New Music Monday: Papa Roach, The Lone Bellow, Napalm Death, 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!

So I walk back in after a month off from this column and what do I see? A new Papa Roach album as the biggest release of the week. Not a great way to start off the new year. Last week would have been better, with new Belle and Sebastian, Marilyn Manson, Ryan Bingham, Sleater Kinney, Hanni El Khatib, The Decemberists all coming to light last week. But no, we’re stuck with the new Papa Roach. It’s the band’s 9th record and is entitled F.E.A.R. (Face Everyting and Rise). Whatever.

The Mule Abides

The righteous dudes from jammy festy fave Govt Mule are celebrating their 20th anniversary by cleaning out their archives. Lucky for us that means the first official release of their Sco-Mule collaborations from 1999 with guitarist John Scofield.

In somewhat related news – new masterpiece from Punch Brothers this week.

Metal Mania

New fucking Napalm Death – Apex Predator – Easy Prey, their fifteenth slab of sounds out this week. Awesome cover art. Quoth this Revolver review the revord shows that Napalm Death “have gotten better with age… it’s urban noise rock / grind simply destroys”. Should say “still destroys” but you get the point.

Old fart black metal pioneers Venom unveil their latest “perfect” album, From the Very Depths, as well. Haven’t heard anything from Venom in a few years, good to see them back.

More Bellowing

Brooklyn based trio The Lone Bellow endeared themselves to, well, just about every music fan in the world with their acclaimed self-titled debut in 2013 and the whole music listening world has been holding it’s breath waiting for the follow-up. It’s finally here and it’s glorious. Titled Then Came the Morning it’s onepart gospel, one part Americana and a slide guitar that could wrest a swoon from a statue of Stonewall Jackson, the record has all of the “larger than life flamboyance” NPR claims the Lone Bellow evokes. It’s lovely.

You know what else is lovely? The new Punch Brothers record, The Phosphorescent Blues. Let’s hear some more!

My Recommendation

“Retro pop Cambodian style” is how NPR describes The Deepest Lake, the latest little gem from Los Angeles based psyche-folk-a-delic Dengue Fever. Heard a few bits and pieces, have always loved their work, and can’t wait to hear the whole thing.