Today’s New Albums: The Mountain Goats, Cass McCombs, Watkins Family Hour & More
Silversun Pickups, Midnight.Blue and a Courtney Barnett-curated benefit also have new releases out today.
By Team JamBase Aug 19, 2022 • 6:15 am PDT
Each week Release Day Picks profiles new LPs and EPs Team JamBase will be checking out on release day Friday. This week we highlight new albums by The Mountain Goats, Cass McCombs, Watkins Family Hour, Silversun Pickups, Midnight.Blue and a Courtney Barnett-curated benefit compilation. Read on for more insight into the records we have all queued up to spin.
The Mountain Goats – Bleed Out
The Mountain Goats put out their latest studio album, Bleed Out, today through Merge Records. The album is the fifth studio LP released in the past three years by the prolific project helmed by John Darnielle. The follow-up to 2021’s Dark In Here was produced by Bully‘s Alicia Bognanno. In late 2020, Darnielle found himself stuck at home in North Carolina, passing time by watching pulpy action movies. Those films informed what became the 12 songs making up Bleed Out. Darnielle and his bandmates — bassist Peter Hughes, drummer Jon Wurster and multi-instrumentalist Matt Douglas — recorded Bleed Out over one week of sessions held at Betty’s in Chapel Hill (see
“So, heads up. I got this idea to write a bunch of songs where they were all uptempo mini-action movies. Plots, characters, heists, hostages, questionable capers, getaway cars, all that stuff. Gas pedal glued to the floor. Eventually, as you might guess I wanted at least one song where the tempo relaxed a little and that’s the title track but otherwise buckle up. We hid out in the woods in Chapel Hill and made this album with nobody knowing about it. Proper secret-soldier style. It has been pretty hard keeping this under our hats, we are really proud of what we got here. Alicia Bognanno produced and played with us, and the great Shani Gandhi mixed.”
Cass McCombs – Heartmind
Singer-songwriter Cass McCombs released his 10th studio album, Heartmind, today through ANTI- Records. The the eight-song follow-up to 2019’s Tip Of The Sphere was recorded in Brooklyn and Burbank, California with co-producers Buddy Ross, Ariel Rechtshaid and Shahzad Ismaily (who also played bass). Additional contributions came from Wynonna Judd, Judd’s husband, Cactus Moser, as well as Joe Russo, Kassa Overall, Danielle Haim, The Chapin Sisters, Frank LoCrasto, Charlie Burnham and Nestor Gomez.
“I made this album as a way to handle the loss of some close friends,” McCombs stated. “Their memories guided me throughout and hopefully they live through the music. Strange to realize, it wasn’t them who are lost, it was me.”
Watkins Family Hour – Vol. II
Watkins Family Hour released their new album Vol. II today. The follow-up to 2020’s Brother Sister sees Sean Watkins and Sara Watkins — who formed two-thirds of the Grammy-wining group Nickel Creek — reflecting on their time where the Watkins Family Hour show began 20 years ago, at Los Angeles’ famed club Largo. The siblings tapped several longtime friends of the show to contribute including Fiona Apple, Jon Brion, Jackson Browne, Madison Cunningham, Lucius, Gaby Moreno, Benmont Tench, Willie Watson and more. Sean and Sara took to another historic L.A. locale to record Vol. II, East West Studio, where they worked with producers David Boucher and Tyler Chester. Watkins Family Hour shared a stellar cover of Tune-Yards’ “Hypnotized” to begin the album rollout and also released “(Remember Me) I’m the One Who Loves You” featuring Fiona Apple and containing contributions from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench as well as pedal steel ace Greg Leisz.
“We wanted to capture what we’ve done over the years,” the duo noted, “but also capture the process that is continually at work, which is this intermingling of the musical community here in Los Angeles that surrounds Largo.”
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Silversun Pickups – Physical Thrills
“This record is alive. It sits somewhere in between a collection of songs and an imaginary friend. A friend that from March of 2020 to April of 2021 would not only introduce itself to me but keep me company through that time of intense isolation. A friend that would remind me that in this instance, the whole world was feeling the same way as well. A comforting, playful, sometimes frightened, often delighted friend. A friend that was finally introduced to Butch Vig, once we got vaccinated, and blew through his studio like a tornado made of cotton candy, leaving little pieces of residue everywhere. But most importantly, this friend REALLY doesn’t give a fuck. I know. That sounds brash. I just mean it’s a thing that is truly free. And now, this little living head space no longer visits me. I visit it through this album. I hope you like it. My friend wouldn’t care. Little rascal …
“I would sneak off and start writing these songs, and I didn’t know what they’re for because I didn’t really think about Silversun on any level. I was just doing it to keep myself calm and keep myself company. All of our records are designed for people who want to listen to them all the way through and hopefully stick around with it. After a while, maybe you’ll catch on to the little things—not just the [pattern of] the dream songs, but maybe you’ll hear that, and you’ll hear a melody from the first song in the last song. There are crossover things happening.”
Midnight.Blue – Breathe
The all-star collective Midnight.Blue released their debut studio album, Breathe, on Thursday via the newly formed label, Perception Records. Midnight.Blue consists of former Motet vocalist Lyle Divinsky, Lettuce drummer Adam Deitch, Lettuce trumpeter Eric “Benny” Bloom, SunSquabi bassist Josh Fairman, Recess keyboardist Ian Gilley and guitarist Jake “Jay.Greens” Leventhal as well as vocalists Halle Tomlinson and G. Finesse. Fairman and Jay.Greens co-produced the 10-track effort, which displays a diverse palette of sounds and influences including elements of funk, R&B and hip-hop. The Denver-based ensemble makes its live debut with a hometown headlining set at The Bluebird on September 1.
Various Artists – Here And There: B-Sides, Live Tracks + Demos
The Courtney Barnett curated Here And There: B-Sides, Live Tracks + Demos is out today. The compilation features a selection of recordings from artists on Courtney’s Hear And There traveling festival which is currently touring. Proceeds from the album benefit the National Network of Abortion Funds and Advocates for Youth.
The record features live cuts from Sleater-Kinney (“Complex Female Characters”), Bedouine (“Wasn’t Me”) and Faye Webster (“Come To Atlanta”). Demos on Here and There include The Beths’ “Keep The Distance,” Julia Jacklin’s “Vegas Wedding” and more. Courtney contributed a demo of her Things Take Time, Take Time track, “If I Don’t Hear From You Tonight.”
https://milkrecordsprojects.bandcamp.com/album/here-and-there-b-sides-live-tracks-demosAdvertisement
Compiled by Scott Bernstein, Nate Todd and Andy Kahn.
