Hello, hello, hello, and happy new year! Welcome to a new Basement Dwelling spin-off feature I’m proud to roll out — “Pre-Orders.” The purpose of “Pre-Orders” is to make a list of albums coming out every month that I am incredibly excited for, and to hopefully get you similarly excited for them. Maybe I will even review the records presented here in the future. But even if I don’t, you can rest assured these albums will be sitting comfortably on my turntable or in my CD player for the next few months. So let’s begin the inaugural “Pre-Orders” post with January’s most hyped albums.
Brandon Can’t Dance – Graveyard of Good Times (Jan. 13th)
I was first introduced to Brandon Can’t Dance this past October when he was the opening act for LVL UP and Alex G, when I caught their sets here in Chicago. Although I had no prior experience with the act, I walked away completely impressed seeing his set at that show, and was even more impressed upon hearing the first singles — “Angelina” and the ridiculously infectious “Smoke And Drive Around” — to come from his upcoming record. It’s simplistic, one-man indie electro-pop of which I’m excited to see how a full LP of material will turn out.
Japandroids – Near To The Wild Heart Of Life (Jan. 27th)
Canada’s favorite sons are back! Five years after their explosive, anthem-filled sophomore LP Celebration Rock, the duo is back with their third album. This album will surely stylistically continue the trend of their last two records, and with that have a large mountain of hype to climb — a feat I’m confident these guys will take on and succeed doing with ease.
Foxygen – Hang (Jan. 20th)
I was upset when Foxygen released their last record, 2014’s …And Star Power. Not only because it was a shitty, overstuffed double record that featured the worst material of their career and was borderline un-listenable, but because tensions were apparently very high among the band members around that time. So much so, that Star Power looked to be the final release from Foxygen — which would have been a damn shame. Thankfully, it looks like the hatchet has been buried, and the psych-pop duo are back with an album that appears to retain what made them so enjoyable in the first place, with some lush string arrangements thrown in the mix. Welcome back, dudes, please don’t let us down.
Cherry Glazerr – Apocalipstick (Jan. 20th)
The follow up to 2014’s excellent Haxel Princess is due right around the corner. Judging from the first singles to be released from Apocolipstick, this new LP sounds like it’s going to be just as scrappy and hungry sounding as Haxel, if not moreso. With a wider audience, a larger tour itinerary, and a bump up in record labels, I get a sense of a breakthrough in the air for L.A.’s Cherry Glazerr.
Cloud Nothings – Life Without Sound (Jan. 27th)
Long gone are the days of the breezy, lo-fi bedroom-indie that Cloud Nothings was once known for. Life Without Sound comes as a follow up to the band’s last two emo-addled indie rock releases, Attack On Memory and Here and Nowhere Else (two albums that are not only some of the best releases of the emo genre in recent memory, but two of my absolute favorite rock records of the decade) as well as their collaborative album with Wavves, No Life For Me. I couldn’t be more excited to see what the output from these guys is going to sound like with Life Without Sound.
— Dan Fiorio, Music Blogger
