These are the releases that were overlooked, until now.
Car Seat Headrest — 'Teens of Denial'
It's been a long time since indie rock sounded as confident as it does on Teens of Denial, the 10th album from Car Seat Headrest but only their second since signing to Matador Records and graduating from a solo act to a full band in 2015. Frontman Will Toledo uses his expanded sound to fulfill the promise of his earlier, more lo-fi material, and the result is a powerful record built on simmering Pixies-style guitar tension and explosive finales. When he's not conjuring up energetic hooks to match the thrillingly noisy rock, Toledo alternately yelps and monologues about the unromantic side of drug-fueled hedonism in lyrics as witty as they are emotionally impactful.
James Vincent McMorrow — 'We Move'
We Move completes James Vincent McMorrow's transition from acoustic folk to textural R&B. The Irish songwriter sounds so assured in his new genre, it's a wonder he was ever doing anything else, particularly given his talent for delicate falsetto crooning and conjuring rich atmosphere from minimalist rhythms and vocal effects. The songs are intimate, even at their most upbeat and crowd-pleasing, reflecting the mental issues and loneliness of constant travel that inspired McMorrow's songwriting this time around, particularly in the most vulnerable of tracks like the gorgeous, album-ending ballad "Lost Angles."
