Crucial Releases: August 15
Some weeks are easy... well, easy in a sense that there are a couple of records coming out that I am sure will be features. But even then, there's always the potential of a surprise or disappointments.
This week I've got two featured albums for you... one I knew was a sure thing and the other, a surprise. Beyond that, two more that could have been featured most weeks. And then a handful of others that are definitely worth your time. What a surprisingly good week!
Let's dig in to my two favorite albums from the week:
self-titled by Racing Mount Pleasant (Listen)
Racing Mount Pleasant has just blown me away this weekend. I spent a good chunk of Friday and Saturday listening to the new Dijon and Kerosene Heights records (both below, both I had in the "sure thing" category)… it wasn’t until Sunday, when I gave my #3 in the queue a listen: Racing Mount Pleasant’s self titled debut.
I liked the album on first listen, but it wasn’t until I spied a few live takes of these songs on their YouTube channel… holy moly. What an impressive group of musicians. I’m hooked and a full-on super fan now. This record has shot up my year-end chart and I currently have it at #2 for the year now.
The influences are broad and impressive: Broken Social Scene, Arcade Fire, Black Country New Road, Most Serene Republic, a touch of emo like Cursive and Foxing. Amazing songwriting. Highly recommended.
"Call it Easy" (Live) by Racing Mount Pleasant
"Racing Mount Pleasant" (Live) by Racing Mount Pleasant
"Your New Place" (Live) by Racing Mount Pleasant
Baby by Dijon (Listen)
Dijon clearly loves Prince, D'Angelo, and Bon Iver and I'm here for all of it. A superb album, start to finish... and an amazing followup to 2021's Absolutely (Listen), which was a contender for my top 25 favorite albums of that year.
Dijon combines soul, pop, and R&B with just enough glitch and personality to make a sound that is clearly his own. 100% earworms too.
He's not putting his music on Bandcamp any longer it seems, so hit up your local record store or his online store to grab the vinyl.
"HIGHER!" by Dijon
"Another Baby!" by Dijon
"Automatic" by Dijon
Honorable Mentions
Blame it on the Weather by Kerosene Heights (Listen)
This album was going to be featured until I fell in love with Racing Mount Pleasant. It's a super good followup to their 2023 debut album, which landed in my top 20 for the year. Fans of turn of the century emo 😬 will love this...
Sunshine and Balance Beams by Pile (Listen)
Another album that deserves serious attention and it's probably my favorite release from Pile. Not many bands are continuously improving 20 years and 9 albums into their career.
Eye of the Storm by Georgia Harmer (Listen)
The Canadian singer-songwriter delivers a quality set of songs on her second album for Arts & Crafts.
Easier Said than Done by Pool Kids (Listen)
Their debut album for Epitaph Records (and third overall), Pool Kids delivers a more mature but high quality album.
See you next week!
MERCH PARTY!
The Crucial Tracks merch store just launched. We have shirts, hoodies, hats, sealed new vinyl, and much more for sale. EVERY purchase goes to paying the bills to keep Crucial Tracks going.
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