  Bjork's new disc comes out June 23rd. |
With everybody from Aerosmith to ZZ Top embarking on greatest-hits tours this summer, you might think the music biz has decided not to put out new CDs this summer.
Think again. While the major records labels always take a bit of a breather for July and August, there are still more then enough new tunes on the way to keep your iPod shuffling until Labour Day. Elvis Costello, Dave Matthews, Iggy Pop, Rancid and some guy named Neil Young kicked off the season on Tuesday; here are some of the other big releases headed our way as unavoidably as Bruno's crotch.
June
Black Eyed Peas/The E.N.D.: Don't get your hopes up, haters; that title stands for the Energy Never Dies. Much like Fergie and co.'s inexplicable popularity. (Today)
Sonic Youth/The Eternal: Guitar abuse, primal beats and ragged vocals never get old -- at least, not to these New York noise-rock pioneers. (Today)
The Jonas Brothers/Lines, Vines and Trying Times: Nick, Joe and ... um, you know, the other one ... say Elvis Costello and Prince influenced their fourth CD. Oh, goodie. (June 16)
Street Sweeper Social Club/Street Sweeper Social Club: Rage/Audioslave guitar wankster Tom Morello continues his quest for relevance in a new duo with Boots Riley of The Coup. (June 16)
Alexisonfire/Old Crows, Young Cardinals: Workaholic singer-guitarist Dallas Green and his screamo boys give us the bird twice on their fourth album. (June 23)
Cheap Trick/The Latest: We hope this rocks half as hard as that re-recorded version of In Color that's been floating around the Interwebs for years. (June 23)
Dinosaur Jr./Farm: J. Mascis and co. make like Neil Young and Crazy Horse on their second album since burying the hatchet a few years back. (June 23)
Spinal Tap/Back From the Dead: This summer they're gonna rock you again this summer again. We still can't believe these guys aren't touring with Anvil. (June 23)
Björk/Voltaic: A two-CD, two-DVD box of outtakes, performances and remixes of the alt-pixie's Volta CD. This should save Iceland's economy. (June 23)
Moby/Wait for Me: The first single from the great white male's ninth album was boring. Let's hope the rest of the CD is worth the wait. (June 30)
Brad Paisley/American Saturday Night: Expect more cornball tunes and wicked guitar licks from the affable country-popster. (June 30)
Wilco/Wilco (The Album): The Chicago avant-roots outfit's latest features the tune Wilco (The Song) -- presumably to be followed by Wilco (The Song) (The Video). (June 30)
Rob Thomas/Cradlesong: Mr. Matchbox Twenty says his goal was to make this second album sound nothing like the first. Well, that's a good start. (June 30)
July
Billy Talent/Billy Talent III: We can't say much for their album titles -- but what we've heard of the Canuck screamo stars' latest CD, we like. (July 14)
Daughtry/Leave This Town: Substitute the word Industry for Town, and we can totally get behind Mr. Angry's McIdol's second album. (July 14)
The Dead Weather/Horehound: Hands up, everybody who wants to hear Jack White play drums instead of make a new White Stripes album. Yeah, us neither. (July 14)
Our Lady Peace/Burn Burn: Seriously, you guys can stop any time now. We're good. Really. (July 21)
Phish/Party Time: That title could end up being be Light (Yellow) -- or if bassist Mike Gordon has his way, The Best F------ Phish Album Ever! Maybe Party Time ain't so bad after all. (July 28)
August
Collective Soul/TBA: See Our Lady Peace. (Aug. 4)
Lil Wayne/Rebirth: The chart-topping rapper's rock album has been delayed umpteen times already, so don't camp out at the store the night before or anything. (Aug. 18)
Willie Nelson/American Classic: It's been almost three months since Willie's last album. Dude's getting lazy in his old age. (Aug. 25)
Arctic Monkeys/TBA: The cheeky Brits recorded this third album at the Mojave Desert studio of QOTSA's Josh Homme. Stoner Monkeys? Cool. (Aug. 25)
Creed/Full Circle: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! (August)
