New Music Monthly: May 2017 Releases

The list of albums scheduled for May release is mighty impressive, including new music from old friends like the Afghan Whigs, Blondie, Robin Trower, the Suicide Commandos, Todd Rundgren, and the Mountain Goats. There's also a career retrospective from Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, a long-lost LP from rock 'n' roll legend Dion, reissues from Neil Young and Jethro Tull, and cool new blues tunes from Janiva Magness and John Nemeth, both amazing vocalists you should know about. And don't forget our "album of the month," from Nashville's Raging Fire. No matter your taste in music, there's a lot to like in May; here's what you'll be spending your hard-earned coin on buying this month...

MAY 5
The Afghan Whigs - In Spades   BUY!
At The Drive-In - In-ter a-li-a   BUY!
Blondie - Pollinator   BUY!
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Lovely Creatures   BUY!
Robin Trower - Time and Emotion   BUY!
Suicide Commandos - Time Bomb   BUY!
Various Artists - Max's Kansas City 1976 & Beyond   BUY!

MAY 12
Danzig - Black Laden Crown   BUY!
Dion - Kickin' Child   BUY!
Janiva Magness - Blue Again   BUY!
Raging Fire - These Teeth Are Sharp   BUY!
Todd Rundgren - White Knight   BUY!
Paul Weller - A Kind Revolution   BUY!
Neil Young - Official Release Series, Discs 5-8   BUY!
Neil Young - Official Release Series, Discs 8.5-12   BUY!

MAY 19
Selwyn Birchwood - Pick Your Poison   BUY!
DragonForce - Reaching Into Infinity   BUY!
Jethro Tull - Songs From The Wood (40th Anniversary)   BUY!
Pokey LaFarge - Manic Revelations   BUY!
The Mountain Goats - Goths   BUY!
John Nemeth - Feelin' Freaky   BUY!

MAY 26
The Charlatans UK - Different Days   BUY!
Justin Townes Earle - Kids In The Street   BUY!

(Album release dates are subject to change without notice and they don't always let me know, so there...)

Album of the Month: Raging Fire's These Teeth Are Sharp, the Nashville rock legends first new music in 30 years. The popular rockers were one of the best unsigned bands of the '80s, but they never managed to catch the break that would propel them out of the underground and into the major leagues (to be honest, it was hard being a rock band in the Music City in the 1980s...). The surviving band members (Michael Godsey, R.I.P.) reunited in the wake of the release of the retrospective Everything Is Roses 1985-1989 and, liking what they heard, recorded the songs that would become These Teeth Are Sharp. Check 'em out on the band's website and you'll agree that Raging Fire is the best band you've never heard! Watch for a review of the album here in the next couple of weeks, and check out the Reverend's That Devil Music review of Everything Is Roses...