Music Suitcase: Favorite New Albums of June 2023
Welcome to the 66th edition of my monthly blog! 2023 is a whole new music year after June: First album here is a strong contender for Album of the Year, and I didn’t nearly have room for all the albums I wanted to showcase here — more on that at the end. Many of these from the indie rock world, but we’ve got a few strong outliers near the top too.
Along with the blog, here’s a playlist with favorite songs from June!
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Weathervanes
Eight albums in and we get a new, potentially career-defining work from the Alabama native, whose deep, dark and heart-breaking vignettes about lives corroded by addiction, violence and despair ring out with heart and wisdom. This album takes some time to digest, not just for the difficult subject matter but because it’s so rich, Isbell’s stories need time to sink in. It comes with a strong southern accent — musically, thematically, and literally — but let that not keep anyone from hearing this true modern masterpiece. Highlights: “Save The World,” “Miles,” “Cast Iron Skillet,” “King of Oklahoma”
Geese, 3D Country
Vaulting suddenly from experimental post-punk right across the punk/hippie fence into bluesy, progged out psychedelia, this Brooklyn band has arrived at a much more distinctive and fertile aesthetic. Their third album is equal parts soulful, playful, and trippy, and Cameron Winter’s come into his own as a singer, the full character of his voice on display. Three of the best songs of 2023 are: “2122,” “I See Myself,” “Mysterious Love”
Janelle Monáe, The Age of Pleasure
Taking several steps away from her sci-fi neo-soul roots in the direction of mainstream hip hop — both sonically and lyrically — fortunately doesn’t stifle Janelle Monae’s musical genius. Her fourth album is an aptly-titled manifesto of celebratory hedonism and sex-positivity, and makes good on her promise as a protégé of Prince. Highlights: “Know Better,” “Phenomenal,” “The Rush”
Skating Polly, Chaos County Line
Indie rock with facile guitar work and engrossing lyrics made by a pair of step-sisters from Oklahoma (and now their newly added drummer brother), Skating Polly’s 67-minute, 18-songs epic is versatile enough to justify its 67-minute runtime and full enough of memorable melodies hold your attention all the way through. Highlights: “Send A Priest,” “Booster Seat,” “Someone Like A Friend”
Killer Mike, Michael
His first album alone since before he became half of Run The Jewels a decade ago, Mike’s solo return uses a focus on his personal life as a vehicle for speaking to sociopolitical realities and the world at large. This album’s only weakness is an embarrassment of riches: Most of his featured guests fall short of Mike’s own lyrical chops. Highlights: “Scientists & Enineers,” “Down By Law,” “Something For Junkies”
Grian Chatten, Chaos For The Fly
Potentially the greatest male rock lyricist of his generation, the Fontaines DC frontman launches his solo debut. Not much like his band’s post-punk sound at all, this record has a strong folk component but largely takes a post-genre pop approach to instrumentation, allowing the songs, rather than any given sound, to take center stage. Highlights: “Fairlies,” “Salt Throwers Off A Truck,” “The Score”
Squid, O Monolith
Delving further into sonically elaborate, textured art rock, the Brighton-based band sidelines much of the frenetic, punk-ish intensity of their debut. While their experimentation seems steadier and more methodical now, odd times singnatures and occasional wigouts still display their oddball badge proudly. Highlights: “Swing (In A Dream),” “Undergrowth,” “If You Had Seen The Bull’s Swimming Attempts You Would Have Stayed Away”
Ben Harper, Wide Open Light
In the 4th decade of his career, having graduated the jam band scene long ago, the Californian singer/songwriter is now an elder statesman of calm, gentle blues-folk music with a penchant for writing utterly perfect love songs. This wise, reflective, seventeenth album is as good a summation of his gifts as any. Highlights: “Masterpiece,” “Yard Sale,” “One More Change”
Portugal. The Man, Chris Black Changed My Life
Capitalizing on their raised profile in the wake of 2017’s Woodstock, the band re-emerge with a 9th studio album full of infectious, energetic indie pop, and a more unified sound than ever before, even as they draw from all over the popular music map. The album’s devoted to their late friend, filmmaker Chris Black. Highlights: “Dummy,” “Champ,” “Thunderdome”
This Is The Kit, Careful Of Your Keepers
Simply but artfully structured, smooth-rolling alt-folk from Paris with an interesting take on structure and repetition, Kate Stables’s latest feels like cozying up with a close friend to unravel the day’s events. It’s warm, and gentle, but never lazy; it’s easy-going comfort is earned by thoughtful reflection. Highlights: “Inside Outside,” “More Change,” “Stuck in a Room”
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, PetroDragonic Apocalypse…
Using the thrash metal stylings of 2019’s Infest The Rats’ Nest as a springboard into a much more melodic, complex, and rhythmically robust prog-thrash sound, the metal version of the prolific Australian psych rockers has finally won me over. Highlights: “Dragon,” “Witchcraft,” “Gila Monster”
Bully, Lucky For You
Turning tragedy and personal turmoil into anthemic power, Alicia Bognanno’s hook-laden, guitar-driven (indie) rock that would be hard not to sing along to. Her 4th album is that rare rock record that doesn’t lean toward any particular subgenre but still doesn’t feel like just generic radio rock. Highlights: “Hard To Love,” “How Will I know,” “All That Noise”
(How on earth is this the 12th album on my list, y’all??? I feel like most months this would be in the top 5, but June is just so crowded!!!)
Protomartyr, Formal Growth in the Desert
The Detroit post-punk band’s lyrics are as incisive as ever on their 6th album, and their music is maybe even punchier, its intensity bolstered by a more elegant sense of songcraft and by continued innovations in their sound (on this album it’s a steel pedal.) Passionate, urgent, and empowered. Highlights: “Fun In Hi Skool,” “For Tomorrow,” “Polacrilex Kid”
Cable Ties, All Her Plans
An Australian punk band with something to say, Jenny McKenchie and her band’s 3rd studio album comes equipped with a balls-to-the-wall mode that make some of their tunes scorching, but enough presence power to make their slower and more personal numbers impactful too. Highlights: “Thoughts Back,” “Silos,” “Time For You”
Dream Wife, Social Lubrication
Noise pop from Brighton with an American-raised Icelandic singer, this all-woman trio’s grit and power would be audible anywhere in the world. Third album shows us their sense of humor a bit more while standing firm in its urgency. Highlights: “The Leech,” “Who Do You Wanna Be?,” “I Want You”
Swans, The Beggar
The New York outfit’s 16th album features two more solid hours of hypnotically droning experimental rock is steadier and often simpler than much of their work, but still demonstrates enough dynamic outbursts to still be called avant-garde. Highlights: “Los Angeles: City of Death,” “No More of This,” “Why Can’t I Have What I Want Any Time That I Want?”
Queens of the Stone Age, …In Times New Roman
Albums aren’t made this way obviously, but it sounds like Josh Homme is struggling way back to vitality after several years of trauma and turmoil throughout this record and then hits his stride on the second half. As always, riff-driven hard rock is his bread and butter. Highlights: “What The Peephole Say,” “Sicily,” “Emotion Sickness”
Django Django, Off Planet
Featuring its bevy of guest vocalists so prominently than the duo come across more as a production team than a rock band, Django Django lean all the way into the synth pop side of their sound. As a much larger fan of their art rock side, it’s not my favorite direction for them, but there are still some great standouts. Highlights: “Fluxus,” “Golden Cross,” “Gazelle”
Just give you an idea of how exceptional this month was, here are a few of the artists who made new, good albums that did NOT fit onto my list: Christine & the Queens, Sigur Rós, Ben Folds, Jenny Lewis, Wye Oak, RVG, Rancid, Swans, Cowbow Junkies, Foo Fighters, Millitarie Gun, Jess Williamson, and Ben Howard. All of those were somehow upstaged, for me, by the albums on this list! But honestly they’re all still working checking out!
You can find highlights from those albums, as well as my favorite songs from all the above albums, on my Best of June playlist!
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While we’re here…
Did you enjoy this article? Awesome! It was written by a white guy privileged enough to have time listen to like 40 albums every month and write a blog as a passion project, for free.
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Nerding out over music is fun, but let’s not forget that we live in a burning world that needs our help! Black Lives Matter.