Next weekend is July 4 weekend, which means not many new albums will be coming out (especially in the US), but that’s fine because you’ll probably need at least two weeks to digest all the good records out this week. I highlight 13 below, and Bill tackles six in Bill’s Indie Basement (Loma, Redd Kross, Guided By Voices, The Folk Implosion, Cornelius, and Lame Drivers), so that’s a total of 19 recommendations from the BV staff. And that’s not all!

This week’s honorable mentions include Dirty Three, Shackleton & Six Organs of Admittance, Washed Out, Anthony Green, Hiatus Kaiyote, Boldy James & Conductor Williams, Kaitlin Butts, Lupe Fiasco, Omar Apollo, The Felice Brothers, Prefuse 73, Headie One, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, MILLY, Anvil, Lucky Daye, Homeshake, SUSS, HUSHMONEY, SML, Moreru, Sauce Walka, BODYSYNC, Imposter, Jay Exodus, KXNG Crooked & Joell Ortiz, Marsha Ambrosius (prod. Dr. Dre), Lil Gotit, Locksmith, Zoe Osama, The God Awful Truth, Liana Flores, Wraith, Silverada (fka Mike and the Moonpies), Superfan (fka KALI), Outlander, MakeWar, $NOT, White Stones (mem Opeth), Asher White, Joy Again, Chris Corsano, Pleasure Planet, The Eternal, Eiko Ishibashi, Th Blisks, Katy the Kyng, Gabriel Birnbaum, Danny Paul Grody Duo, Deron Johnson, Virginity, jxdn, the Wilco EP, the Amaarae EP, the Hard Chiller (From Indian Lakes, RX Bandits, etc) EP, the Olof Dreijer (The Knife) & Diva Cruz, the LUCY (Cooper B. Handy) & Surf Gang EP, the PRICE & Kota the Friend EP, the Esme Emerson EP, the Pretty Sick EP, the Sarah Grace White EP, the previously unreleased Johnny Cash sessions, the album of rare & unreleased Neil Young recordings, The Streets’ Fabric mix, and the digital release of Fleet Foxes’ Live on Boston Harbor.

Read on for my picks. What’s your favorite release of the week?

Megan Thee Stallion – Megan
Hot Girl

Free of record label woes, Megan delivers an onslaught of shit-talk and braggadocio raps on one of her most focused albums yet

Megan Thee Stallion’s rise in popularity has long been accompanied by personal struggles, whether it’s the Tory Lanez assault trial (and other rappers accusing her of lying about the shooting) or her lawsuit against her record label 1501 Certified Entertainment, but she always seems to persevere. She finally freed herself from her label last year and launched her own company (called Hot Girl Productions, natch) earlier this year, and now she just released her Hot Girl debut, Megan. She acknowledges the public gossip that surrounds her more than once on the album, but for the most part, you get the sense that she finds living well is the best revenge. She sounds free on this album, and she’s rapping her ass off. It’s an onslaught of shit-talk and braggadocio raps, and it’s one of her most focused, cohesive albums yet. With 18 songs in 52 minutes, she’s not immune to the streaming-era trend of overloading albums, but the strong moments far outweigh any filler. Guest appearances come from recent collaborator/tourmate GloRilla, her home state Texas heroes UGK, Brooklyn drill rapper Kyle Richh, Japanese rapper Yuki Chiba, rising R&B star Victoria Monét, and fellow Southern rappers Big K.R.I.T. and Buddah Bless (appearing together on “Miami Blue”), and Megan benefits from their presences but never relies on them to draw people in or boost numbers, like she might have done with Beyoncé and Dua Lipa on past albums. The best, strongest, and fiercest parts of Megan are all handled by Megan herself.

Channel Tres – Head Rush
RCA

The “Compton house” artist sounds more chameleonic than ever on his long-awaited debut full-length

Channel Tres emerged in the late 2010s with a new spin on hip-house that he dubbed “Compton house,” due to pulling equally from the house music of Chicago (where Channel’s father is from) and the hip hop of Compton (where Channel was raised). It’s an even more specific offshoot of an already-hyperspecific subgenre, and as appealing as Channel Tres’ music is, I imagine working within such narrow confines can start to feel pretty limiting. He had been planning on releasing his debut album Real Cultural Shit last year, but he turned it into a five-song EP of the same name after deciding that the material wasn’t strong enough to make up his first proper album. In the time since then, he’s solidified his most musically vast, transcendent batch of songs yet, and those 17 songs come together on his long-awaited debut LP, Head Rush. On this album, hip-house isn’t the destination; it’s the starting point. Head Rush is a melting pot of dance beats, hip hop beats, singing, rapping, echoes of everything from jazz to industrial, and a whole lot of hard-to-define, experimental art pop swirling throughout the LP, with assists from Thundercat, Toro y Moi, Ravyn Lenae, Teezo Touchdown, Ty Dolla $ign, Estelle, and more. (“Head Rush” is a very good title.) It’s an ever-shapeshifting album that never feels self-indulgent, and as joyous as it sounds, there’s some darkness in Channel Tres’ lyrics, which are informed at times by childhood trauma and grief. Sometimes I roll my eyes at artists waiting this long to release a “debut album,” but even if Head Rush is far from Channel Tres’ first body of work, it feels like a grand introduction. Those early EPs sound like rough drafts in comparison; Head Rush is the start of Channel Tres as the chameleonic artist he’d always been working towards becoming.

Sour Widows – Revival of a Friend
Exploding In Sound

The Bay Area band mix folky indie rock and loud, grungy climaxes on their debut LP

Sour Widows cite Big Thief’s 2019 double feature U.F.O.F. and Two Hands and Nirvana’s Nevermind as major influences on their long-anticipated debut album Revival of a Friend, and if you can picture the exact middle ground between those two things, it might actually sound something like this album. Sour Widows tap into the spacious, pastoral indie folk of the former, and even their most delicate moments often build to clamorous climaxes that echo the latter. (This is also to say that Revival of a Friend is also sort of like if Big Thief made an entire album like “Not.”) Multiple songs hover around the six-minute mark, and the epic closer “Staring Into Heaven/Shining” is over eight minutes; this is an album that likes to take you on a journey time and time again and the payoff is always worth it. As the title suggests, death is a core theme on this album, and co-leaders Maia Sinaiko and Susanna Thomson explore loss and grief in ways that hit as hard as those grungy climaxes.

Growing Stone – Death of a Momma’s Boy
Near Mint

Taking Meds leader Skylar Sarkis returns with the second album from his sad singer/songwriter project 

In certain niche punk circles, Taking Meds are one of the most underrated, cultishly-loved bands around, especially in circles where a phrase like “the midway point between Dinosaur Jr and Jawbox” elicits excitement. And as great as Taking Meds are at the loud punk stuff, vocalist/guitarist Skylar Sarkis also has a singer/songwriter side that he shows off with his solo project Growing Stone, with which he’s been gradually building up yet another small-yet-devoted following. Death of a Momma’s Boy is his second full-length album, following 2020’s very good I Had Everybody Snowed, and it takes most of its influence from sad, somber songwriters like Arab Strap, Smog, Sun Kil Moon, Sparklehorse, Mount Eerie, and Leonard Cohen. It’s a sound that Skylar is a total natural at, and it’s something I imagine could win over people who like this kind of thing and don’t even know or care about Taking Meds. Skylar wrote this one entirely sober, and he says that while both Growing Stone albums are about pain, “this pain feels less diluted to me. It’s about feeling the actual pain, not feeling the consequences of avoiding it.” Like his aforementioned musical heroes, he puts his lyrics in the forefront, and he’s a plainspoken, imagery-inducing lyricist who can really make you feel the pain that informed these songs. The album was produced by Skylar’s Taking Meds bandmate James Palko (who also makes power pop as Jimmy Montague), and Skylar’s voice sits atop a backdrop of gentle acoustic guitars, gorgeous string and horn arrangements, and some light drumming. The music itself sounds as reflective and mournful as Skylar’s words, and the whole album tugs at the heartstrings just as much as Taking Meds bangs the heads.

Previous Industries – Service Merchandise
Merge

Open Mike Eagle and longtime friends Video Dave and Still Rift channel the spirit of late ’80s / early ’90s rap groups on the debut LP from their new group

Open Mike Eagle’s last two projects (2022’s A Tape Called Component System With The Auto Reverse and 2023’s Another Triumph of Ghetto Engineering) heavily featured his friends Video Dave (who he’s known since college) and Still Rift (who he’s known since high school, and who has yet to release his own music), and now Mike has a group with those friends, Previous Industries. They cite late ’80s / early ’90s rap groups like Native Tongues, Wu-Tang, and The Alkaholiks as influences, and they pull not just from the sound of that era but also the actual way that this music was written in those days, before rap groups could exist remotely over the internet. As Mike himself put it when asked for the BrooklynVegan digital magazine what he hopes people take away from Previous Industries, “I hope people remember that they miss rap songs by rap groups that actually hang out with each other and rap in the same room.”

Mabe Fratti – Sentir Que No Sabes
Unheard Of Hope

Mexico City art pop artist Mabe Fratti is in remarkable form on the followup to 2022’s acclaimed ‘Se Ve Desde Aquí’

Guatemalan-born, Mexico City-based art pop artist Mabe Fratti released three albums with three different groups in the past year–Titanic, Amor Muere, and La Kriego, Mabe Fratti, Concepción Huerta–and now she’s back with her first solo album since 2022’s acclaimed Se Ve Desde Aquí. The album was written and recorded with her partner and Titanic bandmate Hector Tosta (aka I. La Católica) at their studio Tinho Studios, with Mabe handling cello, vocals, and synths, and Hector handling guitar, piano, bass, synths, production, and arrangements; and they also brought in a few guest musicians and added in other elements at other studios in the Netherlands and Mexico City. Like past work, it’s informed by jazz, classical, post-rock, electronic music, and more, and Mabe turns all the heady instrumentals into pop music when she tops them off with her soaring voice. Her melodies quickly turn hummable, whether or not you speak her native Spanish. Multiple reviews compare her to Arthur Russell, with whom she shares a knack for fusing pop and classical, and she’s also been frequently compared to Björk, with whom she shares a knack for otherworldly melodicism. Sentir Que No Sabes definitely scratches both of those itches, and like both, Mabe is a trailblazer who consistently stands out.

Camila Cabello – C,XOXO
Geffen/Interscope

Camila Cabello taps El Guincho and Jasper Harris for the most experimental album of her career

At her second consecutive weekend headlining Coachella this past April, Lana Del Rey brought out a guest to sing a song that Lana told the crowd she “[loves] to death,” Camila Cabello. Bringing out the former Fifth Harmony member and “Havana”/”Señorita” hitmaker was a little unexpected–Lana and Camila didn’t and still don’t have any songs together–but it makes even more sense in hindsight. Lana’s a pop star who’s attracted a more alternative fanbase for over a decade, and that’s exactly the crowd that Camila currently seems like she’s trying to tap more into. Camila treated the Coachella crowd to the live debut of “I Luv It,” the first single off what Camila’s touting as a “weird, left-of-center” pop album, C,XOXO, and the next night, she referenced a Billie Eilish quote and called Lana “the reason for all you bitches existence including me !!!!” “I Luv It”‘s a big hit, but it’s nowhere near becoming a chart-topper like “Havana” and “Señorita,” and Camila knows it. This time around, she seems a little more concerned with the artistry than the multi-platinum certifications.

To help her achieve her art pop dreams, she enlisted left-of-center pop guru El Guincho, whose recent work with Rosalía and FKA twigs makes him a perfect fit for what Camila is going for. And, as pop singers who are looking for a little more edge often do, she brought a strong hip hop presence to C,XOXO as well. The album’s other co-producer is Jasper Harris, who’s worked with Kendrick Lamar, Doja Cat, Denzel Curry, and more, and the album also features Drake, City Girls, Playboi Carti, and Lil Nas X, plus Camila trying on a few hip hop cadences of her own. It feels almost sneaky the way she pillows her larger-than-life hooks with genuinely experimental production on lead singles “I Luv It” (with Playboi Carti), “He Knows” (with Lil Nas X), and “Chanel No.5.” On “Dade County Dreaming,” City Girls assist Camila on a straight-up rap song, while Drake joins for one of the album’s two reggaeton songs. With “Twentysomethings,” she delivers a somber acoustic song about being in your twenties and not knowing what the fuck you’re doing, and it’s not hard to see how her admiration for Lana (and Billie) comes through on a song like this one. The record’s also peppered with a series of woozy interludes that play noticeable roles in helping C,XOXO function as album-oriented music. It’s pop music that makes a serious, artistic statement, but it also remembers how fun pop music can be–something that’s too often forgotten by pop singers entering their Serious Artist era. Camila takes fun seriously, and she has fun being serious. The two modes don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

Lil Yachty & James Blake – Bad Cameo
Quality Control/Motown/Republic

Lil Yachty and James Blake come together for an ambient pop album unlike anything either of them have done

The past few years have seen Atlanta rapper Lil Yachty release everything from a mixtape celebrating the Michigan rap scene to a psychedelic rock album, and it’s really starting to seem like nothing is off limits for him. For his next trick, he’s teamed up with James Blake for Bad Cameo, an album Yachty said is “so left, for both of us.” And it really is. James provides a largely-ambient soundscape, and he and Yachty trade reverb-coated lead vocal duties throughout the entirety of the LP. It sounds more like early How to Dress Well than a major-label rap album; even James Blake’s own alt-R&B material has never really sounded as hazy and meditative as this. It’s clearly not something that either one of them are doing to up their mainstream success, and it’s pretty badass that they managed to get something this outré released on a major label.

Queen of Jeans – All Again
Memory Music

The Philly indie rock band’s new concept album follows a relationship from beginning to end

Queen of Jeans’ first album in five years is a concept album that follows a relationship from beginning to end, with all the ups and downs of love and heartbreak that occur in between. As rocky as the storyline might be, the music goes down easy, with one song after the next rooted in the blissful dream pop of bands like Alvvays. Miriam Devora’s storytelling on songs like the especially clever “Horny Hangover” is easy to latch onto, and like on QOJ’s last album, the big-sounding, timeless quality of her voice always cuts through the mix.

Firewalker – Hell Bent
Triple B Records

Boston hardcore band Firewalker have a new lineup and special guest Justice Tripp on their second-ever full-length

Boston hardcore band Firewalker slowed down a little bit in the past few years, but now they’re back at it (with a slightly different lineup) and finally releasing their second-ever full-length and first in seven years, Hell Bent. It’s a no-frills, no-bullshit, fast hardcore album that clocks in at under 20 minutes and finds the band leaning more into their riffy, metallic side than ever, providing an even more evil backdrop for Sophie Hendry’s throat-shredding shrieks than usual. Trapped Under Ice/Angel Du$t’s Justice Tripp brings his own distinct bark to the title track.

200 Stab Wounds – Manual Manic Procedures
Metal Blade

200 Stab Wounds’ Metal Blade debut is a heaping dose of old school-style death metal brutality

In case the name 200 Stab Wounds doesn’t give it away, these Ohioans are into making gnarly, gruesome death metal created in the image of bands like Cannibal Corpse and Dying Fetus (both of whom they’ve toured with). Since releasing their 2021 debut LP Slave to the Scalpel on the trusty Maggot Stomp Records, they made the leap to Metal Blade and their first album for their new label home is Manual Manic Procedures. Produced and mixed by Andy Nelson, the album sounds a little bigger and more crisp than its predecessor, but 200 Stab Wounds aren’t toning anything down. It’s brutal, meat-and-potatoes, blood-and-guts death metal done really well.

Love Letter – Everyone Wants Something Beautiful
Iodine

Members of Verse and Defeater come together for their debut LP as Love Letter

Verse and Defeater were both crucial in shaping the 2000s New England hardcore sound (along with bands like Have Heart, Shipwreck, etc) that’s still influential today, and members of both of those bands came together in 2018 to form Death of A Nation, who later changed their name to Love Letter. With Verse’s Quinn Murphy on vocals and founding Defeater members Jay Maas (guitar, backing vocals) and Andrew Reitz (drums), plus guitarist Matthew Spence and bassist Dave Alcan, Love Letter now deliver their first full-length, Everyone Wants Something Beautiful. The music is cut from that same impassioned, melodic-yet-still-heavy cloth that Verse and Defeater were cut from, and Quinn takes on sociopolitical and economic issues without ever mincing a single word. (Song titles like “Unhousing Projects,” “Meds and Taxes,” “Wellness Checks and Dead Friends,” and “Late Stage Harm Reduction” may clue you in to some of the album’s topics.) Quinn’s socially-aware, bluntly honest lyricism was a big part of what made Verse so great in the first place, and this new album has that same fire.

Storefront Church – Ink & Oil
self-released

A collection of vivid, haunted orchestral pop from Lukas Frank

As Lukas Frank tells it, his second album as Storefront Church was inspired by the mysterious disappearance of his great uncle Roger from a prison in 1993. The songwriter says he first heard the news at five years old and began having recurring nightmares about it, which eventually subsided until it all came pouring back to him in 2020 during the pandemic. The strangeness of the experience and these nightmares swirl through the orchestral majesty of Ink & Oil. The Phoebe Bridgers and DIIV collaborator worked with co-arranger Travis Warner and a full live orchestra, who flesh out the arrangements with grandeur; some lean towards the theatrics of a musical (“Coal,” “Manhattan Project”), others the more mellow chamber-pop stylings of Rufus Wainwright (“King of the Lobby,” “Divine Distraction”). Taken as a whole, Ink & Oil has the vivid, cinematic scope of a good (and eerie) story, well told. [Amanda Hatfield]

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Read Indie Basement for more new album reviews, including Loma, Redd Kross, Guided By Voices, The Folk Implosion, Cornelius, and Lame Drivers.

Looking for more recent releases? Browse the Notable Releases archive or scroll down for previous weeks.

Looking for a podcast to listen to? Check out our new episode with Saosin.

Pick up the BrooklynVegan x Alexisonfire special edition 80-page magazine, which tells the career-spanning story of Alexisonfire and comes on its own or paired with our new exclusive AOF box set and/or individual reissues, in the BV shop. Also pick up the new Glassjaw box set & book, created in part with BrooklynVegan.

And, if you haven’t already, subscribe to the new BrooklynVegan digital magazine for free! Our first three editions are out now, with cover stars Jessica Pratt, Mannequin Pussy and Paramore.