For us, 2011 was another year of taking in as much as we could and sharing the best with you. Next year, however, will be a homecoming of sorts, a return to rock-'n'-roll roots. We'll soon be able to share the projects that we have in store — across multiple mediums — but for now, dig into this rock-focused list of must-own albums.

And for more, revisit (or simply visit) our lists from 2010 and 2009:

100 Unheralded Albums from 2010
50 Unheralded Albums from 2009

Steven Drozd: The Heart Is A Drum Machine (The Score) (Twinkle Cash Co., 1/18/11)

Steven Drozd: "Born"

A multi-instrumentalist and the third-most-tenured member of The Flaming Lips, Steven Drozd marked his first official solo release early this year with the nearly instrumental accompaniment to the documentary The Heart is a Drum Machine.

The music shares a lot of characteristics with the Flaming Lips of the past dozen years – synthesized grooves, big rock beats, fuzz bass, airy keyboards, and different instrumental flourishes weaving in and out. But listeners are unlikely to confuse the two, and the score succeeds as a standalone album as well as a film accompaniment.

…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead: Tao of the Dead (Richter Scale Records / Superball Music, 2/8/11)

…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead: "Weight of the Sun"

There has been no shortage of grand themes and allegories in the canon of Austin post-punk quintet …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. The band’s newest album, however, better matches its ambitious themes with its music, presenting an epic pair of pieces for Tao of the Dead.

The album recalls progressive albums of yore, from the likes of Rush and King Crimson, but channels them into easily digested movements. Stretches of heavy distortion and drum thrashing will appeal to the more metal-minded Trail of Dead fans, but there’s also plenty of hook-laden, radio-ready alternative rock.

Wires Under Tension: Light Science (Western Vinyl, 2/8/11)

Wires Under Tension: "Electricity Turns Them On"

Light Science is the exciting debut from Wires Under Tension, a duo comprised of violinist/multi-instrumentalist Christopher Tignor and drummer Theo Metz. With help from a few friends, including Jared Bell of Lymbyc Systym, the two combine live performance with electronic manipulation, sounding something like a progressive Dirty Three with horns, hip-hop beats, and post-rock guitar swells.

This seven-track release is a dense, fluid collection that retains consistency thanks to Metz’s steady rhythms. Electro-mechanical piano, clavinet, and synthesizers mesh with loops and samples to round out an impressive first release.

Pitom: Blasphemy and Other Serious Crimes (Tzadik, 2/22/11)

Pitom: "Head in the Ground"

Combining heavy, fuzzy rock jams with Jewish melodies, Pitom is one of many projects from guitarist, bassist, and composer Yoshie Fruchter. Blasphemy and Other Serious Crimes, the quartet's second release on Tzadik, follows the same path as its predecessor, but it does so with a bit more cohesion and restraint.

Built from the ground up with distorted bass and violin, the band's music carries similarities to that of Skeletonbreath and Miasma & The Carousel of Headless Horses. Whether driving a song with an infectious melody, commingling with the violin in the high end, or simply taking over a track with raw ability, Fruchter knows when to go full throttle (the punk power of "An Epic Encounter") or pull back (the dark slow jam of "A Resentful Repentance").

The Psychic Paramount: II (No Quarter, 2/22/11)

The Psychic Paramount: "RW"

Though relatively silent for the past six years, New York noise-rock trio The Psychic Paramount returned in February to release its first full-length since 2005. Effected guitar loops, devastating low-end grooves, and bashing rhythms again form the core of the band's sound, but II is a direct yet dynamic rock explosion.

Between the guitar, the cymbals, and the effects, the mid-range gets a constant workout. Those who are turned off by this kind of music may find it to be an exercise in patience, but the lengthier durations are a testament to the trio's skills at climax and denouement.

DeVotchKa: 100 Lovers (Anti-, 3/1/11)

DeVotchKa: "100 Other Lovers"

Following the fame from its Oscar-winning soundtrack for Little Miss Sunshine in 2006, Denver multi-instrumental quartet DeVotchKa has playfully tinkered with its sweeping, emotive sound. Though it already tossed together elements of folk, rock, Mexican, and Gypsy music, it remained united by the sullen croons and songwriting of frontman Nick Urata.

That unifying factor remains, but its newest album, 100 Lovers – its second post-Sunshine full-length – continues to expand the band’s scope. The material adds new and often subtle flavors to DeVotchKa’s repertoire. Uninitiated listeners might hear more of the same, but 100 Lovers is perfect for content fans – moving in new directions without a radical departure.

Stateless: Matilda (Ninja Tune, 3/1/11)

Stateless: "Ariel"

Matilda, Stateless' second full-length, showcases the British electro-rock group's continued maturity. Lead singer Chris James hits an impressive range of notes, from reverb-cloaked backing croons to soulful leads, atop an amalgamated mix of styles, sounds, and beats.

With contributions from The Balanescu Quartet, DJ Shadow, and Shara Worden (of My Brightest Diamond), Matilda is stylistically inventive, with familiar worldly touchstones reworked into new contexts.

Grails: Deep Politics (Temporary Residence, 3/8/11)

Grails: "I Led Three Lives"

With cinematic soundscapes, Westernized Indian melodies, film-noir mystique, 1960s psychedelia, and crushing heaviness, Grails is an instrumental rarity. The Portland band's newest offering, Deep Politics, is an engaging and epic mix of acoustic intonations, indigenous sounds and melodies, spaghetti-western motifs, somber piano balladry, and more doom-filled, Eastern-infused stylistic transcendence.

And thanks in part to arrangements by Timba Harris, the mighty violinist from unparalleled genre annihilators Estradasphere and Secret Chiefs 3, Deep Politics vies to be Grails’ best album yet.

Parts & Labor: Constant Future (Jagjaguwar, 3/8/11)

Parts & Labor: "Constant Future"

After establishing itself early last decade as an interesting new name in noise rock, Parts & Labor delivered a flurry of releases over the span of just a few years. Since then, the band has scaled back to a trio built around the fuzzed guitar, bass, keyboard hooks, and tight rock rhythms.

Featuring some of the band's sturdiest songs yet, Constant Future is direct, potent, and catchy. Behind Dan Friel and BJ Warshaw's echoing, harmonized vocals are dirty, thick grooves that power the overlaid electronic freak-outs.

Adebisi Shank: This is the Second Album from a Band Called Adebisi Shank (Sargent House, 3/15/11)

Adebisi Shank: "Micro Machines"

Released to European acclaim in 2010, the aptly titled second album from Irish electro/math rockers Adebisi Shank achieved North American release this year thanks to the peerless Sargent House.

The management company / record label describes the trio as a blend of Fang Island’s shredding riffs with Battles’ electronic quirkiness and rhythmic playfulness. That description isn’t off the mark, but readers won’t get a sense of the band’s real abilities until they hear its hyper-melodic, polyrhythmic, and — most importantly — jubilant songs in full.

Second Album delivers a maelstrom of zany electronics, unusual distortions, and triumphant, rapidly ascending scales mixed with vintage synths, marimba, horns, and other accoutrements. This is all packaged between and around gloriously catchy and powerful rock riffs, resulting in a manic and buoyant sophomore effort.

Mister Heavenly: Out of Love (Sub Pop)

Mister Heavenly: "Bronx Sniper"

In music, unlike the NBA, it’s perfectly acceptable for a hometown hero to enlist his buddies for a maddeningly dominant triumvirate. Formed in 2010 with far less pageantry than the would-be "big three" of the Miami Heat, Mister Heavenly comprises Nick Thorburn (Islands, The Unicorns), Ryan Kattner (Man Man), and Joe Plummer (Modest Mouse, The Shins).

The first 25 seconds of the trio’s debut album, Out of Love, feints left with a strummed guitar and brittle vocals — territory where Thorburn has made his name — and then cracks wide open with pure rock-'n'-roll swagger. With the two songwriters, Thorburn and Kattner, carrying on an exchange of verses and riffs, one expects a certain amount of fragmentation. Instead, the dual vocalists complement each other in surprising ways — a result likely due to the rather unlikely influence of doo-wop.

An ear for nostalgia and a strict set of ground rules keeps Out of Love from developing a split personality. Of course, it’s not doo-wop; it’s “doom-wop,” according to the band. Thorburn can sing a mean hook, and sticky melodies seem to come effortlessly, but it’s Kattner (known for his guttural vocals and manic, face-painted antics) and Plummer (a versatile drummer) who bring the edge and keep things unpredictable.

- Text by Kyle Gilkeson.

NewVillager: s/t (IAMSOUND)

NewVillager: "Lighthouse"

As a captivating yet mystifying merger of music, art, and performance, NewVillager is an otherworldly project revolving around an elaborate mythology and still-unfolding allegories, denoting three colors — red, green, and blue — as past, present, and future, respectively, while offering black and white as catabolic and anabolic forces.

With these as background, the project’s principals — Ben Bromley and Ross Simonini — use a large cast of contributors to depict different aspects of its creation myth via songs, videos, and installation art. One such video, for the song “Lighthouse,” features ornately costumed crimson- and sapphire-hued characters and draws inspiration from Papua New Guinean tribal aesthetics.

On the group’s debut album, each song focuses on one of the ten aspects of its mythology’s transformations. With rich, multi-layered results, the music intertwines reverberated indie-rock guitars with skittering hi-hat beats, synth grooves, and Beck-style falsettos with baritone weirdness and sing-along refrains.

- Text by Katie Fanuko. Read the full story in Chromatic, available September 20.

All Pigs Must Die: God is War (Southern Lord)

All Pigs Must Die: "Pulverization"

As another new addition to the ever-growing sub-genre of metallic hardcore, All Pigs Must Die carries a set of credentials that most upstarts do not, counting vocalist Kevin Baker (The Hope Conspiracy), drummer Ben Koller (Converge), and guitarist Adam Wentworth and bassist Matt Woods (Bloodhorse) as veteran members.

God is War is the group's full-length debut, and following a five-track EP last year, it spreads the band's assailing sound over more than 30 minutes worth of material. Citing influences that range from the Cro-Mags and Discharge to Entombed and Celtic Frost — and recorded, naturally, by Kurt Ballou of Converge — All Pigs Must Die follows a path that's well tread but still powerful.

Contemporaries such as Trap Them (and much of the Deathwish Inc. roster) draw close comparisons, but God is War delivers an intensity that is matched by few, bringing more speed to the traditionally doomy Southern Lord roster.

MoHa!: Meiningslaust Oppgulp (Rune Grammofon)

MoHa!: "Brikjande Glime"

Mixing composition and improv in a sort of "free electro-rock" style, Norway's MoHa! has been one of the country's finest avant exports since the mid-2000s.

Just a duo, the two-piece overcomes its size limitations with a barrage of sounds, triggering effects from its drums and cymbals while running electronics alongside guitar and other noise. MoHa!'s live performance is quite the spectacle as well, as quickly flashing lights inundate the audience in synchronicity with the noise-rock insanity.

The duo has three full-length offerings through Rune Grammofon, but it also has an assortment of seven-inches and other hard-to-find releases. Thankfully, that small-run material is now released as this singles collection. The music is every bit as frantic and zany as one would expect — but without the visual accompaniment, you're not doing yourself justice. Pick this up and then head to YouTube.

Gojogo: 28,000 Days (Porto Franco)

Gojogo: "Firebird"

The third full-length from Bay Area classical-jazz quartet Gojogo is a compelling hybrid that blends electronic sampling with strings, upright bass, and Indian percussion. Each member brings a different background to the table, and in the case of percussionist Elias Reitz, who plays dholki and ghatam, learning how to communicate musically with Western-trained musicians was a difficulty in itself. The cross-pollination came with rich rewards, however, as 28,000 days (76 years, or the average lifespan) is masterfully unpredictable and textured.

The album begins with the string-based “Tale of Tales,” which, with its dramatic peaks, valleys, and multiple movements, would be at home in a cinematic setting. Indeed, Gojogo has worked on both film scores and dance performances in its 10-year career, but as the second half of the lead track indicates, the band has no hesitation in plugging in and getting loud.

The deep, plucked bass and the familiar clack of hand-struck drums drive the album through its various moods, creating a consistent backbone for conversational electric guitar and violin. Elements of drone and post-rock are present as well, lending an intensity and hard edge to a laid-back, melodic tour of genres and eras.

- Text by Kyle Gilkeson.

Honorable Mentions

Appetite: Scattered Smothered Covered (Crossbill)

Awol One & Nathaniel Motte: The Child Star (Fake Four)

Braid: Closer to Closed EP (Polyvinyl)

Jeff Bridges: s/t (Blue Note)

Case Studies: The World is Just a Shape to Fill the Night (Sacred Bones)

The Cool Kids: When Fish Ride Bicycles (CAKE  / Green Label Sound)

Matthew Friedberger: Cut it Out LP (Thrill Jockey)

GDFX: One Thing (Impose)

Gold Leaves: The Ornament (Hardly Art)

A Lull: Confetti Reprise EP (Mush)

Sølyst: s/t (Bureau B)

The War on Drugs: Slave Ambient (Secretly Canadian)

Yellow Ostrich: The Mistress (Barsuk)

Coalesce: "The Comedian in Question"

Kansas City, Missouri-based hardcore band Coalesce has spent the last decade in flux, with shifting lineups, hiatuses, and sporadic shows prior to a full-blown reunion that spawned a new seven-inch, a full-length, and an EP.

But just because its output and appearances have been limited, the band isn't out of touch. The scene has simply changed, and lead vocalist Sean Ingram wanted to rediscover the magic of its early days. Now, he finds himself on the ground floor of yet another nascent, independent movement: hardcourt bike polo.

Punk Living Through Non-Musical Means, or This Bike is a Weapon
by Sean Ingram of Coalesce

There was a point a few years ago that I was completely depressed by the world I had created around myself with electronics and new media. A fellow I knew had offed himself, and it was great sport to come up with the best pun skewering his illness in the comments. A band from Japan wrecked on the highway here in the States, seriously fucking some of them up, and the response was, "Van frip, Paypar prease," in a mocking and fairly racist manner. For whatever reason, this kind of assholery was getting to me, and I made a pact with myself that I would turn everything off, and do my best to disassociate myself from cynicism. A major task, I know. But there is only so much one can take of faceless assholes telling them what is and isn't cool. So it was done. I was out.

Without all of this extra noise, it was easier to focus on tasks at hand. Planting an orchard, building some old-school hemp rope-swings, not knowing what someone's done for the last week before catching up with them in person for a beer. Little things were more enjoyable. As my attitude started to ease up, and I started to take more time to enjoy the little things, I noticed some guys on some bikes with big hammers, knocking the shit out of a little ball. I spent the day by the sideline checking these guys out. It was like hockey, but on these Mad Max-looking bikes. But these guys clearly weren't jocks. These were guys that probably heard "Skate or die, fag!" yelled at them a million times in high school, just like me. So I gave it a shot.

I took an old bike and did it up like how I saw them do theirs. I put a bunch of MAD DECENT stickers on it, since that's all I had access to, and some sweet wheel covers I made out of sign material. I showed up wicked nervous, expecting everyone to be an ass, and then probably throw the bike away when I got home, or forget about it until the next garage sale, maybe.  But something happened. I had a blast. And I don't mean a blast like you have a blast as an adult. I had a blast like a kid does. The kind of blast you get when you went wicked high on a swing, or rode a grown-up roller coaster for the first time as a kid. It was kinda life-changing, actually.

So there I was, completely hooked on this sport called Hardcourt Bike Polo. And after a few months, I started to notice that this thing I was involved with was almost identical to the early punk days of Coalesce. Almost like being a part of this thing was proof that some of us are just predisposed to punk or DIY things, even when we aren't conscious of it or even looking for it. I have to be honest; I missed it. I think that the music scene we're involved in has just simply evolved. Shit is so easy now; it's like it's on autopilot, and it's easy to get numb. But also some things have been robbed of us, like staying at a fan's house is totally out of the question now, due to the amount of theft that runs rampant on band equipment — things like that. But in this Hardcourt world, shit is just starting, so it's got that same early taste and smell, and I want to share it with you.

Art: Just like a record cover or the back of their jacket, a player's wheel covers are their artistic statement — whether that's hometown pride, some icon or logo they came up for themselves, or even another band's art. I've seen everything from Black Flag to Converge covers. It's awesome to go to a tournament and browse the bikes just like you'd browse a distro table. Each one is hand-done and put together with love. It's an art show, and it rules.

Regional style: Just like Orange County to NYC in music, each region has its own unique style. You can tell where some people are from, just by their style. Just like in punk. I remember we could tell the difference between NJ kids and NYC kids by how they played their instruments. It's not any different in Hardcourt, and it's a total trip to see the styles mishmash and clash at tournaments. In fact, the first tournament I went to was in Lexington, and I could have sworn I was at the Detroit Fest, circa '97.

Tournaments are like early fests: From the way the venues are total shit and the way the food is set up for meat eaters and vegans, to the way that players all stay packed on the floors of other players' apartments. A good tournament is almost no different from a good early DIY festival; the band is just in the boom box. The closest current fest I can equate it to is the fest that happens in Gainesville, Florida. However, the fest in Florida is way more organized than any tournament I've been to. But they are both sponsored by PBR, so there's that.  Also, there's a very low spectator-to-player ratio — JUST like a good fest in the '90s.

There are Hipsters. A Hipster, in my opinion, is just a new term for a Poser. Every scene will have them, and when something new comes along, they are the first to go. The majority of people in this thing don't give a shit about their appearence outside of good face protection and no missing teeth. But there are still those people with sweet bikes who stand by the side and look the part but don't venture in. It's like the kids I've witnessed buying a Converge shirt while the band is playing and then bailing back into their mom's minivan. Never understood that.

There are pseudo famous people that are kinda crazy. We had Ray Cappo in hardcore, and Hardcourt has people just as nuts. The first that comes to mind is Rawbie Boards. A toothless Canadian that is rumored to be an ex-con, Boards has an entertaining polo show on Vimeo that graciously hands out "Dick of the Week" awards.

People tour: Touring to all the qualifying tournaments is no different than touring to play a gig. Only difference is, there is no money in Hardcourt, so it's still pure. It's also all word of mouth, basically, on one central site. Really similar to Maximum Rock 'n' Roll having tour dates in its magazine.

There are fucking straight-edge people everywhere. This one blew me away. I've had problems with straight-edge gangs in the past, but the new breed of SxE kid that I'm coming across is pretty positive and exciting to be around. I hung out with a 30-something guy with huge Xs tattooed on his hands and a bigger-than-life "animal liberation" tattoo on his neck. Normally when I see shit like that, I'll peace out, because I know what's coming next, and I don't need that shit. But this guy was amazing. He was volunteering his coaching skills to his protégé, a girl named Tina who was absolutely killing it. I found myself trying to get within earshot of him just so I could pick up his tips — just like kids do with Jes [Steineger] (Coalesce guitarist) when he's flipping out on his guitar.

There are merch tables. Small indie companies making gear for bike polo sell stuff on a merch table in the back. I happen to have founded a little imprint called Fixcraft that sponsors some events. I sit behind that table, just like I have countless hours at Coalesce shows. It rules.

So that's it. Not only was I a part of the hardcore scene in the '90s (and today, haters), I'm now a part of the Hardcourt scene of the what, aughts or teens? Regardless, the same magic is there. The same elements for awesome are up for grabs, if you can let go of your cynicism and get on a bike with a hammer and have the fucking time of your life. That's not to say I don't still get depressed when my kids bring home a new Alternative Press magazine and I catch an article about how to do you hair, or someone forwards me a video of Victory Records' latest signing. But still, fuck your Facebook and Twitter for a month, and find something awesome. Reset yourself to zero, and don't be afraid to find something new with no preconceptions from your asshole "friends" online.

Reference links:
http://leagueofbikepolo.com/
http://321polo.net/
http://www.fixcraft.net/

Young Widows

Young Widows: "Future Heart"

Though not a strict departure from previous material, the new album by post-hardcore outfit Young Widows displays a different phase of the band's career. Calling it a “progression” might apply regressive traits to its first two albums, but In and Out of Youth and Lightness turns down the Cro-Magnon wallop and continues the band’s history of accomplished noise rock.

Its last album, Old Wounds, was a mostly live recording by Kurt Ballou (Converge, Coliseum, Pygmy Lush). In contrast, the new album was produced by the band and Kevin Ratterman (My Morning Jacket) at The Funeral Home in its hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. Guitarist and vocalist Evan Patterson joined us to answer a few questions about the band's songwriting process and what bands people should check out.

How do you describe your music?

I don’t, but if you were a clerk at a gas station, I would tell you that we are a rock band. That’s as far as I can go.

On the new album, there's a bit of a weird blues influence — less Jesus Lizard pummel and more of a Liars atmospheric vibe. What did you want to do new or different? What did you want to keep the same?

Music has to progress. There are no specific influences. The goal with this album was to find my voice, and that was wholeheartedly achieved. Lyrically, [they're] the heaviest and most affective songs that I’ve created. Old blues has that same effect on me. It speaks to me. The bridge between modern rock music and blues is a short one, and it’s inevitable that those characteristics will be riding in the same vehicle to achieve certain goals.

How do you write songs? Are songs brought in by individuals, or are they worked out through collective rehearsals?

Most the songs are created through one part — whether it being drums, bass, or guitar — [and] we jam the ideas until the song comes together. It can be a single rehearsal or 30 rehearsals, but the mood of the song is the deciding factor of if we are going to keep a song around to document or ditch it.

Based on the live recording, the songs on Old Wounds must have been fully worked out before they were captured. Did you do more writing “in the studio” with In and Out?

We don’t write any music in the studio. Maybe a minor change, but the songs are as close to complete as possible when entering the studio. Lyrically, the songs changed quite a bit in the studio. Our excessive stage volume doesn’t lend itself to being able to audibly hear the final outcome.

How would you compare the state of the band during your most recent recording compared to the past?

Open and focused.

What other current bands should we paying more attention to?

My Disco, Phantom Family Halo, Flying Horseman, Helms Alee, Cave, Kings Daughters and Sons, Bill Callahan, Mick Harvey. On that note, someone needs to do a piece on Crime and the City Solution.

Adebisi Shank: This Is The Second Album From A Band Called Adebisi Shank (Sargent House)

Adebisi Shank: "Micro Machines"

Released to European acclaim in 2010, the aptly titled second album from Irish electro/math rockers Adebisi Shank has now achieved North American release thanks to the peerless Sargent House.

The record label / management company describes the trio as a blend of Fang Island’s shredding riffs with Battles’ electronic quirkiness and rhythmic playfulness. That description isn’t off the mark, but readers won’t get a sense of the band’s real abilities until they hear its hyper-melodic, polyrhythmic, and — most importantly — jubilant songs in full.

Over 40 minutes — a self-described "double album" given the band's riff-intensive style — Second Album delivers a maelstrom of zany electronics, unusual distortions, and triumphant, rapidly ascending scales mixed with vintage synths, marimba, horns, and other accoutrements.  This is all packaged between and around gloriously catchy and powerful rock riffs.

It's a manic and buoyant sophomore effort.  Simply put, Adebisi Shank is a revelation.

Trap Them: Darker Handcraft (Prosthetic)

Trap Them: "The Facts"

Originally conceived as a side project to Backstabbers Incorporated, riotous hardcore quintet Trap Them became a full-time endeavor half a decade ago and has been perfecting its sound ever since.

For Darker Handcraft, its third full-length album and first for Prosthetic, the band continues expanding, ever so slightly, its grindcore style to present more assailing D-beat rhythms and impossibly heavy sounds.  The production, again courtesy of Kurt Ballou, draws understandable parallels to the producer's main gig in Converge.  But Trap Them's low tunings, dark chord progressions, and noodling high-string riffs are more responsible for the comparison, even if Trap Them is less about diversity and more about straight-forward fury.

This time around, vocalist Ryan McKenney has a crisper but equally brutal delivery, often recalling former Refused front man Dennis Lyxzén.  It might be one of the album's best evolutions — outside of "Drag the Wounds Eternal," the melodic, mid-tempo penultimate jam.  In all, Darker Handcraft is top-notch modern hardcore, meshing punk and metal with equal aplomb.

The Dead Kenny Gs: Operation Long Leash (Royal Potato Family)

The Dead Kenny Gs: "Devil's Playground"

Fans are long used to seeing the names Skerik, Mike Dillon, and Brad Houser in the same sentence.  Together, the three multi-instrumentalists comprised three quarters of genre-hopping groove merchants Critters Buggin (along with percussionist/keyboardist Matt Chamberlain); Skerik and Dillon have worked in Garage a Trois and a few outfits with Les Claypool, and Houser has again joined forces to create The Dead Kenny Gs, a trio of musicians who "listen to Bad Brains and Art Ensemble of Chicago."

Operation Long Leash is the group's second album, and though it isn't freewheeling punk jazz, it shares that marriage of rock aggression, funky hooks, and left turns.  Call it heavy acid swing — or something completely different — but it shares just enough elements with the trio's previous projects while exploring new territory.

After a cohesive, rhythmic blend of dueling saxophones, Dillon's glistening vibraphone, and freak-out effects, the middle and tail end of the album get into more heavy rock grooves, including distorted bass on "Black 5" and pounding tom hits and sax bleeps on "Sweatbox" — which quickly transforms into a jazzy jungle groove.  The thuds soon return for more of the album's wildest and loudest sounds, almost resembling some of Zu's most recent "sludge jazz" album.  From there, the soothing outro of "Jazz Millionaire" proves that The Dead Kenny Gs' moods can swing as much as its music.

Mamiffer: Mare Decendrii (SIGE)

Mamiffer: "We Speak in the Dark"

Led by pianist and graphic artist Faith Coloccia, Mamiffer is a project born from the ashes of a similar if more loosely structured group, Everlovely Lightningheart.  With a rotating cast of guests and permanent members — now including ex-Isis front man, Hydra Head honcho, and SIGE partner Aaron Turner — the group surrounds down-tempo, minor-key piano melodies with eerie, ambient soundscapes of assorted instrumentation.

Though strings, guitars, drums, and slowly unfolding vocals are all regular elements of the group's music, Mare Decendrii — its sophomore full-length — amasses another collection of semi-decipherable sounds.  There are moments of minimalist classical beauty and others of echoing tangents to post-metal, as is the case with the sprawling 20-minute track "We Speak in the Dark," a microcosm of the whole.  It begins with minutes of building dissonance before a lead piano/string line turns into emotive vocal harmonies and a churning post-rock passage with a nearly Nine Inch Nails melody.

And though the album's breadth and reach are to be expected from what Mamiffer has previously delivered, it's fueled further this time thanks to guest spots by violist-and-vocalist duo Eyvind Kang and Jessika Kinney, bassist Don McGreevy (Earth), bassist Brian Cook (Russian Circles), violinist Timb(a) Harris (Estradasphere), drummer Aaron Harris (Isis), and many others.

Honorable Mentions

Antonionian: s/t (Anticon)

Disco Doom: Trux Reverb (The Static Cult Label)

Does It Offend You, Yeah?: Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn You (The End / Cooking Vinyl)

KEN Mode: Venerable (Profound Lore)

J. Mascis: Several Shades of Why (Sub Pop)

Mi Ami: Dolphins 12” (Thrill Jockey)

Sin Fang: Summer Echoes (Morr Music)

V/A: Those Shocking, Shaking Days (Now-Again)

Trap Them

Trap Them: "The Facts"

To appreciate Trap Them's new album, Darker Handcraft, it helps to start with the Filth Rations EP from 2010.  Trap Them has consistently charged its hardcore side into a collision with metal that refuses to get dragged down in grime.

The four songs on Filth Rations give as sure a sign as ever that the band's craft and tightness can always match its sheer impatience. The third track, "Dead Fathers Wading In The Bodygrounds," keeps up a gimpy, stumbling trudge as the drums gradually thud harder, and vocalist Ryan McKenney bellows himself up to a pitch that invokes scalding tears and unforgivable injuries. There's a sense that Trap Them is in a desperate frenzy to repeatedly overload their songs, lest a single McKenney roar or screech of feedback from the guitar go unused. Even the cramped handwriting of the lyrics in the EP's liner notes looks more like a dozen rows of snaggled teeth than a sequence of words.

In retrospect, it's as if the band that made Filth Rations was gearing up to achieve a height of directness and focus. Darker Handcraft is a plenty accurate introduction to Trap Them; it once again captures a sonic force that's both furiously commanding and remains bitterly hurt no matter how feverishly it tries to expiate its demons. This time, though, that force resolutely says, "Look, one fucking thing at a time."

"Damage Prose" sets the album on the straightaway to which it mostly sticks. Trap Them has always been capable of playing like a double-time Unsane, but on this track and the following, "Slumcult And Gather," Chris Maggio's precision-sputter drums force McKenney and guitarist Brian Izzi to stay ahead. Not once do they let Maggio's machinations catch up and grind them into chum, instead pacing themselves precisely and creating a tense clarity.

As much as it sounds like a platitude, "pacing themselves" is something that Trap Them does consistently well here. The songs keep their stinging brevity, while also getting in enough time to grow out their structures confidently and conclusively. "Every Walk A Quarantine" finds several ways to prolong its verses and pre-choruses — lots of dynamics that belie the band's grimy exteriors, and one of Izzi's unnerving mid-range skitters — before slamming into its choruses with a cry of what sounds like "We all stay sick! We all stay fuckin' sick!"

Producer (and Converge guitarist) Kurt Ballou's recording of Sleepwell Deconstructor in 2007 captured the band speeding through pools of almost Pig Destroyer-grade slime and bleakness, especially on "Day Five: Garlic Breakfast" and "Day 6: Deconstructioneer Extraordinare." Ballou shows an equally nurturing ear for the punchy riff that front-loads "Evictionaries." If you go back and listen to Sleepwell or another previous Trap Them record, it hardly sounds sloppy or confused. And the Trap Them of Darker Handcraft is not drastically different at heart. The impact is. The band — actually, it's not shorting anyone to say the band and Ballou together — has hardened and sharpened its vision.

Darker Handcraft still has plenty of those lovably Trap Them moments where the band seems to be slowly marching up a mountain of disease — especially the instrumental sixth track, "Sordid Earnings." Track seven, "The Facts," was a good choice as the album's "single" (or whatever the label's chosen free promo MP3 counts as), because that's where Trap Them sounds most like a disciplined unit of hard-rock chargers.

The balance shifts to still deeper unease, shorter songs, and blur-blast drums with "Saintpeelers" and the following three tracks. (Let us pause here to appreciate that song title, simultaneously bad-ass and warped enough to earn a grim chuckle, like those on one great standard for ridiculous hard-rock song titles, Karp's self-titled LP.) This direction leads to yet another adrenal leap on "Sovereign Through The Pines," a minute and a half of hardcore frenzy that digs itself into a nice mucky low-end trench for the finish.

Then, for the last two tracks, Trap Them once again seems to feel it's made enough points with one approach, and decisively moves on before it can get anywhere near old. "Drag The Wounds Eternal" crawls into slightly higher and brighter hooks, paralleling (though not sounding that much like) the melody that Kylesa started to embrace in 2010 on Spiral Shadow. The closer, "Scars Align," hints at the grimy sludge of the above-mentioned "Dead Fathers Waiting In The Bodygrounds." Rather than plunging more and more helplessly into grief as "Dead Fathers" did, "Scars Align" stays right on top of the rage that it's building up.  One of the pre-chorus figures is a great deal like that of Iron Maiden's "Powerslave," which is a nice little omen when you think about it. Not only is Trap Them still exemplary of the devastation that punk and metal can wreak together, it's now letting its songwriting instinct shine proudly through the fallout.

The new album was produced again by Kylesa’s guitarist/vocalist Phillip Cope, who has manned the boards for Baroness and Withered.

The Savannah-based band is presently on a European tour with Converge but has set up a massive North American tour. Starting on September 29, the coed quintet will tour with High On Fire and Torche until November 7. Kylesa is also planning several festival performances, such as the Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh and the Soundwave Festival in Australia next year.

Tour dates

August

12 Vienna, Austria Arena

13 Jaromer, Czechoslavakia Brutal Assault

14 Mikkeli, Finland Jurassic Rock Festival

15 Leper, Belgium Ieper Fest

19 Hasselt, Belgium Pukkelpop Festival

20 Dinkelsbuhl, Germany Summerbreeze Festival

21 Ludinghausen, Germany Area 4 Festival

September

11 Raleigh, NC Hopscotch Festival

29 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall

30 Pomona, CA The Glass House

October

1 Flagstaff, AZ Orpheum Theater

2 Albuquerque, NM Launchpad

3 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater

5 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater

6 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall Ballroom

8 Rock Island, IL Rock Island Brewing Co.

9 Urbana, IL Canopy Club

10 Chicago, IL Riot Fest @ Metro

11 Bloomington, IN The Bluebird

13 Newport, KY Southgate House

14 Detroit, MI Majestic Theatre

15 Cleveland, OH The Grog Shop

16 Rochester, NY Water Street Music Hall

17 Northampton, MA Pearl Street

19 Halifax, NS The Paragon Theatre

21 Portland, ME Port City Music Hall

22 Providence, RI Club Hell

24 New York, NY Webster Hall

26 Philadelphia, PA Starlight Ballroom

27 Carborro, NC Cat's Cradle

29 Gainesville, FL The Fest 9

November

7 Austin, TX Fun Fun Fun Fest

February

26 Brisbane, QLD Brisbane Soundwave Festival

27 Sydney, NSW Sydney Soundwave Festival

March

4 Melbourne, VIC Melbourne Soundwave Festival

5 Adelaide, SA Adelaide Soundwave Festival

7 Perth, WA Perth Soundwave Festival

On My Shield, Converge’s self-released 7” single, is now available in Europe on limited supply.  With only 3,000 copies available for distribution, each copy of the release features a laser etching, and is available in three different color variations (each limited to 1,000 copies).

In addition, all copies — excluding Euro tour copies — come with a free digital-download coupon that's good for a high-quality MP3 download of the EP.

Recorded at Godcity Studios between the band’s 2010 Axe to Fall US and Euro tours (through August 15), the single will be available exclusively through the following distribution methods:

Color #1 (limited to 1,000): direct from the band on its Axe To Fall European tour.
(Note: No Download Coupon is available in this version)

Color #2 (limited to 1,000): through the official Converge E-store powered by Kingsroad.
(made available AFTER the tour)

Color #3 (limited to 1,000): vinyl retailers can purchase this release wholesale via Deathwish Direct Distribution.
(made available AFTER the tour)

Within the hour, he'll be out feeding his chickens, or pitching in to help with chores at Grandma Whitmore's beautiful old farmhouse not 200 feet away. She ever is the matriarch and family historian around here, with a background as colorful as a character in a Howard Hawks movie.

"There's a barn around here that was built in 1866 by a long-ago relative on my mom's side with lumber that he floated down the Mississippi himself," Whitmore says via phone from his Iowa roost during a lengthy shit-shooting session. We were supposed to meet in person, but a blizzard left him snowed in for nearly a week.

"It might be the oldest building in the county still standing," he says. "Everywhere I look, there are fingerprints of my forebears. This area is my spiritual center. I'm just fortunate to be its steward during my time here on Earth. It will be here forever; I'm just passing through."

This probably sounds idyllic if you're one of this country's innumerable city dwellers, looking through your kitchen windows at overstuffed dumpsters, brick walls, and parked cars, or a suburbanite surveying your property while a familiar set of golden arches looms large on the horizon, keeping constant watch over a buzzing hive of interstates, strip malls, and outlet stores. And in a very real sense, it is. Like your dad always told you growing up, there's something to be said for a life of hard work.

But Whitmore didn't grow up much different than the rest of us, spending his afternoons in town with his cousin and his brother, skateboarding and raising hell while Black Flag and Public Enemy cassettes played in the background.

On that same stretch of road where the local cops used to tell them to "move it along," there's now a tattoo parlor run by a friend of the family. Here, everybody is family.

And though the meeting places of rural Iowa might now be the tattoo parlor or the sports bar up the road, that mythic American Mayberry sense of knowing your fellow man and looking out for your neighbor is alive and well here — something put to the test this past summer when the whole town came together to save the local watering hole from the swiftly encroaching floodwaters of North America's biggest river.

But don't let him fool you. Though a farm-boy heart beats proudly in his chest, William Elliott Whitmore has toured the world with nothing more than a banjo and a guitar for company. He learned French for an enthusiastic crowd in Paris, and has traveled from Copenhagen to Amsterdam to London, making all the stops between.

"I remember playing my first show in Rome," he says. "I'd never been to Italy. As kind of an icebreaker, I told the crowd how I'd recently played a show in Rome, Georgia, which was this cool little town where I'd been booked at an abandoned train depot that everybody said was haunted. They got a kick out of that."

The band’s music is, of course, challenging. Not content to be just fast, brutal, and dark, Converge has consistently, and successfully, pushed every boundary in any category you wish to place it: hardcore, metal, thrash, punk. None of these will fit neatly on Converge.

In Bannon’s own words, “We’re not an easy band to get into. We’re a very abrasive band, very harsh band, a very polarizing band. If somebody’s used to contemporary metal records [and] they hear a band like us, it’s just a big load of trashy noise. If a punk kid hears our band now, he’s used to big singing choruses, pop punk, emotional rock, [and] we’re way too off-putting; we’re vocally way too harsh. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.” (This is what John Darnielle means when he says that metal-core “craves marginalization.”)

This approach has borne some dark and spectacular fruit for Converge. The only way in which it might be considered dull is in the consistency of its critical acclaim. Album after album over the past 15 years has found the band red-lining various critical meters — 10 stars, six skulls, eight guitars, whatever — with its champions escalating in number since the release of its breakthrough, Jane Doe.

That album shellacked Converge’s status as cult gods; it was immediately a touchstone for the hardcore-punk community. Not that it matters to them: “If there’s any key to longevity,” Bannon says, “it’s this: don’t give a shit about what other people think.”

Axe to Fall again finds Converge redefining the game. The band brought in some heavy hitters from around the hardcore and metal communities — members of Cave In, Disfear, and Neurosis pitched in — partly because, as Bannon explains, “Even though [the members of Converge] all come from different places, we’re still very used to working together.

Having these outside people involved made the process longer, more complex. Introducing some other people into something that’s…so comfortable almost forces you to become challenged.”

Showcasing both sides of their famously split musical genetics, the first track “Dark Horse” opens with a freakishly speedy, I-can’t-feel-my-face drum and guitar attack and grafts on the stop-start blasts of hardcore. For the listener, it’s something like being bolted to a giant paint shaker. Axe to Fall gets sludgier about halfway through, but Converge mostly keeps to the quick attack, resisting the prog impulses of some of their colleagues in favor of precision and ferocity.

There’s a clarity and simplicity to it, with each element — Koller’s impossible drumming, Bannon’s intensity, Ballou’s frenzied riffs — showing in high relief against the others. Not only does the entire album command attention, but each part of it commands attention.

As bassist Nate Newton says (in an interview on Converge’s site), “My favorite records over the years were records that—they challenged you. You had to listen to it; you couldn’t just put it on and have it in the background, like ‘Oooh, I love it.’”