Welcome back!

July 25th is a big day for new music. If you’re not reading the Largeheartedboy blog for new music releases, including where you can stream the new releases for free before buying (which usually comes out on Wednesdays), you should be. The list of today’s releases can be found here.

Albums I’ve purchased this week include:

Passion Pit’s Gossamer: If you’re a fan of the first album, you’ll love their second album. Not a lot has changed since their breakthrough debut album Manners. The same upbeat tempo, falsetto – a great summer album.

[https://rd.io/i/QAAKPlkiMQ]

The next album I’ll be listening to is the latest from The Gaslight Anthem, Handwritten. I haven’t given it a spin, but the first single, 45, released a while back shows the New Jersey rockers haven’t changed much from their last few releases. If you’re a fan of good old-fashioned rock and roll, give it a listen. The vinyl is available from Amazon for only $13.99!

[https://rd.io/i/QAAKPlksjw]

Stagnant Pools release their debut album on Polyvinyl today. One of the things I love about Polyvinyl is they often give you the digital release weeks before the physical albums come out. I’ve given this a few spins, and their artist page sums them up quite well:

Stagnant Pools are Bryan and Douglass Enas, two brothers (21 and 22) from Bloomington, Indiana. With just one guitar and a drum kit, they make music which the Chicago Reader describes as “drone-heavy, slate-gray art-rock that should appeal to fans of Disappears, Joy Division, and Sonic Youth records from back when they were still actually scary.”

Lastly, Bob Mould of Hüsker Dü and Sugar fame, has signed on with the ultimate indie label Merge for his upcoming solo release. Before that comes out, he has remastered and re-released the Sugar catalog today on Merge. Featuring the first album, Copper Blue, along with the Beaster EP as well as the follow-up File Under Listening, they are available from Merge with a bonus content featuring live songs and B-sides on MP3, CD or vinyl.

[https://rd.io/i/QAAKPloMjQ]

[https://rd.io/i/QAAKPloMjA]

I’ve ordered all of the above albums on vinyl and am looking forward to giving them a spin.

You can follow me on Rdio at http://www.rdio.com/people/prcutler