Stephen Malkmus

Stephen Malkmus, “Discretion Grove”

Do you detect a little echo of “Wounded Kite” there in the aborted first bit of song on this track? No? Just me?

The Suicide Machines, “Our Time”

No, we’re leaving the “Days Since Last Listless, Anonymous Third Wave Song” sign alone on this one. There’s nothing listless about this! The Suicide Machines are very much a chip off the Operation Ivy block, and the energy here carries them plenty far.

WE’RE BACK AT IT! HIT IT, PLEXASAURUS REX!

Baroness, “Rays on Pinion”

This is how the first Baroness album opens up. While they’re usually grouped with metal, and in particular often brought up in the same breath as Mastodon, they’re not really the same thing. Yeah, there is some serious riffage in here, but the separation between this and, say, some of noise rock or post-punk isn’t exactly clear. Music categorizing is a sloppy thing, y’all. Anyway, this album is good! Listen to it!