...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead pan for gold

Suicidal Tendencies – Cyco Style [from the album 13, out 6 May via Suicidal Records]
Jason Reece: [rocking out] I used to listen to Suicidal Tendencies when I was like 15.
Jamie Miller: Sounds like old school Venom! It's definitely how you want 'em to sound. Awesome! It's just their classic style, you know? Little more modern production, a little more thrash.
JR: My favourite album's the first one.
JM: I'd give it two thumbs up. Solid eight, yeah, definitely.
JR: It'd be fun to jam that in here after a show.
JM: Plus if we say anything less they'll find us and beat us up.

Vår – Into Distance [from the album No One Dances Quite Like My Brothers, out 13 May via Sacred Bones Records]
JR: I heard about these guys.
JM: That sounds like The Church. Oh, one of these dudes is in Iceage.
JR: Some Joy Division in there. Yeah, I'd probably get the CD and check these guys out.
JM: Yeah, this is up my alley. Especially their pedigree – they're hardcore dudes. It's just polished enough, but it still sounds lo-fi. Not too slick. I'll check more of that out.
JR: Eight.

Three Blind Wolves – Parade [from the album Sing Hallelujah for the Old Machine, out 27 May via Instinctive Racoon]
JR: These guys are Scottish?
JM: That some pedal steel? It's a trip, all these UK bands playing Americana music. America's been ripping off the British for years, so...
JR: The Americana thing's big right now, huh? Mumford and Sons and The Lumineers. It's not bad, you know?
JM: It's not really my thing. I'm not super familiar with this kind of stuff. I'm sure American college students would eat it up. Let's say five. I bet they have cool beards.

TRACK OF THE MONTH: Retox – Mature Science [from the album YPLL, out 27 May via Epitaph]
The Skinny: This is a Justin Pearson (of The Locust) project.
JR: Oh yeah, I've heard some of this before.
JM: [laughs gleefully] always loved The Locust and what they did. It's like a swarm of bees comin' at ya. Very jittery and very nervous, I love it. Frantic, just nuts.
JR: [starts drumming along before turning to the press release] Oh, Nick Zinner from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs played on some of it. This is fun!
JM: Punk rock, man. Badass. I'd give that a ten.
JR: Yeah, why not? Ten. Let's be nice. I'm gonna give everybody a ten.
JM: You're gonna be like Rolling Stone? Give 'em all a ten!

 

Princess Chelsea – We're So Lost [single – released 20 May via Lil' Chief Records / Cargo]
JM: Princess Chelsea... [disappointed tone] Oh, Chelsea...
JR: It's really David Lynch.
JM: Sort of childlike. I think the acoustics in this room are adding to it.
JR: Yeah, making it even more reverbed out.
JM: It does sound a lot like Beach House. Maybe a little too much. It's cool, it's chill. Somethin' to sit back, drink some wine to... before moving onto Beach House.
JR: I'd say five. Middle of the road.
JM: Points for tryin'.

Keys – Hiding In Our Smirks [from the EP Innocuous Beats, out 6 May via Sturm Und Drang Recordings]
JM: That riff sounds like somethin' – what is that?
JR: Well, we're into The Fall. A little Gang of Four maybe. Very innocuous. Ha!
JM: I hear a lot of bands do this. When they discover Wire and stuff, they're like “oh, we can do that!”
JR: I'll give it a three.

Hookers for Jesus – On a Night Like This [from the EP Hymns for Beautiful Losers, out now via Pioneer Sounds]
JM: Hookers for Jesus? Ten! Haha!
The Skinny: The name's a bit misleading.
JM: It's kinda like our misleading name. I went to a record store once in Denver that sold mostly hardcore music, and Trail of Dead had a section. All of the headers had a description of the band, and on ours it just said “not very brutal”. That's all it said! This band's called Hookers for Jesus, and it sounds like this! That's worse false advertising than Trail of Dead!
JR: I'm disappointed – I was expecting punk rock. Songs about sex and violence. It's a little too “sleepy time” for me.
JM: We had too long of a night for this. This is gonna put us to sleep! Everything's got its right moment and mood, that's the tough thing about music.
JR: So, what should we give it?
JM: I'll give it a six – it wasn't as generic as the Chelsea one. He's got a cool voice.

Breathless – Please Be Happy [single – out 6 May via Tenor Vossa]
JR: Oh, there's a remix on this single by Jim from Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. It's Dominic Appleton, who sang for This Mortal Coil.
JM: Really? Wow. Yeah, this is how you do sleepy music.
JR: It's definitely dark. It's got that darkness.
JM: This is what I gravitate towards.
The Skinny: Are you more of a punk rock purist, Jason?
JR: Uh, no, you know there's a time and a place for this kind of music.
JM: I'd put this on after one of our shows with headphones and just bask in it.
JR: Yeah, that might work.
JM: I dig this. I'd give it an eight.

Haraball – Cock Persona [from the album Sleep Tall, out 13 May via Fysisk Format]
JM: I like this a lot. I would actually buy this right now. I'm in the mood for something like this.
JR: This band was started by Norwegians from straight-edge bands, and some arty dudes.
JM: It's got a song called My Douche. Yeah, this is just killer, old school hardcore. When I first heard about Iceage, this is what I wanted them to sound like. Like old Agnostic Front or something.
JR: Yeah, this is really good hardcore. I'd say seven.

Young Aviators – Forward Thinking [from the album Self Help, out 13 May via Electric Honey]
JM: Young Aviators... I've heard that name somewhere before. Britpop! Where're they from?
JR: They're based in Glasgow. I'm hearing Nine Black Alps...
JM: They're like, on the poppier edge of Nine Black Alps. It's just got that classic britpop sound.
JR: Like Ride. A little more sixties.
JM: It's got that tempo of a Yardbirds song or somethin'. Yeah, it's weird, it's like a cross of sixties and, like 80s Brit. It's cool. I'd give it a seven.

Dead Sea Souls – The Comet [single – out 20 May via Platform]
JR: Too much like Vampire Weekend. This shit is awful.
JM: Yeah, I was about to say, man! Where are these cats from?
The Skinny: The West Lothian area...
JR: [mimics Scottish accent] Shite! I'm giving that a one. Pretty harsh, but...
JM: I give it an “I don't care.”

Raffertie – Trust (feat. YADi) [from the EP Build Me Up, out 20 May via Ninja Tune]
JR: [looks at the cover] Stylish.
JM: Oh, that's quite a jacket he's got there. I'd give that jacket a five. Yeah, this has that modern day Phil Collins production, but it's just weird enough to make me want to hear more of it. I almost don't want to hear it, but at the same time I do. I'm like “what's gonna happen next?”
JR: Yeah, it's nice.
JM: It's interesting. Not cliché.
JR: Yeah, it's like The Weeknd. Dark R&B, like, seductive. That's cool!
JM: Cool vibe. I like the dark, oddballness of it. I'm gonna say eight.