FourScore
Japandroids – Near to the Wild Heart of Life – Anti/Epitaph
David Prowse and Brian King are only two guys, but they sound like a whole lot more as they stack their effect-laden vocals, pour on the drumbeats and generously scatter seasonings of guitar over the top, translating all of this to their third album recorded primarily in Vancouver and named after a passage in a James Joyce novel. Track structure is something Japandroids has mastered; “True Love and a Free Life of Will” is deliberate in its melody while “Arc of Bar” brings in the androids and space keys to craft as much atmosphere as music. ***
Foxygen – Hang – Jagjaguwar
From opening track “Follow the Leader” with its swaying groove-pop refrain and unexpected horn section to the ‘70s-inspired “Rise Up” and onward through the dynamic lead single “America,” Foxygen’s first real studio album is an ambitious and attentive effort, thanks to the inclusion of actual orchestra elements on nearly every track plus the carefully selected tracklisting itself, which pushes more detail into each song individually instead of bloating the lineup with excess. Don’t miss “Avalon,” which might be Foxygen’s first real earworm. ***
Sleater-Kinney – Live in Paris – Sub Pop
Sleater-Kinney has long been known for stage shows in which it attacks its instruments with vengeance and interprets its own tracks on a level so raw it feels like the tunes are being crafted as you watch. But that experience has yet to be suitably translated to any of the band’s recordings. That changes with this album. Recorded during a show at Paris’ La Cigale venue, Live in Paris features a selection of tracks from across its repertoire, including the strikingly prescient “Entertain,” the classic “I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone,” and the barnstorming “No Cities to Love.” **1/2
Austra – Future Politics – Domino
With an operatically styled voice reminiscent of Charlotte Church, vocalist/artist Katie Stelmanis, aka Austra, is on her third album. She chose to make it a thematic one with a view toward the future and its vast boundaries. This time around, she pared down her usual sound. Emptying her voice while performing with less bombast leaves more space for roiling synth lines and nervous club beats with heft such as on “I Love You More Than You Love Yourself” with its stiff backbeat. Elsewhere, “Free Power” brings in a disconcerted tone before “Utopia” sweeps in with better prospects. **1/2