1 Beach Bunny “Blame Game” Riding the still-surging momentum of its 2020 full-length debut, “Honeymoon,” Lili Trifilio’s power-pop project delivers a brash and blazing new EP that confronts toxic masculinity and male entitlement.
2 Origin of Animal “Confined to Infinite Space” The restlessly ambitious big band’s fourth album was recorded by its various members in pandemic-dictated isolation, and the result has a dazzling genre-hopping, exquisite-corpse feel, with plenty of conceptual, tonal and textural ideas.
3 Sonus Umbra “A Sky Full of Ghosts” The prog-rock ensemble’s latest is just looking for an arena to fill; for now, your head will have to do. But in an ongoing lockdown, this kind of expansive, widescreen, high-concept, restlessly inventive music-making feels especially liberating.
4 Cynthia Marchant “Heart Cracked Open Wide” The folksinger-songwriter’s debut was recorded right here in her hometown, but everything else about it—from its lyric grit to its rapturous twang—tugs you instantly South.
5 Urban Idols “Revisited” The new EP by the late-nineties punk outfit is a set of “lost” tracks recorded in the fall of 2020, shortly before the band split up. The tunes’ bravura energy and intensity make this release far more than a time capsule.
Robert Rodi is an author, spoken-word performer and musician who has served as Newcity’s Music Editor since 2014. He’s written more than a dozen books, including the travel memoir “Seven Seasons In Siena.” His jazz quintet recently completed a two-year residency at Uncommon Ground, and he regularly hosts a jazz singers’ jam at Lizard’s Liquid Lounge. His literary and music criticism has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, Salon, The Huffington Post and many other national and regional publications. Contact: robert@newcity.com
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