Death Cab For Cutie
Narrow Stairs, May 13
Ben Gibbard is one catchy mofo. That is to say, dude writes the kind of pop songs that pitch permanent tents in your brain, whether you want them to or not. Wonder what the new installment of “Title and Registration” and “Soul Meets Body” will be this time around …
Old 97’s
Blame It on Gravity, May 13
Live album? Check. Hits comp? Check. Appearance in Jennifer Aniston/Vince Vaughn flick? Check. Can we get back to business already? Dallas’ alt-country vets do just that on studio disc No. 7—their first since 2004—and something tells us it’ll be a lot better than The Break-Up.
Scarlett Johansson
Anywhere I Lay My Head, May 20
As far as we’re concerned, the whole actor-turned-musician thing is pretty played out. Actress-turned-Tom-Waits-cover-artist, on the other hand, sounds pretty darned unique, unless Tina Fey took on “Cemetery Polka” when we weren’t looking. We concede, we’re as interested in Anywhere for the train-wreck potential as anything, but with David Bowie, TV on the Radio’s David Sitek and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Nick Zinner onboard to help Scarlett out, our guess is her renditions won’t wind up lost in translation after all.
Emmylou Harris
All I Intended to Be, June 10
Emmylou rules. You know it. We know it. We’re pretty sure she knows it, too. So basically, we’re all in agreement: The first entry since 2003 from the country/folk/roots goddess will rule, and we will all worship it, all summer long.
My Morning Jacket
Evil Urges, June 10
Following an exclusive preview, MTV.com summarized that the fifth studio disc from Southern indie sextet MMJ “isn’t easily digestible.” That actually sounds quite promising, coming from a website with Ashlee Simpson and American Idol’s David Archuleta on its front page.
Coldplay
Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, June 17
For a band that achieved global success with albums simply titled Parachutes and X&Y, the fourth LP’s awkward, nine-word mouthful of a designation seems a strange call to say the least. Whether that—or the intriguing choice of Brian Eno as producer—signals an end to Coldplay’s sweeping accessibility remains to be heard.
Mötley Crüe
Saints of Los Angeles, June 17
It’s been 19 years since the Crüe’s founding four released an album together. Wait, what? They put out a disc in 1997 called Generation Swine? Okay, well, not counting that, this is the first real Mötley record since Dr. Feelgood, and hopefully, the first one worth owning since then, too.
Weezer
Weezer, June 17
When in doubt, go self-titled. That’s been the Weezer mantra thrice to date, with 2008’s Weezer following in the cleverly christened footsteps of 2001’s Weezer and 1994’s Weezer. Of course, real fans know them as the Blue Album, Green Album and—though there’s scant visual evidence to corroborate it yet—the Red Album. Hey, as long as it’s better than Make Believe, it can have pink polka dots for all we care.
Wolf Parade
Title TBD, June 17
Tired of listening to those same 12 cuts from 2005’s Apologies to the Queen Mary yet? Neither are we. Still, some new tunes from Montreal’s best indie outfit—yeah, we said it, Arcade Fire; what you gonna do about it?—wouldn’t be bad either, especially if they sound as good as just-premiered preview track “Call It a Ritual.” Now how about playing Vegas one of these days, yo?
Others of note: The Futureheads, This Is Not the World (May 27); Cyndi Lauper, Bring Ya to the Brink (May 27); Spiritualized, Songs in A&E (May 27); Usher, Here I Stand (May 27); Jewel, Perfectly Clear (June 3); Opeth, Watershed (June 3); Alanis Morissette, Flavors of Entanglement (June 10); N.E.R.D., Seeing Sounds (June 10); Silver Jews, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea (June 17); Alejandro Escovedo, Real Animal (June 24); Ne-Yo, Year of the Gentleman (June 24); Nelly, Brass Knuckles (June 24); John Mellencamp, Life, Death, Love, and Freedom (July 15).