Getting 2012 off to a great start

Typically January is a slow month for exciting new releases, it all seems to boil down to quiet releases and experiments that might not be deserving of a lot of attention. Which is fine, I'm usually spending January in music hangover mode returning to old favorites or checking out the previous year's stuff that I missed out on.

While this month hasn't really seemed to be much of an exception, I have been lucky enough to have discovered two new albums released in the past two weeks that have made me really excited. Both are from bands that have been around for a few albums already and gotten a decent bit of buzz from blogs and magazines, but both are entirely new to me.

First up is the Dutch retro metal band The Devil's Blood. Although it was technically released in Europe late last year, January saw the stateside release of their latest album, The Thousandfold Epicentre. As much as I'm loathe to describe things via a list of other bands here, I'm really struggling to come up with a way to describe these guys to the uninitiated. Think Fleetwood Mac spending way too much time in candle-lit rooms with Anton LaVey and Black Sabbath records. This would have been a cult classic had it come out in 1972, but as it is its a strong early contender for one of the best albums of this year. Check out the epic title track.


The other big release that knocked my socks off comes courtesy of Cleveland's Cloud Nothings. I remember seeing their name come up a couple times over the past few years, but I never really paid them any attention. After a glowing Pitchfork review earlier this week, I picked up Attack On Memory and was absolutely blown away. This is a thrilling indie rock record that ably balances the poppier side of punk (but decidedly NOT pop-punk), noise rock, and the kind of 1990s indie rock that was laid down by bands like Drive Like Jehu, Jawbreaker, and the Touch & Go roster. It doesn't hurt that Steven Albini engineered the thing. The first genuine surprise of 2012 and the its first must hear indie rock record. Here's a taste.