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Los Angeles punk band Off! accomplishes an impressive feat on its self-titled debut album (after last year’s collection of EPs): Sixteen songs in under 16 minutes, each a compact, sonic rampage via scream, electric guitar, bass and drum, by four men who understand compressed aggression: Keith Morris (Circle Jerks, Black Flag), Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides, lead villain in the film “Suck”), Steven McDonald (Redd Kross), and drummer Mario Rubalcaba (Rocket from the Crypt, Hot Snakes).

In Los Angeles terms, that’s about the span it takes to drive from Vine to Alvarado streets down Sunset Boulevard, with Morris barking out bursts of verses about apocalyptic toxic boxes, false foundations, confusion piling up like trash, Darby Crash, chumps, drones, stone hearts, the Crenshaw strip, the King Kong Brigade (“sprinkling glass on their Happy Meals!”) and the Torrance jail. By the last lines of the album, during the song “I Want One (I Need One),” Morris has declared in all-caps that “I AM THEE HAPPENING” while acknowledging that “inside there’s nothing left, looking down from the 13th floor.”

This is Los Angeles hard-core. Long may it rule. — Los Angeles Times

OTHER NEW VINYL RELEASES:

Silversun Pickups Neck of the Woods
Train California 37
Dropkick Murphys Live at Fenway
The Frames In Via
Keane Strangeland
Carole King The Legendary Demos
ALO Sounds Like This
Donald Fagen Nightfly
Horseback Half Blood
The Residents Third Reich ‘n’ Roll

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LIVE IN BOISE MAY 24!

Brooklyn’s Here We Go Magic is a band that has been growing, physically and sonically. Originally a project for folk songwriter Luke Temple to have a brand name associated with his Shins meets Simon and Garfunkel approach to lo-fi songwriting, the “band” swelled to a five piece, released 2010’s Pigeons, and is now expanding yet again by snagging Radiohead producer (credited sometimes as a sixth member of said group, such is his influence) Nigel Godrich to helm the production deck of their A Different Ship, the third album under the Here We Go Magic moniker.

You may be wondering what Mob favour Temple and company had to pull in to get such an appreciated producer to work on an indie album, but the story goes that the band played the Glastonbury Festival in June 2010 deprived of sleep, but managed to perform well enough to impress both Godrich and Thom Yorke, who would later call the band his favourite of the festival, both of whom were in the front row during the set. Godrich would go on to see the band a few more times on tour in Europe, and then propose that he aid the group on their next release. Instant magic!

Well, I can say one thing with absolute certainty: Here We Go Magic have basically turned in the album that Radiohead should have made immediately following In Rainbows. It’s a tunefully, poppy affair, clearly influenced by ‘70s Krautrock, with a completely layered sound that invites you to peel away at it to get to all of its carefully structured secrets. And you listen to A Different Ship and have to wonder: how much has working with Radiohead influenced Godrich as a producer, or how much Radiohead has benefited the other way around? It’s a puzzle, but one thing is clear: Godrich’s stamp of genius is all over A Different Ship … a careening, exhilarating ride with highlight after highlight. With A Different Ship, Here We Go Magic has clearly and undeniably arrived at the port of entry to indie rock’s pantheon of top shelf acts – an utterly shattering release that anyone who likes forward-thinking music must have. — PopMatters

OTHER NEW CD RECOMMENDATIONS:

OFF! OFF!
Sara Watkins Sun Midnight Sun
Paul Thorn What the Hell is Goin’ On?
Damon Albarn Dr. Dee
Luther Dickinson/Sons of Mudboy Hambone’s Meditations
Glenn Frey After Hours
Keane Strangeland
Greg Laswell Landline
Rival Sons Pressure and Time
Cattle Decapitation Monolith of Inhumanity

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Silversun Pickups frontman Brian Aubert has likened his band’s newest album, Neck Of The Woods, to a horror movie. That description reaches far beyond the record’s evocative title and quietly unsetting cover; while 2006’s Carnavas and 2009’s Swoon found the L.A. group awash in fuzzed-out, wide-eyed guitarscapes heavily indebted to My Bloody Valentine and Smashing Pumpkins, Neck Of The Woods roughs that sound up a bit and comes away with something darker and more brooding. It’s a small but welcome progression for a band that has long worked within a frightfully narrow retro-genre of its own making. — The A.V. Club

Audio Lab Recording Studio is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month with two days of special events May 18 and 19, and you can find out more about the festivities and pick up some stellar local music at The Record Exchange!

We’ve assembled a display of about two dozen local CDs that Audio Lab had a hand in creating over the years. The caliber of artists featured — Pinto Bennett, David Andrews, SFM-Steve Fulton Music, Hillfolk Noir, aka Belle, New Transit, etc. — is a testament to the studio’s role in the past two decades of Boise music history.

Congratulations, Audio Lab! Learn more about the 20th anniversary events HERE.

Our new Here’s the Metal program, which highlights select metal titles each month and offers you a free gift with purchase, continues in face-melting, high-flying fashion in May!

Purchase any of the following sale-priced titles and we’ll give you a free Here’s the Metal frisbee and drawstring backpack combo!

Animals as Leaders Weightless $12.99
Death Vivus! Deluxe $13.99
Skeletonwitch Forever Abomination $12.99
War of Ages Return to Life $11.99
Paradise Lost Tragic Idol $13.99
Sleep Dopesmoker $12.99
Cattle Decapitation Monolith of Inhumanity $12.99
Shadows Fall Fire From the Sky (available 5/15) $12.99