Coming out of the heaviest season of our collective post-modernity, I’m a few bands are continuously spinning as winter reluctantly loosens its grip on New York.  For your consideration.

Good Luck - Into Lake Griffy
Fairly technical Telecaster-driven indie from Indiana. Songwriting puts me in the mind of John K. Samson or John Darnielle with some challenging and catchy riffs. Frontman duties are split between the male guitarist and female bass player - both have served as my hardcore jam in recent month.

The Riot Before - Fists Buried In Pockets
Post-punkers from Richmond, VA, The Riot Before’s masterpiece is their concept record released on little known skate label Say-10. A healthy dose of hot-rod Americana and twang slips into the thoroughly morose lyrics making Lucero and Mike Ness fans feel at home. Front to back, a sorrowful, welcome record.

Iron Chic - The Constant One
An unapologetic fat and old quintet of Long Islanders were in their mother’s garage one weekend, said, “Fuck it - we’re making every song a singalong anthem” and have been chucking shell after shell of 4/4 crowd pleasers into every Bushwick scofflaw dive feeling like getting a visit from the Fire Marshal. Their latest is meant to be screamed at the top of your lungs while nuts-to-butts to every punk who rides the L train.

Various Artists - The Music of Tony Sly
With the untimely passing No Use for a Name’s prolific principal, Fat Mike put together a benefit LP for the surviving family peppered with plenty of hits and some epic misses. A fair cross-section of Sly’s early, late and solo work, the arrangements of these tunes improve with repeated listening. Pennywise and Strung Out offer straight forward interpretations, Karine Denike and Old Man Markley offer imaginative spins of familiar tales. As a whole container of the man’s work it is marred by some horrific misses (ahem Simple Plan, Mad Caddies), but remains a fitting tribute to one of my favorite songwriters.

OK Go and Bonerama - You’re Not Alone
With the recent release of their latest one-take tour de YouTube force, I’ve gravitated this week back to an underappreciated Katrina benefit that paired the inveterate hipsters of OK Go with the soul-tugging brass of the Big Easy’s Bonerama. All the tracks merit multiple spins, however none so captures the soul like their cover of Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released.” Overlooked, and overwhelming.

Joey Cape and Jon Snodgrass - Liverbirds
Another in a series of Fat Wreck alum acoustic splits, Drag the River’s Jon Snodgrass pairs some discarded b-sides with solemn arrangements of hits. Paired with the duo’s acoustic cuts of classic Lagwagon material, makes for a country record no one should be ashamed of celebrating.

Sally Ride - Ventura
My full disclosure that the songwriter is a close friend doesn’t discount a thoroughly summer swing with Sally Ride’s latest. Budget Kansas City indie rocker C. Howie Howard again flits between pop and nigh-inaccessible shoegaze with a little help from a cast of longtime collaborators. Lot here resonates with the Midwestern heart - mellow and yearning for something more.
http://sallyride.bandcamp.com/

Off With Their Heads - Home
Similarly themed is Ryan Young’s finest work yet with the challenging concept Home. Masterfully minded by The Descendents’ Bill Stevenson, the producer pulls the songwriting potential we’ve always imagined from Off With Their Heads and finally gets in on wax in a way I think we all suspected, but never saw. Young’s vocals are definitely polarizing - you’ll love it or you’ll hate it, much like the character he presents struggling with where he was raised.

Superchunk / Guided By Voices Split
This winter I’ve been hunting down a number of rare import splits, the finest gem of that journey so far being a 1996 Australian EP release pairing Superchunk with Guided By Voices. In the 80’s and 90’s, EP splits were the primary marketing instrument of the music industry’s Wild West resulting in so many eerily fitting pairings that would never occurred in the Western World. Lots to love in these brief 16 minutes, including a lo-fi cut of “The Key Losers.”