After 16 years of anticipation, Dr. Dog has finally released their debut album, The Psychedelic Swamp, and it’s number one on our chart this week! In reality, The Psychedelic Swamp is their 9th full length release. But in 2000, the Philadelphia artists recorded their first album only to never release it. This LP is a revisit to those original tracks, a reinvention of their roots into a psychedelic pop sound with tinges of soul, country, and more experimental heavy rock/pop. They’re joined again by Doug O’Donnell, an original member of the band who sings on the first track of the record, “Golden Hind.” It’s a gorgeous track, and a strange break from the familiar vocals of Toby Leaman. Speaking about the album with Consequence of Sound, Leaman said “It’s like climbing out from the bottom of a junk drawer three stories deep, a veritable ascent into maelstrom.”
Number two on our chart behind the doc is Hinds, a female low-fi group from Madrid debuting their first full length, Leave Me Alone. KJHK writer Mallory Mcfall calls the album ” the garage rock lovechild of Girlpool, Courtney Barnett and Best Coast.” An apt description, the album is no-sh*t but delicate at times, and gets you moving. Number three is a special album, at least for myself. Gumption is the debut full length from Lawrence artist Your Friend. The brainchild of Tayrn Miller, the album released on Domino in January and is being played for audiences across the US as the group tours in support of Porches and Alex G. It’s a mix of ambient indie folk-rock layered thick with synth, bass, percussion, and harmonies, all intermingled with looping and meditative guitar. Just dark enough, just uplifting enough.
An album of Tycho remixes released on Ghostly International sits at number four. Tycho’s 2014 release Awake has been revisited by a very tasty roster of artists including RJD2, Bibio, and Com Truise. Each artist’s reinvention stands alone, fascinating in the way they preserve Scott Hansen’s colorful electronic while adding their own distinct style. Rounding out our top five is Is The Is Are from Brooklyn artist DIIV. This second full-length from DIIV shows the group unafraid of using lyrics to explore the pains of their lives. But paired with lowkey and groovy indie rock instrumentation, it doesn’t pull you down and instead seems a celebration, a thanks to the twisted, entropy filled world for letting them come this far.
New to the chart this week: Pillar Point’s Marble Mouth, Animal Collective’s Painting With, Savages’ Adore Life, Low Cut High Tops’ Eh, Whatever, and Tinderstick’s The Waiting Room.
| 1 | DR. DOG | The Psychedelic Swamp | Anti | |
| 2 | HINDS | Leave Me Alone | Mom And Pop | |
| 3 | YOUR FRIEND | Gumption | Domino | |
| 4 | TYCHO | Awake Remixes | Ghostly International | |
| 5 | DIIV | Is The Is Are | Captured Tracks | |
| 6 | WAND | 1,000 Days | Drag City | |
| 7 | ATLANTIC THRILLS | Vices | Almost Ready | |
| 8 | DAUGHTER | Not To Disappear | Glassnote | |
| 9 | ADRIAN YOUNGE | Something About April II | Linear Labs | |
| 10 | PILLAR POINT | Marble Mouth | Polyvinyl | |
| 11 | JULIA BROWN | An Abundance Of Strawberries | Joy Void | |
| 12 | CONNAN MOCKASIN AND DEVONTE HYNES | Myths 001 [EP] | ||
| 13 | ANIMAL COLLECTIVE | Painting With | Domino | |
| 14 | BERWANGER | Demonios | High Dive | |
| 15 | AIDAN KNIGHT | Each Other | Outside | |
| 16 | TY SEGALL | Emotional Mugger | Drag City | |
| 17 | WRAY | Hypatia | Communicating Vessels | |
| 18 | ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER | New View | Frenchkiss | |
| 19 | PIXEL | Golden Years | Cuneiform | |
| 20 | SAVAGES | Adore Life | Matador | |
| 21 | ST. GERMAIN | St. Germain | Nonesuch | |
| 22 | SHEARWATER | Jet Plane And Oxbow | SUB POP | |
| 23 | DJDS | Stand Up And Speak | Loma Vista | |
| 24 | LOW CUT HIGH TOPS | Eh, Whatever | Self-Released | |
| 25 | SNARKY PUPPY | Family Dinner, Vol. 2 | Universal | |
| 26 | SHIGETO | Intermission EP | Ghostly | |
| 27 | ARCHY MARSHALL | A New Place 2 Drown | True Panther | |
| 28 | NZCA LINES | Infinite Summer | Memphis Industries | |
| 29 | PUSHA T | Darkest Before Dawn | G.O.O.D. | |
| 30 | TINDERSTICKS | The Waiting Room | City Slang |
Our top 5 adds this week:
| 1 | ESPERANZA SPALDING | Emily’s D+Evolution | Concord | |
| 2 | ANIMAL COLLECTIVE | Painting With | Domino | |
| 3 | CAVE SINGERS | Banshee | Self-Released | |
| 4 | QUILT | Plaza | Mexican Summer | |
| 5 | MOUNT MORIAH | How To Dance | Merge |