First Listen : NPR

First Listen: Spider Bags, 'Frozen Letter'

Spider Bags' new album, Frozen Letter, comes out Aug. 5. Jeremy M. Lange/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Jeremy M. Lange/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Spider Bags, 'Frozen Letter'

July 27, 2014 • Frontman Dan McGee writes songs with more personality than almost any in garage rock. This album exudes the unabashed glee that comes from music played hard and with reason.

Frozen Letter

Audio for First Listens is no longer available after the album has been released.

First Listen: Christopher Denny, 'If The Roses Don't Kill Us'

Christopher Denny's new album, If The Roses Don't Kill Us, comes out Aug. 5. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Christopher Denny, 'If The Roses Don't Kill Us'

July 27, 2014 • This singer-songwriter has been through hard times — but you wouldn't know it from his new album. It blossoms with inventive turns of phrase, quiet affection and a peculiar sweetness.

If The Roses Don't Kill Us

Audio for First Listens is no longer available after the album has been released.

Adult Jazz's new album, Gist Is, comes out Aug. 4. James Pearson Howes/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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James Pearson Howes/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Adult Jazz, 'Gist Is'

July 27, 2014 • This English band's ideas move fast — riffs erupt only to disappear just as quickly. It's as though they're chasing super-concentrated bursts of bliss that gather into epic music.

Gist Is

Audio for First Listens is no longer available after the album has been released.

First Listen: Panopticon, 'Roads To The North'

Panopticon's new album, Roads To The North, comes out Aug. 5. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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First Listen: Panopticon, 'Roads To The North'

July 27, 2014 • Inspired by the birth of a child and a new career, Austin Lunn's triumphant, ebullient new album as Panopticon steps outside his curveball mixture of metal and American folk.

Roads To The North

Audio for First Listens is no longer available after the album has been released.

First Listen: Jenny Lewis, 'The Voyager'

Jenny Lewis' new album, The Voyager, comes out July 29. Autumn de Wilde/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Autumn de Wilde/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Jenny Lewis, 'The Voyager'

July 20, 2014 • The Voyager's clever (but never too-clever) sound builds an open structure within which Lewis can explore her current fascination: the weight of full adulthood, and its paradoxical precariousness.

The Voyager

Audio for First Listens is no longer available after the album has been released.

First Listen: Wildest Dreams, 'Wildest Dreams'

Wildest Dreams' new, self-titled album comes out July 29. Music By Marina/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Music By Marina/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Wildest Dreams, 'Wildest Dreams'

July 20, 2014 • In his new band, venerable U.K. DJ Harvey Bassett indulges a love of psychedelic garage rock. Throughout Wildest Dreams, he displays an impeccable sense of when to rev up and when to lay off the gas.

Wildest Dreams

Audio for First Listens is no longer available after the album has been released.

Quetzal's new album, Quetzanimales, comes out July 29. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Quetzal, 'Quetzanimales'

July 20, 2014 • Quetzal has spent two decades playing the soundtrack of its East L.A. neighborhoods: an evolving mash-up of Mexican son jarocho, low-rider oldies, cumbia, boleros, rock and blues.

Quetzanimales

Audio for First Listens is no longer available after the album has been released.

First Listen: Bear In Heaven, 'Time Is Over One Day Old'

Bear In Heaven's new album, Time Is Over One Day Old, comes out Aug. 5. Dusdin Condren/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Dusdin Condren/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Bear In Heaven, 'Time Is Over One Day Old'

July 20, 2014 • The Brooklyn band writes inventive epics that behave like highly concentrated energy shots. You have to pay attention, because key elements arrive and depart in a blink.

Time Is Over One Day Old

Audio for First Listens is no longer available after the album has been released.

First Listen: Shabazz Palaces, 'Lese Majesty'

Shabazz Palaces' new album, Lese Majesty, comes out July 29. Patrick O'Brien-Smith/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Patrick O'Brien-Smith/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Shabazz Palaces, 'Lese Majesty'

July 20, 2014 • Lese Majesty is MC and producer Ishmael Butler's most relentlessly noncommercial chapter yet. No hits, no singles; just raw, graceful tunes from the inventive former leader of Digable Planets.

Lese Majesty

Audio for First Listens is no longer available after the album has been released.

First Listen: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, 'Hypnotic Eye'

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' new album, Hypnotic Eye, comes out July 29. Mary Ellen Matthews/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Mary Ellen Matthews/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, 'Hypnotic Eye'

July 20, 2014 • An air of mystery has helped keep Petty relevant for nearly 40 years. At 63, the rock legend's cynicism works hand-in-glove with his hard-earned cragginess.

Hypnotic Eye

Audio for First Listens is no longer available after the album has been released.

First Listen: White Fence, 'For The Recently Found Innocent'

White Fence's new album, For The Recently Found Innocent, comes out July 22. Ruth Swanson/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Ruth Swanson/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: White Fence, 'For The Recently Found Innocent'

July 13, 2014 • Performing as White Fence, Tim Presley steers toward the gentle pomp of late-'60s psychedelic pop, rock and folk. Along the way, he writes to the canon from which he performs and bends it to his will.

For The Recently Found Innocent

Audio for First Listens is no longer available when the album is released.

Alvvays' new album, Alvvays, comes out July 22. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Alvvays, 'Alvvays'

July 13, 2014 • Millennial social anxiety pairs with breezy, effortlessly cool surf-rock on Alvvays, and the combination is irresistible. The Toronto band's beach-pop seems to come straight from the California shore.

Alvvays

Audio for First Listens is no longer available once the album is released.

Review: Joyce Manor, 'Never Hungover Again'

Joyce Manor's new album, Never Hungover Again, comes out July 22. Dan Monick/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Dan Monick/Courtesy of the artist

Review: Joyce Manor, 'Never Hungover Again'

July 13, 2014 • The SoCal punk band's Smiths obsession makes for a confident, focused, 19-minute record that still gleefully indulges in pick scrapes and fast three-chord songs.

Never Hungover Again

Audio for First Listens is no longer available once the album is released.

First Listen: Slow Club, 'Complete Surrender'

Slow Club's new album, Complete Surrender, comes out July 15. Andy Earl/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Andy Earl/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Slow Club, 'Complete Surrender'

July 7, 2014 • Echoes of British R&B and vintage American pop ring through an album by this English duo. "The idea behind it," Charles Watson says, "was to be a bit more reserved."

Complete Surrender

Audio for First Listens is no longer available after the album has been released.

First Listen: Morrissey, 'World Peace Is None Of Your Business'

Morrissey's new album, World Peace Is None Of Your Business, comes out July 15. Greg Gorman/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Greg Gorman/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Morrissey, 'World Peace Is None Of Your Business'

July 6, 2014 • "The rhythm of life goes round," the singer repeats, summing up a set ranging from politics to gang violence to gender identity. He's in fine voice, belting and going gentle without strain.

World Peace Is None Of Your Business

Audio for First Listens is no longer available after the album has been released.

First Listen

Sunday July 27, 2014

First Listen: Spider Bags, 'Frozen Letter'

Frozen Letter

First Listen: Christopher Denny, 'If The Roses Don't Kill Us'

If The Roses Don't Kill Us

First Listen: Adult Jazz, 'Gist Is'

Gist Is

First Listen: Panopticon, 'Roads To The North'

Roads To The North

Sunday July 20, 2014

First Listen: Jenny Lewis, 'The Voyager'

The Voyager

First Listen: Wildest Dreams, 'Wildest Dreams'

Wildest Dreams

First Listen: Quetzal, 'Quetzanimales'

Quetzanimales

First Listen: Bear In Heaven, 'Time Is Over One Day Old'

Time Is Over One Day Old

First Listen: Shabazz Palaces, 'Lese Majesty'

Lese Majesty

First Listen: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, 'Hypnotic Eye'

Hypnotic Eye

Sunday July 13, 2014

First Listen: White Fence, 'For The Recently Found Innocent'

For The Recently Found Innocent

First Listen: Alvvays, 'Alvvays'

Alvvays

Review: Joyce Manor, 'Never Hungover Again'

Never Hungover Again

Monday July 7, 2014

First Listen: Slow Club, 'Complete Surrender'

Complete Surrender

Sunday July 6, 2014

First Listen: Morrissey, 'World Peace Is None Of Your Business'

World Peace Is None Of Your Business