7. Songs For Our Mothers - Fat White Family.
The Fat White’s have managed to uphold the grubby aesthetic that initially draws you to them, as they wander into the difficult territory of the second album. The successor to the infamous ‘Champagne Holocaust’ is saturated in political satire and cosmic synthetic loops; which in some ways, makes it the far more accessible album out of the two – without lacking the vicious bite that keeps you coming back time and time again. Whether it be for the infectious waves of neurotic floor filler “Whitest Boy on the Beach” or the gentle, disjointed strums of “Goodbye Goebbels”.
8. Ullages - Eagulls.
Its almost as if Eagulls have toned down their post-punk roots for a more melodic and lyrical approach. Frontman George Mitchell seems to have found his voice and has refrained from screaming his voice away on this album. The bands roots are still there, especially on the intensely pulsating ‘skipping’; the only difference being that they have swapped the carnage for gentle swirling builds of guitars feeding back between the choruses. You just can’t help but dissolve into the euphoric beauty of tracks like ‘Velvet’ and ‘Euphoria’ with their melancholic lyrics and swooping sense of despair that goes hand in hand enabling the band to come back with the perfect second album.
9. Human Performance - Parquet Courts.
Parquet Courts have swooped in with their incredible third album at the right time. We are entering a time where we need their intellectual lyrics and organic sound that is still deeply rooted, even three albums on, in the underground DIY punk scene in New York. The sound is no doubt, a homage to the early sound of The Velvet Underground; Human performance is a fairly mellow album, one that allows you to drift off into a dreamlike scene. But don’t be fooled, this could arguably be some of the most challenging and complex work that the band have ever done.
MUSIC.