June is a wrap, Fourth of July Weekend is upon us, and there’s plenty of great music to talk about before the long weekend. I highlight seven new albums below, and Bill talks about Sweeping Promises, Grian Chatten (Fontaines DC), bdrmm, Cornelius, The Baseball Project, and Icebeing in Indie Basement.

On top of that, this week’s honorable mentions include Veeze, Curren$y & Harry Fraud, Lucinda Williams, Brigid Mae Power, Divide and Dissolve, Static Abyss (Autopsy), Big Jade, The Pink Stones, Angelo De Augustine, JD Pinkus (Butthole Surfers) & Tall Tall Trees, Ninho, Rylo Rodriguez, Kota the Friend, Terrace Martin, tobi lou & FARADA, Spine, The Japanese House, Body of Light, The Body, Hayden Pedigo, Power of Fear, Ostraca, Loveboat Luciano, East of the Wall, De La Ghetto, Big Garden, Raven, John Caroll Kirby, Olivia Dean, Jim Bob, Suzie True, Revenge Beast, the Pool Kids/Pool split, the Sunstroke/Bent Blue split, the Adrienne EP, The Father EP, the Alex Nicol EP, The late Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts’ compilation of jazz recordings, and The Sound box set with “lost” demos.

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

Loma Prieta – Last
Deathwish

Whatever wave of screamo we’re in, Loma Prieta have always been there. Having formed in 2005, Loma Prieta and some of the members’ past bands caught the tail end of the classic screamo era, they were there in the late 2000s/early 2010s alongside bands like Touché Amoré and Pianos Become the Teeth who would help re-popularize screamo for a new generation, and they’ve been right there alongside the new crop of DIY bands who work tirelessly to keep this music alive. At the moment, guitarist/vocalist Sean Leary is pulling double duty as a member of both Loma Prieta and back-in-action screamo pioneers Jeromes Dream, whose excellent new album he took part in. Even if you’ve gone this long without checking out one of Loma Prieta’s fantastic records, you’ve probably indirectly felt their influence, and every new thing they put out seems to be at least as good as the last. Their new LP Last is their first full-length in eight years, and it picks up right where they left off. It was recorded with longtime collaborator Jack Shirley (who also frequently works with Deafheaven, Jeff Rosenstock, and tons of others), and it sounds as raw, spacious, and apocalyptic as Loma Prieta always have. This is not a band whose music ever follows any trends, and Last sounds like the record Loma Prieta would make in any given year, whether the hype machine was currently paying attention to screamo or not. The music itself perfectly mirrors the album artwork, a grainy, black-and-white photo of a flower. Underneath Last‘s scratchy surface, there’s nothing but passion and ugly beauty.

—

Joanna Sternberg – I’ve Got Me
Fat Possum

NYC singer/songwriter Joanna Sternberg had already made fans of the likes of Phoebe Bridgers, Conor Oberst, and Jeff Tweedy off the strength of their 2019 album Then I Try Some More, and they signed to Fat Possum for its followup, I’ve Got Me. Joanna played all the instruments themselves on the album, which marks their recorded debut as a string arranger, drummer, and electric guitarist, and they designed the cover art (as they’d also done in the past). It was produced by Chavez/Zwan guitarist Matt Sweeney. With Joanna’s close involvement in so many aspects of the album’s creation, it’s natural that it would sound like such an intensely personal document, and they go a step beyond in just how relatable they make their earnest, deeply felt messages. They went to school for jazz and spent years gigging in the jazz community, but the raw, intimate songs on I’ve Got Me are in the orbit of anti-folk, freak folk, and bedroom pop. Narrated in Joanna’s unique voice, these are songs that feel like they could have come out at any point in the past few decades, that stand apart from passing trends, which was very intentional. “That is what I want to do,” Joanna said in an interview with Sam Sodomsky for Pitchfork. “I want anyone to be able to connect with the songs, regardless of age or anything.” [Amanda Hatfield]

—

Lil Uzi Vert – Pink Tape
Generation Now/Atlantic

Lil Uzi Vert is back with their first proper album in over three years, and first since his Jersey club-inspired single “Just Wanna Rock” (co-produced by rising Jersey club producer MCVertt) took over the world. “Just Wanna Rock” isn’t a rock song, but Uzi does want to rock. The album has songs with metal bands Bring Me the Horizon and Babymetal, which kinda just sound like Bring Me the Horizon and Babymetal songs, and a cover of System Of A Down’s “Chop Suey!” called “CS.” The 26-song, 87-minute album also includes “Just Wanna Rock,” and plenty of other songs that stick to Uzi’s usual ragey, ravey vibes. Other appearances come from Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott, and Don Toliver, and it features some prominent samples/interpolations, including Eiffel 65’s “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” on the Nicki Minaj-featuring “Endless Fashion” and Chief Keef’s “Hate Being Sober” on “Mama, I’m Sorry.”

—

Natanael Cano – Nata Montana
Warner Music Latina/Rancho Humilde

As we speak, a whole lot of people are talking about Peso Pluma and his new album Génesis that came out last week. Peso Pluma has been helping to popularize Mexican music for a new generation of global listeners with his brand of corridos tumbados, a hip hop-friendly version of the centuries-old corridos that Natanael Cano is frequently credited with pioneering. Over three years before Bad Bunny helped Grupo Frontera score a crossover norteño hit with “un x100to,” he hopped on a remix of Natanael’s “Soy El Diablo.” Natanael appears on Génesis, and just one week later he releases his own new album, with the Scarface-referencing title (and artwork) of Nata Montana. Peso Pluma returns the favor by appearing on two of its songs.

It’s an injustice to the music on this album to center the narrative on its connection to Peso Pluma, but the timing couldn’t be better for Natanael to make his full-length return. Its lead singles–“AMG” (ft. Peso Pluma & Gabito Ballesteros), “Pacas De Billetes,” and “Como Es Arriba Es Abajo” (ft. Dan Sanchez)–are already among the most addictive recent singles in Latin music, and the rest of this album follows suit. While last year’s NataKong embraced trap beats, Nata Montana finds Natanael returning to timeless traditional, acoustic instrumentation. He balances the instrumentation out with forceful, urbano-style vocals and lyrics and the result is an album that defies genres and generations. Lyrical references to Mercedes, Bugattis, Dracos, and private jets sit atop fiery acoustic guitars, making for songs that subvert traditions even while Natanael adheres to them. He and his collaborators are in the process of making history, but even without any of the context, Nata Montana succeeds just because the songs are an undeniable blast to listen to.

—

Chester Watson – fish don’t climb trees
POW Recordings

Experimental rapper Chester Watson is back with a followup to 2020’s great A Japanese Horror Film, and this time the inspiration comes from the popular quote that’s apparently misattributed to Albert Einstein: “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” “As a Black person, we’re always judged on criteria that are literally meaningless,” Chester says. He uses the “fish don’t climb trees” quote as a launching point, and then dives into poetic, metaphorical verse over a backdrop that favors psychedelia and slowed-down jazz. By the end of the record, you’re fully immersed in an intimate, abstract world that’s uniquely Chester Watson’s own.

—

The Alchemist – Flying High
ALC

The Alchemist is back with a new short-but-sweet EP, Flying High, with four new guest-filled songs and then instrumental versions of each track. He recruits Earl Sweatshirt and billy woods for “RIP Tracy,” T.F. and Boldy James for “Trouble Man,” MIKE and Sideshow for “Bless,” and Larry June and Jay Worthy for “Midnight Oil.” When it comes to underground rap, Alchemist’s curation is as good as it gets, and his dusty post-boom bap instrumentals are always the perfect backdrop for rappers like these to go off.

—

Tainy – Data
NEON16

Even if you don’t know Puerto Rican producer Tainy by name, there’s a very good chance you’ve heard his work. Since beginning his career 20 years ago, he’s worked with countless reggaeton pioneers, and in more recent years, he co-produced Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin’s “I Like It,” has been behind plenty of Bad Bunny’s biggest hits, and has gone on to work with artists ranging from Selena Gomez to Kali Uchis to Rosalía. He’s put out some of his own singles over the years, and an EP in 2020, but he’s never released his own album until now, with Data. The album brings together a wide variety of artists Tainy’s worked with over the years (and some he hasn’t), ranging from reggaeton pioneers (Daddy Yankee, Wisin y Yandel, Jowell y Randy, Arcángel, Chencho Corleone, Zion) to today’s leading Latin rappers and reggaetoneros (Bad Bunny, Rauw Alejandro, Sech, Feid, Myke Towers, Ozuna, Jhayco) to rising/indie acts (Young Miko, The Marias, Mora, Omar Courtz) to trailblazing electronic musicians (Skrillex, Four Tet, Arca). The list of guests is genuinely epic, and there’s a variety of different styles of music on this album too, including reggaeton, trap, synthpop, art pop, rave, and fusions of two or more of the above. It plays out more like a playlist or mixtape than an album, which isn’t a bad thing. Data serves as a showcase of how important Tainy has been to the last two decades of music, and it gives us 19 instantly-likable songs in the process.

—

Read Indie Basement for more new album reviews, including Sweeping Promises, Grian Chatten (Fontaines DC), bdrmm, Cornelius, The Baseball Project, and Icebeing.

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 author Chris Payne on his new emo book.