New Music Reviews (7/27)

Each week KEXP's Music Director Don Yates shares brief insights on new and upcoming releases. See what's coming up this week below, including reviews for new releases from Santigold, Boy Azooga, Shy Boys, and more.

Santigold – I Don’t Want: The Gold Fire Sessions (Downtown) 
The latest release from this LA-via-Brooklyn artist is a breezy, surprise-release mixtape pairing a variety of dancehall, reggaeton, and other Afro-Caribbean grooves with her sunny vocals and sharp lyrics blending the personal and the political. - DY

Boy Azooga – 1, 2 Kung Fu! (Heavenly) 
The debut album from this Welsh band led by Davey Newington is a diverse, sharply crafted set ranging from breezy psych-pop and moody Brit-pop to driving post-punk and propulsive, discofied electro-pop. - DY

Shy Boys – Bell House (Polyvinyl) 
This Kansas City band’s second album is a strong set of jangly indie-pop combining glowing Beach Boys harmonies and sparkling pop melodies with smartly crafted lyrics reflecting the ups and downs of domesticity. - DY

Ross From Friends – Family Portrait (Brainfeeder) 
The debut full-length from this British producer (aka Felix Weatherall) is a strong set of house, techno, and related styles, featuring an intricately detailed sound with hazy, propulsive beats, shimmering synths, occasional sax, looped vocal samples and emotive melodies. - DY

Thin Lips – Chosen Family (Lame-O) 
The second album from this Philadelphia band is a well-crafted set of punkish indie-pop combining buzzing guitars and punchy rhythms with Chrissy Tashjian’s sharp lyrics of identity and community.

The Purrs – Destroy The Sun (Swoon) 
This Seattle band’s latest album is a fine set of driving psych-rock inflected with surf, post-punk and other styles. - DY

Desert Mountain Tribe – Om Parvat Mystery (Metropolis) 
This London-based trio’s second album is a fine set of hypnotic psych-rock with fuzzy guitars, driving rhythms, and soaring song hooks.

Underworld & Iggy Pop – Teatime Dub Encounters EP (Caroline) 
The British electronic duo collaborated with the Michigan-bred rock legend for this four-song EP pairing a variety of mostly propulsive electronic soundscapes with Iggy’s spoken-word monologues. - DY

Ovlov – Tru (Exploding In Sound) 
This Newtown, Connecticut band’s second regular studio album is a potent set of ‘90s-steeped indie-rock reminiscent at times of Dinosaur Jr. and Built To Spill, with a squalling, feedback-drenched sound featuring fuzzy guitars, muscular rhythms, melancholy lyrics and wistful melodies. - DY

Tony Molina – Kill The Lights (Slumberland) 
This Bay Area artist’s latest album is a well-crafted set of ‘60s-steeped psych-pop and folk-rock combining jangly electric and acoustic guitars and occasional keyboards with warm campfire harmonies, mostly melancholy lyrics, and sparkling pop hooks. - DY

Deaf Wish – Lithium Zion (Sub Pop) 
This Melbourne, Australia band’s fifth album is a potent set of noisy post-punk with churning guitars, driving rhythms and alternating lead vocals from all four band members (who also share in the songwriting). - DY

Lucero – Among The Ghosts (Liberty & Lament/Thirty Tigers) 
This veteran Memphis band’s ninth studio album is a well-crafted set of brooding roots-rock that finds the band returning to a more stripped-down rock band sound of ringing guitars and warm keyboards rather than the more varied and intricate sounds of their past few releases. - DY

Miss Red - K.O. (Pressure) 
The official debut full-length album from Miss Red (aka Israeli-born vocalist Sharon Stern) is an adventurous set of futuristic dancehall jams, produced entirely by her close collaborator Kevin Martin aka The Bug. Reminiscent of M.I.A. and Jahcozzi, K.O. is an expansive exploration of digital dancehall, propelled both by Miss Red's confident dexterous flow and The Bug's thick lumbering riddims. - AR

Garcia Peoples – Cosmic Cash (Beyond Beyond Is Beyond) 
This New Jersey trio’s debut album is a promising set of buoyant psych-rock jams with expansive, shape-shifting arrangements featuring jangly guitars, driving rhythms and sunny pop hooks. - DY

swim good now - Daylight (Secret Songs) 
Long championed by Ryan Hemsworth through his Secret Songs label/series, Canadian producer swim good now unveils his long-awaited debut album and it's a nice set of emotive, intimate, dreamy, sad/pretty electronic-pop featuring a stacked roster of fellow heart-of-sleeve vocalists and musicians such as Ryan Hemsworth, Half Waif, S. Carey, Teen Daze, and Japanese Wallpaper. - AR

Ghost Pains – Hello Oblivion (self-released) 
The second album from this Seattle band featuring members of Slender Means and Black Whales is a potent blend of driving post-punk and fiery garage-rock. - DY

Breaks and Swells – We Will Not Despair (837418) 
This Seattle band’s debut album is a promising set of smartly-crafted soul with a warm, breezy sound combining horns, guitars, keyboards and funky rhythms with Marquetta Miller’s supple vocals. - DY

Pram – Across The Meridian (Domino) 
This veteran British band’s first album in 11 years is an adventurous set of eerie, mostly instrumental dream-pop inflected with cinematic psych-pop, moody jazz, and other styles. - DY

The Sufis - After Hours (Burger) 
The third album from this Nashville-based duo comprised of Calvin Laporte and Evan Mith is a solid set of woozy psych-pop and fuzzy garage-pop indebted to the iconic sounds of the 1960s and the duo's shared love of the Elephant 6 Collective. - AR

Cornelia Murr - Lake Tear of the Clouds (Autumn Tone) 
Produced by My Morning Jacket's Jim James, the debut album from this Los Angeles singer-songwriter is a promising set of folk-tinged dream-pop with a light touch of psychedelic soul that spotlights her earthy vocals over warm, sepia-toned backdrops. - AR

Bluestaeb - Everything Is Always A Process (Jakarta) 
Now splitting time between Berlin and Paris, German beat producer Leon Giseke (aka Bluestaeb) offers up his third solo album of smooth, warm, jazzy beats that fuse hip-hop, jazz, R&B, soul, funk, and boogie in masterful fashion. Harleighblu, Noah Slee, MAÏA, Ash Shakur, and Pete Flux make guest vocal appearances. - AR