized’s robes.—PS

WE ARE LOUD WHISPERS – Suchness
8: She’s in Seattle; he’s in Japan. Via e-mail, they make hazy electro-chamber pop lit by lovely pale fire.—JY

WILD NOTHING – Empty Estate EP
7: Former Smiths-worshipping swooner embraces New Order beats and synth-sheen, which embrace him back.—DM

YELLOWBIRDS – Songs From the Vanished Frontier
6: Lad sails chilly romantic seas with tony electric guitar. Fine EP in here somewhere.—RG