After Tim Bracy and Shannon McArdle of The Mendoza Line divorced in 2007, they released one last album together, 30 Year Low, a recrimination-laden back and forth that buried the charred remains of their relationship in salt. The Rosebuds' new divorce album, Loud Planes Fly Low, plays out far more civilly. It's as somber as the subject matter demands, cloaked in a wistful, late-night haziness and the deep ache of The Smith's most crestfallen songs, but instead of taking shots at each other, Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp fess up to their own failings, assure each other they tried their best, and actually console each other. Despite it all, the sweetness that's always been at The Rosebuds' core is undiminished.
Fucked Up's new David Comes to Life is a beast: an 18-song, 78-minute double album about love and revolution. Unchanged since the band's early days, Damian Abraham's raging growl disguises how far the band has evolved from its hardcore roots and how much is going on here. Behind the stadium-sized riffs that drive most every song forward there's a web of ornate guitarwork and intricate, interlocking melodies. And the record just never lets up; each song is every bit as grand as the last.
Garage-punk trendsetters Black Lips distance themselves from the increasingly indistinguishable horde of like-minded bands they've inspired by teaming with maximalist producer Mark Ronson on Arabia Mountain. It's an unlikely but inspired pairing. Ronson dresses the record in a mock-lo-fi sheen that preserves the band's essence while playing up their summery, good-time hooks.
Laurel Canyon revivalists Dawes realize the promise of their 2009 debut North Hills on the new Nothing is Wrong, which complements their broken-in folk-rock with a much sharper set of songs. “These days my friends don't seem to know me without a suitcase in my hand,” Taylor Goldsmith sings on the opening cut, “Time Spent in Los Angeles,” and most of his lyrics land with similar assurance, making Nothing is Wrong one of the few records from the recent folk-rock revival that lives up to its influences instead of just blandly mimicking them.
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And speaking of bland mimicry: Arctic Monkeys' ongoing maturity quest takes them deep into the music of the '60s on Suck It and See, an album that excises the last remaining glimmers of vibrancy and feistiness from the band.
Also this week:
All Time Low – Dirty Work
Battles – Gloss Drop
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – It's a Corporate World
Peter Murphy – Ninth
Robert Pollard – Lord of the Birdcage
Sondre Lerche – Sondre Lerche
Tech N9ne – All 6's and 7's
The Postelles – The Postelles
