VZ Magazine

Hello, VZ readers. I’ve been listening to a lot of music lately, and I can’t think of much for a full review at the moment. So, here is a Consumer Guide-esque column on some music that you should definitely check out (if you haven’t already). I hope you enjoy, and I’ll try to get a full review finished as soon as I can.

Great Albums:

Himanshu: Nehru Jackets

Das Racist is one of the best hip hop groups around today, with funny songs that are musical in a way that comedy music usually isn’t. Nehru Jackets is the first solo mix tape from member Heems, and damn is it good. Every song is memorable. My favorite: “It’s the Drug I’m Needing.” A- 

ScHoolboy Q: Habits & Contradictions

Picture Rick Ross, but with authenticity. That’s ScHoolboy Q, and he’s great. A-

The Men: Open Your Heart

Believe the hype. Open Your Heart is hardcore punk at its most listenable. Loud, pounding, at times arsty, and yet still tuneful, it’s the hardest album I’ve heard all year, and it never lets up... except on “Candy,” a strange change of pace that is more influenced by college rock than hardcore punk. With multiple listens, it reveals itself to be the album’s most memorable song. A-

The Menzingers: On the Impossible Past

If Open Your Heart represents the arty side of punk, On the Impossible Past is the punk side of punk. The Menzingers are basically Rise Against with better songs. I doubt Rise Against has released a song as good as the opening track here, anyway. Punk isn’t dead. A

Todd Snider: Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables

I’ve said plenty about this album already, but it deserves a few more words. Give it a listen. A

Great Singles:

Bruce Springsteen: “We Take Care of Our Own”

The Wall Street Movement was just asking for a Springsteen song to be its anthem, and they have a whole album of songs to choose. I hope it’s this one. A-

Delta Spirit: “California”

Delta Spirit’s whole album is wonderful, and “California” is the stand-out moment. A

Django Django: “Default”

My favorite song of the year, so far. Although the album it comes from is just alright, “Default” is an indie-pop masterpiece, pulling together everything great about the genre together into three minutes of ear-candy. A+

Jack White: “Love Interruption”

Blunderbuss is an album I cannot wait to be released, being the huge Jack White fan that I am. This single got me even more hyped, though. Releasing this under his own name was a perfect idea because, listening to this song, it doesn’t sound like The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, or The Dead Weather. It sounds like the man who made all of those bands great, stripped down. It’s jazzy and addictive. A 

The Magnetic Fields: “Andrew in Drag”

I reviewed the new Magnetic Fields album about a few weeks ago, and I kicked myself for not mentioning the album’s best track. So, here it is: “Andrew in Drag,” the funniest, catchiest, Merritt-est song on the album. A

Bonuses:

2:54: “Scarlett”

The EP this song is attached to isn’t special, but this song is very riot-grrrlish in the best way possible. Eerie, melodic, and very good. A

Dum Dum Girls: “Last Caress”

This Misfits cover is actually from 2010, but I just heard it for the first time …Wow. A+

Matthew Dear: Headcage EP

I like it more than Burial’s Kindred EP. A-