1) Chicano Batman, “Notebook Fantasy” / God, I love Chicano Batman—and their latest is a perfect reminder why. The L.A. band creates a spiraling sound, weaving the Technicolor psychedelic rock of decades passed together with a glorious forward motion.
2) Sarah Shook and the Disarmers, “Revelations” / River Shook and Co. continue to make some of the best country-leaning rock and roll of the 21st century. Their latest tangles up Son Volt-era alt-country and punk and radio rock to create something befitting of our age’s urgency as well as the times and traditions preceding us.
3) The music of Richy Mitch and the Coal Miners / Indie-folk of the dreamy, resonant variety spills forth from this Seattle band, which is building one of the true unsung catalogs in our musical moment.
4) Anna Gazmarian, “Devout” / Gazmarian’s “memoir of doubt” is an important new addition to a growing canon of texts on faith and mental health (see also Charles Marsh’s “Evangelical Anxiety”). Gazmarian exposes the failures of a certain comfort, expressed in platitudes and easy-believe-ism, then fills that painful void with stories of tangible help, intimate, patient covenants, and learning to listen to yourself.
5) Jennifer Maritza McCauley, “Wingman” for Cultural Daily / McCauley ranks among my stop-everything-and-read authors, so I was heartened to encounter a new short story of hers. A sort of lovely, askew tenderness attends this one about how community forms through heartbreak and as we recognize flawed but certain beauty living inside another person.
I switched my gaze over at Obed, and saw that his eyes were wet. I let out a long breath. We were just two fucking idiots.