Newish Albums I Have Recently Heard: Volume 1

With toys I spend most of my life looking in all directions. With music, I generally look back. I try to find new stuff, though, because I probably should. I'm not old or anything, it's just that I prefer stuff that sounds like it was recorded awkwardly and doesn't involve someone's phone ringing.

Andrew Jackson Jihad's "Operation Stackola"
A couple of knuckleheads from Phoenix doing what is probably best deemed some sort of folk-punk, only it isn't annoyingly stupid, just pleasantly irate. This isn't going to make you feel any smarter but I can assure you that if you're a bitter fart from the desert you will enjoy it. Not as fun as their other stuff, much of which can be downloaded from their site for free. But most AJJ tracks are high entertainment, so.

Datarock's "Red"
This isn't out yet but people post things to their blogs and I have a habit of listening to them. Not as enjoyable as their debut, full of reference name-dropping. "The Blog" is a little too cute, my opinion of this album is inversely proportional to their actual command of the English language. If you haven't heard their s/t debut, give that a whirl, it's sugary but fun if you're a Talking Heads fan under 35. This album isn't for sale yet... but... uh... yeah. I keep my ears open and hear things.

Freezepop's "Form Activity Motion"
I genuinely enjoy this band's catalog but listening to this one all the way through was a chore. 8 songs which sound like they're probably better served to a certain kind of teenage girl, 1 new, 7 remixes/variant recordings. "Moons of Jupiter" is entertaining enough but there are four fucking mixes of "Frontload," another "Plastic Stars," and a pair of "Thought Balloon" revisions.