Seattle's Tacocat returns with This Mess Is a Place, a stellar new album in which the band confronts existential crisis and embraces widescreen guitar-based pop.
Dinosaur Jr. guitarist/vocalist J Mascis carries on with his trademark solo sound on Elastic Days, producing another intricate work that mixes folk and rock.
Sam Beam returns to his roots with a warm acoustic record which is often understated but packed with emotional power and arguably his strongest vocal performance to date
Porter Ray's rapping on Watercolor is relaxed but quick, a style that emphasizes the intellectual bent to many of his rhymes, but intentionally fails to prepare you for the weight of his message.
