New Music Monday: Muse, Of Monsters and Men, Franz Ferdinand, and More!!!

Happy Monday music maniacs! Like new stuff? Great! You’ve come to the right place. Each week all sorts of audiolicious goodies are unleashed onto the masses and this is where they come to be judged. I’ll tell ya what’s good, what’s bad, and what’s a waste of your time. Thanks for stopping by!

The Big News!
Again, like two weeks ago, another meager week for new music with just a handful of releases. However, this week offers some of the most interesting and exciting new music of the year. For instance, the long awaited, highly anticipated new effort from the biggest band on the planet, Muse. It’s called Drones, is going to sell hundreds of thousands of copies, and has been called “easily their best album in a decade”, by Digital Spy.

From the North

Beneath the Skin, the sophomore effort from folksy Bjork-landers Of Monsters and Men crawls out of the wilderness this week. I gotta admit, I liked their debut, 2011’s My Head Is An Animal, but I didn’t really take it seriously. It seemed like some sort of Edward Sharpe / Mumford and Sons tag-a-long, which was fine with me, I just refused to spend a lot of time fucking with it. This new record is supposed to be different. Consequence of Sound says that though it is a “natural extension” of it’s predecessor, Beneath “coaxes sounds and lyricism that are a shade darker than the debut LP”.

Legendary Legends
English alt-rockers Franz Ferdinand have teamed up with legendary art rock outfit Sparks for a collaboration that is off the hook, the chain, and whatever else from which it could possibly be severed. Or whatever. I’m biased here: Sparks is one of my favorite bands of all time so I’m bound to love this record. The Guardian claims that this self-titled record contains songs that are “among the best pop songs Franz Ferdinand have written in years”, which really excites me because when Franz Ferdinand is on they’re great. That review has a great explanation of who/what Sparks is for the uninitiated, as well, so it’s worth a read. I’m also posting some Sparks stuff after the video for those who’ve never heard them.

British Bangers
Upstart English guys who really look and sound like the next sorta big thing, Young Guns, unveil their third full-length, Ones and Zeroes. Quoth Kill Your Stereo: “It’s not too often that a band rises to the challenge of continuing to produce tracks arrogant enough to present themselves as anthemic and emotional enough to ring true. Young Guns have done it with flying colors.”

RIP
Long-time Midwest guitar legend Brian McGuire, who helped found The Klusterfux and anchored the legendary Backlash through the band’s most creative period, died last week from cancer.

Folk singer Jean Ritchie died at the age of 92.

Another folk legend, ex-Weaver Ronnie Gilbert, passed away at the age of 88.

And Nick Marsh, of goth rock legends Flesh for Lulu, made a final bow this week at the age of 53.

My Recommendation
So NYC noise-a-geddon legends Sightings broke up. I… did not know that. Their final record, Amusers and Puzzlers, comes out this week. Rough Trade calls it “the schizophrenic culmination of their brand of damaged rock.” I will attend that funeral.

Next Week
Tune in next week, same new music time, same new music channel for new new stuff from James Taylor, Neil Young, Amos Lee, and Adam Lambert!!