With so many singer-songwriters out there, perhaps genetics is one surefire way to separate the diamonds from the rough. Liam Finn, son of Crowded House vocalist Neil Finn, has made an album that is simple, quiet and beautiful. The songs are slow to take hold, but once they’ve crawled inside your brain, they refuse to come out. Acoustic guitar, a swath of synth and straight back-beat drums with Finn’s lovely cold-cooing wrap every song in an attractive package. Let’s hope Finn’s debut is just the tip of his creative iceberg. (SM)
Doomtree False Hopes (Doomtree)
If Doomtree created songs in human form, the 14 B-side misfits on False Hopes would serve as the bastard children that come back to bite the world. Doomtree is the raw and unique collective that P.O.S. belongs to, but he’s only one thorn off the Doomtree branch. Though False Hopes doesn’t set fire to the ears as the crew’s other releases do, there’s a slow burn that grows on you. You get the feeling this group of talented MCs, musicians, DJs and producers is merging into something new. (JH)
The Raveonettes Lust Lust Lust (Vice)
For those who always sort of liked The Raveonettes but could never fully get onboard with the profuse garage rock revival earlier this decade, Lust Lust Lust may capture your lukewarm heart. Reverb-heavy, fuzzed-out and all-around beautiful, the Euro duo’s turned over a new leaf with this album—a place where noise and melody coexist in something that’s darkly nostalgic. The more light-hearted garage-iness of The Raveonettes’ youth is still evident on some tracks, but, for the most part, it takes an unseen, skeletal form. Have a listen to "Dead Sound," which is particularly seductive. (JCC)
