The best things we heard in March

Pete Wild – The new Real Estate album Daniel is just for me a shimmering blast of sunshine at the moment. You might have heard lead single ‘Water Underground’ on Radio 6. The album feels like Document-period REM by way of primo Death Cab for Cutie. It’s all killer and no filler and I have literally been listening to nothing else. Looking forward to the live dates later in the year too.

Rick Larson – Katie Crutchfield aka Waxahatchee steps up and shows she does the Americana, alt country thing better than anyone. ‘Right Back to It’ off her new release Tigers Blood is an instant classic, musically and lyrically a lovely slow burn that immediately sparks a deep emotional response. Her voice sounds amazing; the song could be a Bonnie Raitt standard. Lending his golden touch throughout the album is the now welcomely ubiquitous Jake Lenderman (Wednesday, MJ Lenderman). This is, will remain, one of the best songs of the year.

Olivia Rodrigo is going to save rock’n roll. The once indefatigable genre is laid up on life support in Mass Popularity General, suffering from self -inflicted wounds and a thousand cuts by sensitive men with mandolins and brambles in their beards, mopey incels with stacks of synthesizers. A gawky theater kid is going to revive it. ‘obsessed’ is her most recent shot in the arm. It rocks. She rocks.

Will Collins – You’ll probably make your mind up about whether you’ll like Pissed Jeans on the basis of their name, without having heard a note of their music. And your verdict will probably be correct. But for those who like scuzzy, full throttle hardcore at the Husker Du or Gang Green end of the speed spectrum, there is a lot to like about their new record, Half Divorced. It’s full of up tempo, surprisingly melodic ragers that never outstay their welcome. At a time when so much music is po-faced and overly serious, it is fun and silly without slipping into novelty territory. It isn’t all one-note either – there are excursions into almost noise rock territory in the vein of The Jesus Lizard and some slower material that calls to mind My War-era Black Flag. Silly music made by serious musicians, there is enough variety and nuance here to stop the record slipping into rote familiarity by its end. You know the drill: turn it on and turn it up loud!.

Matt Paul – This month I’ve been getting into the new Little Simz EP, Drop 7. These stripped down and fiery releases always seem to be an interesting contrast to Simz’s epic albums. And the 7th edition is no different. Simz finds space to try out some really charged electronic beats, danceable latin funk, and even an instrumental track. Though it doesn’t have the same scope of her major releases, it is maybe the most experimental I have heard her. At less than 15 minutes for tracks, you have time to listen to this.

Sam Atkins – This month has been packed with albums I was excited to hear and aside from one or two everything has been brilliant. Albums from both Ariana Grande and Kacey Musgraves have been on heavy rotation for me, two less immediate records than we usually expect from them, but both Eternal Sunshine and Deeper Well have fast become big favourites for me. Cowboy Carter continues Beyonce’s run of excellent albums, but I still need a few more weeks to really settle into the album.

I want to shout out The Staves too, who on their first full length album as a two piece may have released their most consistently great album yet. All Now is so interesting and diverse musically and yet the band sound even more cohesive than usual. Closer ‘You Held It All’ and ‘I Don’t Say It, But I Feel It’ have been big standouts for me so far.

James Spearing – At the risk of becoming a bore on the new music front, it’s Fabiana Palladino (again) and Holysseus Fly (again) with ‘I Can’t Dream Anymore’ and ‘Out Of This World’ respectively. I would pick someone else, but they’d need to be bloody good to knock these two off rotation.

I was also lucky enough to make it to two cracking gigs in the middle of March. Say She She and Folly Group are very different live propositions, but both rocked Manchester even harder than I’d hoped for.

Tom Burrows – I’ve already written about the Yard Act album, so moving onto another new release, I quite liked Tierra Whack’s debut album proper, World Wide Whack. We’re 6 years removed from her hugely creative Whack World EP, and by the sounds of it, it’s been a tough time for the singer-rapper. Directly discussing her struggles with depression, the mood sometimes feels a little disjointed as it flits between her comedic and playful side and the bleak moments that she has lived with. While it doesn’t hit the heights of her breakout release, songs like ‘Imaginary Friends’ and ‘Burning Brains’ show her at her best.

And then for something much, much older, March 2024 was the month I properly listened to Pet Sounds, the 1966 classic by The Beach Boys. Seriously. I’d saved a couple of songs from it in the past, but somehow had never checked it out in full. Having come across another of the tunes on a Spotify playlist, I reflected on the fact that I always enjoy their music, so gave it a blast. Yeah, it has a rep for a reason doesn’t it? That production is so dreamy. ‘Caroline, No’ was my favourite of the new discoveries. Better late than never, eh.

That’s all for this month. Enjoyed these recommendations? Why not buy us a coffee at ko-fi.com/pickybastards?