Here's another fine batch of songs from outside RVA that we found in our inboxes and around the internet this week. Kick off your weekend by kicking out the jams! Here we go:
Gorguts - Colored Sands
Big news for death metal fans! The legendary pioneers of super-technical Canadian death metal, Gorguts, have returned with a new album after a 12-year hiatus. For the second time in the band's career, singer/guitarist Luc Lemay has gathered an entirely new group of backing musicians to complete the band's lineup. This time, it's a who's who of American technical metal, with members of Behold The Arctopus, Dysrhythmia, and Origin rounding out the group. And you can hear their instrumental prowess in this new song, "Colored Sands," an incredible eight-minute epic that's also the title track of their new album. Said album will be out at the end of the month on Season Of Mist, and if this track is any indication, it'll be one of the major metal releases of the year, so pre-order your copy now by clicking here!
Placebo - Loud Like Love
The title track for Placebo's upcoming seventh album also came our way this week, and despite the recent turn towards mellower, more keyboard-infused sounds by the veteran alt-rock trio, I gotta say, this song sounds a lot like the Placebo I knew and loved back in the late 90s. Sure, there are some keyboard flourishes, but they're kept to a minimum, and Brian Molko's guitar is the instrument that drives the song. Molko's voice has always been brilliant and unmistakable, no matter what happened with the backing instrumentation, and that has not changed. On top of all that, this track has some really great lyrics, which you can learn and sing along with by watching the above lyric video. Loud Like Love will be out on September 17--preorder the vinyl here, CD here, or digital here.
HAIM - The Wire
HAIM is a trio of sisters (plus the old drummer from Wires On Fire) that have been grabbing some buzz with a few isolated singles they've released over the past year or so. I for one was knocked out by "Don't Save Me"--go listen to that track if you haven't yet. Anyway, "The Wire" heralds the arrival of HAIM's long-overdue debut full-length, Days Are Gone, with an 80s rock-radio throwback that kind of makes me miss the days of Rick Springfield and Billy Squier hitting the top 40. Only kind of, though, because the HAIM sisters have great voices that I'd rather hear than straining middle-aged rocker dudes any day. It's been said already, but this is a great song to blast on the car stereo while driving too fast on a sunny afternoon. Crank this one when you get out of work today. Then go home and preorder Days Are Gone, which comes out on September 30, by clicking here.
Those Darlins - Optimist
There's a bit of local relevance with this one--Those Darlins will be in town on Sunday to play Sound City Festival at Tredegar (click that link for details). Those Darlins are from Nashville, and apparently had some country tinges in the past, but all I'm hearing on this new track is some down n' dirty garage-style rock n' roll. I'm pretty into it. The video is a little weird--supposedly carrying a pro-woman message, I'm not all that sure that two and a half minutes of crotch and ass shots really does anything to further any feminist agendas. But hey, it's fun to watch, and despite the "explicit" tag, not even all that risque, so have a ball! And check out Blur The Line, the new Those Darlins album from which "Optimist" is the first single, when it comes out October 1. Pre-order links for vinyl, CD, and digital versions are available at Those Darlins' website.
Schoolboy Q - Collard Greens
The Black Hippy crew has been making some of the best new music in hip hop over the past couple of years, and the streak continues with this brand new Schoolboy Q single, featuring a verse from fellow Black Hippy crew member Kendrick Lamar. Lamar's definitely the guy on this track who shows off serious skills, but Q keeps the party rolling throughout, regardless of his choice to keep it relatively simple on his verses. Also, my god, I just love this beat, so I've got absolutely nothing to complain about here. What's funny is that Macklemore is hanging out in this video, all looking like the awkward nerd at the party frontin' in a leather jacket. I see you, Macklemore, with your Skrillex haircut. Let me guess, you got that leather jacket at a thrift store, right? For real, I don't know why I'm even talking about Macklemore when there are so many pretty girls in this video--he doesn't even rap on this track. But ANYWAY, "Collard Greens" is the first single from Schoolboy Q's new one, Oxymoron, which is dropping on Interscope at, uh, some point before the end of the year, hopefully. No preorder links for this one, but you know how it is with hip hop. It'll show up eventually.