Once Again, I Have Opinions About New Music

I’ve really been enjoying the entirety of Surfer Blood’s Astrocoast, and I’m stoked to see them play later this week. Pitchfork already made the appropriate Weezer reference, but they also remind me a lot of the (Neko Caseless) New Pornographers. The combination is a very, very good thing.

The new Spoon record, Transference, is also excellent — easily their best since, um, maybe ever? (Okay, maybe not, but usually when I hear a new Spoon disc, I think, this is great! Sounds just like the last record, which was also great! Transference, though, has a vibe that’s all its own.)

And I’m pretty sure that, so far, single of the year goes to Local Natives for “Sun Hands.”

(Certain tracks from the Gorilla Manor, like “Shape Shifter,” remind me quite a bit of The Snake, The Cross, The Crown, which is great, though perhaps not so much from the band’s perspective, seeing as I can’t recall ever meeting anyone else who’s even heard of that group.)

Various live versions here.