Crucial Releases for March 7

My process for finding new releases is working a little too well, though it IS accomplishing the goal of finding albums I may have missed otherwise. Good albums too, even if I have to wade through 15-20 releases that make the initial cut. This week I have two albums – one from a band I wasn't familiar with and one from someone whom I most certainly was...

First up is the debut album from a (new to me) band that defies any categorization. They've simply produced something that is just so good, so fresh sounding. That album is Drive to Goldenhammer by Divorce (Listen).

On Drive [...], I hear bands like Belle & Sebastian, Arcade Fire, Los Campesinos!, Peach Pit, Frightened Rabbit, St. Vincent... along with elements of folk, alt country, prog, post-punk, and shoegaze. They call their sound Wilco meets ABBA.

It's bands like Divorce, Wednesday, and English Teacher that combine genres that shouldn't go together, but make it work, that gets me excited about the current state of guitar bands. And much like English Teacher last year, I can see a Mercury Prize for Divorce in 2025.

Favorite tracks: "Hangman", "Pill", "All My Freaks", "Antarctica", "Where Do You Go", and well, just about every single song is good.

Drive To Goldenhammer by Divorce

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The second featured album is from an absolute legend who is still very capable of dropping quality new music every couple of years. Bob Mould, whether it's solo or with Sugar or Hüsker Dü has been doing this for a long time... since 1979 to be exact. And the songs today are just as strong as they were 40 years ago.

Here We Go Crazy (Listen) is Mould's 15th solo album and first in four years. The songs could easily fit in Sugar's catalog, with straightforward guitars and Mould's usual lyrical subjects of love and all of the contradicting parts of humanity. It's a sonic joyride from start to finish.

Favorite tracks: "Here We Go Crazy", "Neanderthal", "When Your Heart is Broken", "Hard to Get", and "Your Side".

Here We Go Crazy by Bob Mould

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Honorable Mentions

s/t by Downward (Listen)
Downward's second self-titled album (and second overall), though the last was 7 years ago... with a handful of EPs in between. Much like Cloakroom from last week, Downward does the heavy emo/shoegaze thing and really well.

This Side of the Island by Hamilton Leithauser (Listen)
The lead singer of The Walkmen's fourth solo album and probably his best. It's also noticeably brighter than much of his solo work, which is a good thing to have during these dark times.

Foxes in the Snow by Jason Isbell (Listen)
Isbell's first acoustic solo album and his first album without The 400 Unit in over 10 years. It's well written like pretty much everything Isbell does these days, though more of a straightforward country/folk sound, with him focusing on the acoustic guitar.

Blood on the Silver Screen by SASAMI (Listen)
Honestly a little surprised by this, though I shouldn't be, given that SASAMI genre jumps every album and sometimes many times within an album. THIS album is straight hooks and catchy pop, like something Charli xcx would do... well done, but not necessarily my thing. Maybe it will grow on me...

Hot Shock by HotWax (Listen)
I hear an album that was influenced by Mannequin Pussy and Hole. Not a bad thing at all, but not necessarily breaking any new ground. Hot Shock is their debut album, so it will be interesting to see how they grow from here.