The 12 pop and rock albums you need to listen to today (February 2024)

Cover of 'Letter to Self', Sprints album.

- Sprints, 'Letter to Self'

Who are they?

A band from Dublin that after several EPs debuts as a long album with this torpedo called

Letter to Self

.

Sings, and in what way, a woman, Karla Chubb.

Is

Letter to Self that good?

The year has started with a good dose of fury, which this Irish band proposes in these 11 songs where anger emerges as an escape valve to dampen vital desires.

That's what the lyrics of a group talk about in which we could find similarities with Pixies or The Breeders.

This is visceral

indie-rock-punk

.

Listening to it at a good volume improves the experience.

Cover of 'Black Bayou', Robert Finley's album.

-Robert Finley, 'Black Bayou'

Who is it?

Fascinating story of Robert Finley.

Dedicated to music as a hobby while earning a living as a carpenter, he was discovered by a talent scout and released his first album in 2016 at the age of 62, just when he completely lost his sight.

This is his fourth job, now at 70 years old.

Is

Black Bayou that good?

Although it was published in the last months of 2023, we have discovered it these weeks and we do not want to stop recommending it.

The person responsible for the production is Dan Auerbach, from the Black Keys, bless him for bringing out that raw sound to guys as real as Finley.

It is not an exclusively blues album, because Finley, born in Louisiana, covers other styles, such as soul, rock and roll and even western.

His voice can sound rough at times and wounded at others thanks to a prodigious falsetto.

And together with his stories of redemption and frustrated love they make up an album of ten.

Cover of 'Orquídeas', album by Kali Uchis.

- Kali Uchis, 'Orchids'

Who is it?

A singer born in Virginia, United States, 29 years ago, to Colombian parents.

On

Orquídeas,

her fourth album, Uchis works most of the album in Spanish.

Is

Orchids so good?

Above all, it is one of those albums that creates a mood from the first notes.

Which?

One of

danceable, elegant, sensual, relaxed

chill .

Like a Sade adapted to current sounds.

In most of the songs, Uchis' warm voice mixes Spanish and English.

In addition to contained electronics, the album offers boleros and some reggaeton that is not at all overwhelming

(Labios mordidos,

with Karol G) and a duet with Peso Pluma where the Mexican moves away from the corrido tumbado to become an almost melodic singer.

An album that fits wonderfully.

Cover of 'And I, You', Jordan Jones' album.

-Jordan Jones, 'And I, You'

Who is it?

A musician based in Los Angeles with an album released in 2019

(Jordan Jones),

full of fine guitar pop.

And I, You

is his second work.

Is

And I, You that good?

It begins with an instrumental piece where he leads the piano and which could have been signed by Burt Bacharach himself.

Here Jones already tells us that this album of seven songs (23 minutes) has little to do with the

power pop

of his debut.

What follows, now in writing, may have points in common with the ELO or Hall & Oates.

That is, beautiful pop with an appreciation for melody.

Cover of 'Saviors', Green Day's album.

- Green Day, 'Saviors'

Who are they?

The three members of Green Day are 51 years old, they are multimillionaires and they live with luxuries that we cannot imagine.

Was this punk?

Maybe yes, just as Malcolm McLaren devised it.

Is

Saviors that good?

More than punk, the Californian trio is a stadium rock band.

And thank goodness, because the world needs guys who keep the flame of the genre burning.

Saviors

produces miracles: like making you turn 27 years old again while one of the 15 songs that make up the album plays.

They are fast-paced punk songs with a melody reminiscent of

Dookie

in music and

American Idiot

in theme, as the trio denounces the decadence of their country, the United States.

“The American dream is killing me,” they proclaim in the opening.

Okay, they remember Weezer

(Bobby Sox)

,

Offspring

(One Eyed Bastard),

Oasis

(Goodnight Adeline)

,

Gigolo Aunts

(Suzie Chapstick)

and themselves.

But what does it matter if they fill you with energy for a good season.

Cover of 'What Do We Do Now', album by J Mascis.

- J Mascis, 'What Do We Do Now'

Who is it?

Anyone who has attended one of his concerts will have suffered from it: he is the guy who plays the electric guitar at the loudest volume;

He leaves there with bleeding ears.

That is J Mascis, founder of Dinosaur Jr., who this year will play at the Tomavistas festival in Madrid, the event for those in their forties and fifties nostalgic for the

indie

of the eighties and nineties.

Is

What Do We Do Now that good?

As a contrast to the roars of Dinosaur Jr., Mascis builds his songs alone with the acoustic guitar.

But since the American is addicted to electricity, each song always welcomes a single screech from his Fender.

They are beautiful songs, which do not fall into the mellifluous because Mascis's voice is pure growl.

Cover of 'Here and Now', Delaporte's album.

- Delaporte, 'Here and now'

Who are they?

The Madrid native Sandra Delaporte and the Italian Sergio Salvi, who from their base of operations in Madrid have been creating electronic music since 2017. This

Here and Now

is their best work.

Is

Here and Now so good?

The duo has evolved: from elegant electronic pop to groovy techno.

The particularity of her music is that this techno is offered wrapped in pop cellophane thanks to Sandra's great voice.

It's techno that pop fans will like, with fun and intelligent lyrics about dealing with the mental

problems

we all carry inside.

Sandra's duet with Alice Wonder,

Angel Callen,

is already one of the best Spanish pop songs of the year.

Cover of 'Get It Out', La Perra Blanco's album.

- La Perra Blanco, 'Get It Out'

Who is it?

Alba Blanco, from Línea de La Concepción (Cádiz), a miracle: a twenty-something passionate about rockabilly and rock and roll from the fifties.

Is

Get It Out that good?

Tremendous how this young woman plays the guitar and how well she performs with

fingerpicking,

the function of two guitarists in one, since she herself makes the rhythm, the melody and the solos.

And how she sings.

Chuck Berry, Chet Atkins, Carl Perkins and Merle Travis can be sensed in the 12 songs on this album that lifts your spirits and provokes dancing.

Let's remember: girl, twenty-something, guitarist and lover of music that had already been out of fashion for decades when she was a baby.

Looking forward to seeing her in concert.

Cover of 'Small Fires', Old Heavy Hands album.

- Old Heavy Hands, 'Small Fires'

Who are they?

A band from North Carolina.

And of course: they sport beards and wear jeans and lumberjack shirts.

Is

Small Fires that good?

Whoever is nostalgic for the album

Southern Rock Opera,

by Drive-By Truckers, here is a work to complement that one.

Old Heavy Hands turn up the guitars and produce stubborn rock with country rhythms.

Lynyrd Skynyrd, Steve Earle and even Springsteen sneak in at some point on an album that cynically tells us that what they sold us is a hoax: “If you get to the promised land before me, please send me a pamphlet.”

Cover of 'What Now', Brittany Howard's album.

- Brittany Howard, 'What Now'

Who is it?

The singer of the wonderful Alabama Shakes making up her second solo album.

Is

What Now that good?

It takes courage to start an album with

Earth Sign,

a song that sounds like a collaboration between Queen and Björk.

From here anything can happen.

Brittany Howard moves away from the retro rock of Alabama Shakes to experiment and take risks.

The album offers an overwhelming vocal and musical demonstration, with psychedelic funk,

house

and soul ballads

.

She can sometimes remind us of the most daring Prince.

After listening to it without interruptions, admiration for a daring creator arises.

Cover of 'Under The Influence Of Love', album by The Campbell Apartment.

- The Campbell Apartment, 'Under The Influence Of Love'

Who are they?

A band from San Francisco that has been releasing music for ten years.

Is Under The Influence Of Love

that good ?

An album that could have been recorded in the nineties and fit into the indie-rock section.

From here, the Californians provide a variety that provides highly enjoyable listening.

The Kinks, the Ramones, the Pastels, Weezer, Beach Boys... They are all bands that inspire The Campbell Apartment to make an album with a beautiful title (

Under The Influence Of Love

) and with humorous lyrics, like the one that says “the day the internet dies.”

RESCUED JEWEL OF THE MONTH...

Every month we recommend an album that may have fallen under the radar.

Cover of 'La Frontera', La Frontera's first album, from 1985.

- The Border, 'The Border' (1985)

Who are they?

If someone says that Spanish pop-rock of the eighties was monolithic, you don't have to believe it.

Within the wide variety of sounds, one of the highlights was that of La Frontera, from the Faculty of Information Sciences in Madrid, followers of Ennio Morricone, the westerns of Sergio Leone, the narrative capacity of Bob Dylan and punk-rock by Johnny Thunders.

With this recipe they created impetuous and original music.

Is

La Frontera that good?

There was also what was called New American Rock, bands that starting from The Band dirty their sound and brought it closer to country-rock.

Examples: Long Ryders, Green On Red or Dream Syndicate.

La Frontera debuted with an album where, apart from the fast-paced songs that can be heard clicking with cowboy boots

(

The Valley of Tears

, Rodeo Criminal,

Pobre Tahúr

or a version of

Viva Las Vegas

inspired more by the Dead Kennedys than by Elvis), the value This first album comes from the very inspired narrative mid-tempos, such as

The Back Door of Paradise

,

The Price of Pleasure or

La Frontera

itself .

The two currents make it a pleasure to listen to it even today.

You can follow

Babelia

on

Facebook

and

X

, or sign up here to receive

our weekly newsletter

.

Subscribe to continue reading

Read without limits

Keep reading

I am already a subscriber

_