Every Monday, Ghettoblaster is looking back to new albums released the previous week.  Below you’ll find several albums released on Friday May 20th that we believe are definitely worth a listen.

Car Seat Headrest – Teens of Denial (Matador)

Last year found Car Seat Headrest releasing an album comprised of reworked songs that singer/songwriter Will Toledo had written years ago, functioning as a sort of retrospective collection of older material.  Teens of Denial, Car Seat Headrest’s newest album, functions as Will Toledo’s first real studio album with a full band and the resulting product is a starkly noticeable improvement upon anything Toledo had released before.  The album brings a classic indie rock sound with hints of Pavement and Wire and has some really great rock out moments that will have you turning up the volume.  Overall, Teens of Denial is infused with a joyous sound; however, when digging deeper into the meanings of the songs this is definitely an angry album, which makes for a nice dichotomy as a whole.  Teens of Denial has been hyped for a long time by Stereogum, NPR and various other music outlets, and after listening you’ll understand why.  This is a very special and straightforward indie-rock album, which seem to be in short supply these days, and if you’re a fan of the genre then consider this a must listen.

Andy Shauf – The Party (Anti-)

Multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Andy Shauf takes the promise of his fantastic previous album, The Bearer of Bad News, and delivers an even better album in The Party.  Shauf perfectly combines fuzzed-out guitar, clarinet, piano, strings, acoustic guitar and subtle drumming into beautiful arrangements with fascinating character study type lyrics over the course of these 10 songs.  The Party is a beautiful album full of intricate musical passages and memorable stories and really finds Shauf at his best.  He plays all of the instruments on the album, except for the string arrangements, and what results is the singular vision of an expert songwriter.  The Bearer of Bad News had a more intimate and less complex sound than The Party and the change in complexity is a welcomed one.  The songs are reminiscent of the work Aimee Mann and Jon Brion created together over the years and are utterly compelling.

Mutual Benefit – Skip a Sinking Stone (Mom + Pop)

Skip a Sinking Stone is a flat out beautiful meditation of an album perfect for those moments where one feels like relaxing and basking in the beauty around them.  Mutual Benefit is singer-songwriter Jordan Lee and Skip a Sinking Stone acts as a document of the time between his debut album and the present.  The first half of Skip a Sinking Stone is hopeful and beautiful, with lovely string arrangements and positive songs about being in love and visiting different places while on tour.  The second half of the album finds Lee home from touring, living in New York and dealing with the loss of that love and growing depression.  It’s an incredibly personal, well-made and beautiful album for fans of low key folk music.