Cut Worms :: The AD Interview

Bursting with melodies and completely unironic passion, Cut Worms latest hits like a golden-hour cigarette on a fire escape, and that won’t change anytime soon. The fact that it’s one of the best records of 2020 feels irrelevant; it could have been one of the best records of 1960, given the vintage production sound created at Sam Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis, and to some crate-diggers down the line, if there is still such a thing, it should be one of the best records of 2080 too.

Alex Izenberg :: Caravan Château

Izenberg’s unpredictable song structures and weary vocal lines are his and his alone. The ride is a wild—almost terrifying—one at times, but as soon as you start to feel a little turned around, Izenberg is there to pick you up and dust you off.

Damaged Bug :: “Sold America”

The Record Store Day–attached project is now delayed until July, but the belle of the ball is the already released single “Sold America,” a track from Michael Yonkers Band’s 1968 classic Microminiature Love that feels so thoroughly modern in Dwyer’s hands that it’s somewhat baffling it was originally written and recorded during the Vietnam War.

Kiwi Jr :: Football Money

Kiwi Jr’s Football Money is a debut that feels like a finale—like the type of record you might expect to hear from a seasoned band just before they call it quits on the patently impossible indie-rock lifestyle while trying to find a foothold in the real world […]

Aquarium Drunkard :: Decade / 2010-19

Well, that was fast. Decade is just about over, and as it draws to a close, its highs look awfully high in the rearview. Presented here, an unranked sprawl of 100 records that stuck with us, managing to break through the noise of an increasingly distracting age, and stick around in our heads.

David Berman :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

David Berman is now recording under the moniker of Purple Mountains, and with the help of Jeremy Earl and Jarvis Taveniere of Woods, has created an album that encapsulates an entire missing chapter of his life—and, in typical fashion, has revealed quite a lot about that chapter in the process.

The Aquarium Drunkard Guide To Drag City Records: Volume One

Chicago’s venerable Drag City turns 30 years young in 2019. In perhaps typical fashion, the label doesn’t seem to be doing much in the way of commemoration — no star-studded festival, no limited edition boxed set, no self-congratulatory excess. Instead, Drag City is doing what it’s always done: releasing great records.

But those past glories deserve a little celebration, don’t they? That’s why the Aquarium Drunkard team has put together this eclectic guide to Drag City’s immense catalog: 30 masterpieces for 30 years.

Neil Young + Stray Gators :: Tuscaloosa

Intentional or not, Neil Young picked a rather poignant time to release a live album recorded in Alabama—and given his prickly history with the state (and with the South at large), Tuscaloosa feels like it’s arriving in the same way that so much of Shakey’s career has: just when we need it.

Please :: Seeing Stars

Seeing Stars, the second salvaged Please album, is the real gem of the two—a surprise stunner of organ-driven, hyper-melodic psych-pop that would feel right at home on Jagjaguwar or Sacred Bones today.