ALBUM OF THE WEEK

Mikal Cronin
mcii
Merge
Released: 05.07.13
CD/LP+download


A lot of people might be surprised that Mikal Cronin had a clean sheen power-pop masterpiece in him based on his affiliation with Ty Segall and his first record of fuzzed-out guitar rock. But if you really listened to that first record, there was a pop craftsman trying to breakfree.

On mcii Cronin fully embraces his pop-side writing some of the catchiest songs you've heard in quite some time. This one is taking out a 30 year mortgage in your brain.

~Kevin Saves

Check them out:
http://mikalcronin.bandcamp.com/

Mikal Cronin - Shout It Out
Mikal Cronin - Change

PREVIOUS ALBUMS OF THE WEEK
(Click on a band name to read that Album Of The Week!)

05.07.13 Deerhunter Monomania 4AD
04.30.13 Ra Ra Riot Beta Love Barsuk
04.16.13 Luxury Liners They're Flowers Western Vinyl
04.09.13 Bonobo The North Borders Ninja Tune
04.02.13 The Men New Moon Sacred Bones
03.26.13 Phosphorescent Muchacho Dead Oceans
03.12.13 Matt Pond The Lives Inside the Lines in Your Hand BMG
02.26.13 Veronica Falls Waiting For Something to Happen Slumberland
02.19.13 Frightened Rabbit Pedestrian Verse Atlantic
02.12.13 Grouper The Man Who Died in His Boat, Dragging a Dead Dear Up a Hill Kranky
02.05.13 Mice Parade Candela FatCat
01.29.13 Yo La Tengo Fade Matador

10.05.12 The xx Coexist Young Turks
09.18.12 Menomena Moms Barsuk
08.21.12 Luna Bewitched Elektra/Gotta Groove
07.31.12 blur CD/LP reissues Parlophone
07.24.12 Purity Ring Shrines 4AD
07.17.12 King Tuff King Tuff Sub Pop
07.10.12 Ty Segall Band Slaughterhouse In the Red
06.19.12 Nada Surf The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy Barsuk
06.05.12 Ramona Falls Prophet Barsuk
05.29.12 Lemonade Diver True Panther Sounds
05.15.12 Beach House Bloom Sub Pop
05.01.12 Lower Dens Nootropics Domino
04.17.12 Lotus Plaza Spooky Action At A Distance Kranky
04.03.12 THEESatisfaction awE naturalE Sub Pop
03.13.12 The Men Open Your Heart Sacred Bones
02.28.12 The Twilight Sad No One Can Ever Know FatCat
02.14.12 Bears Greater Lakes Misra
02.07.12 Sharon Van Etten Tramp Jagjaguwar
01.24.12 Cloud Nothings Attack on Memory Carpark

11.22.11 M83 Hurry Up, We're Dreaming. Mute
11.08.11 Atlas Sound Parallax 4AD
10.25.11 Real Estate Days Domino
10.18.11 Gauntlet Hair Gauntlet Hair Dead Oceans
10.04.11 Zola Jesus Conatus Sacred Bones
09.27.11 Dum Dum Girls Only in Dreams Sub Pop
09.13.11 Wild Flag Wild Flag Merge
08.30.11 Beirut The Rip Tide Pompeii
08.23.11 Active Child You Are All I See Vagrant
08.16.11 Shabazz Palaces Black Up Sub Pop
07.29.11 Junior Boys It's All True Domino
07.19.11 The Antlers Burst Apart Frenchkiss
07.12.11 Washed Out Within and Without Sub Pop
06.28.11 Centro-Matic Candidate Waltz Undertow
06.17.11 Okkervil River I am Very Far Jagjaguwar
06.09.11 Wooden Birds Two Matchsticks Barsuk
05.27.11 Times New Viking Dancer Equired Merge
05.17.11 Menomena I am the Fun Blame Monster Film Guerrero/Barsuk
05.06.11 Cold Cave Cherish the Light Years Matador
04.12.11 Herzog Search Transparent/Exit Stencil
04.04.11 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart Belong Slumberland
03.25.11 Parts & Labor Constant Future Jagjaguwar
03.11.11 Kurt Vile Smoke Ring for my Halo Matador
03.01.11 Papercuts Fading Parade Sub Pop
02.18.11 Yuck Yuck Fat Possum
02.04.11 Sharon Van Etten Epic Ba Da Bing
01.25.11 Cloud Nothings Cloud Nothings Carpark

11.16.10 Sun Airway Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier Dead Oceans
11.09.10 Small Black New Chain Jagjaguwar
10.06.10 Abe Vigoda Crush PPM
10.06.10 Women Public Strain Jagjaguwar
09.17.10 Interpol Interpol Matador
08.31.10 Land of Talk Cloak and Cipher Saddle Creek
07.27.10 Menomena Mines Barsuk
07.20.10 Baths Cerulean Anticon
07.13.10 Wolf Parade Expo 86 Sub Pop
06.22.10 Foals Total Life Forever Sub Pop
06.01.10 The Radio Dept. Clinging to a Scheme Labrador
05.25.10 The Besnard Lakes The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night Jagjaguwar
05.18.10 Small Black Small Black ep Jagjaguwar
05.11.10 The National High Violet 4AD
05.04.10 Caribou Swim Merge
04.06.10 Dum Dum Girls I Will Be Sub Pop
03.25.10 The Soft Pack The Soft Pack Kemado
03.16.10 The Morning Benders Big Echo Rough Trade
03.09.10 The Besnard Lakes The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night Jagjaguwar
03.02.10 Trouble Books Gathered Tones Bark and Hiss
02.23.10 Cloud Nothings Turning On Speakertree
02.16.10 Local Natives Gorilla Manor Frenchkiss
02.09.10 Phantogram Eyelid Movies Barsuk
01.26.10 Beach House Teen Dream Sub Pop

11.03.09 Port O'Brien Threadbare TBD
10.16.09 Califone All My Friends are Funeral Singers Dead Oceans
10.06.09 The Twilight Sad Forget the Night Ahead FatCat
09.22.09 Circulatory System Signal Morning Cloud Recordings
08.25.09 Wilco Summerteeth Warner Bros.
08.18.09 Ramona Falls Intuit Barsuk
08.11.09 The Rural Alberta Advantage Hometowns Saddle Creek
08.04.09 Magnolia Electric Co. Josephine Secretly Canadian
07.17.09 The Veils Sun Gangs Beggars Banquet
06.23.09 Dinosaur Jr. Farm Jagjaguwar
05.26.09 Grizzly Bear Veckatimest Warp
05.19.09 Wooden Birds Magnolia Barsuk
05.05.09 Camera Obscura My Maudlin Career 4AD
04.17.09 Fever Ray Fever Ray Mute
04.07.09 The Thermals Now We Can See Kill Rock Stars
03.24.09 Jeremy Jay Slow Dance K
03.17.09 Sholi Sholi Quarterstick
03.10.09 Wheat Hope and Adams Sugar Free/Rebel Group
03.03.09 Abe Vigoda Reviver Post Present Medium
02.24.09 Touch and Go Records
02.17.09 Vetiver Tight Knit Sub Pop
02.03.09 Yeasayer All Hour Cymbals We Are Free
01.20.09 Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion Domino

11.18.08 Death Cab for Cutie Something About Airplanes Elsinor/Barsuk
11.11.08 School of Seven Bells Alpinisms Ghostly International
10.31.08 Skeletons Money Tomlab
10.21.08 Marnie Stern This is It... Kill Rock Stars
10.14.08 The Notwist The Devil, You + Me Domino
10.07.08 Department of Eagles In Ear Park 4AD
09.26.08 Ten Kens Ten Kens Fat Cat
09.16.08 Bound Stems The Family Afloat Flameshovel
09.09.08 Chad VanGaalen Soft Airplane Sub Pop
09.02.08 Ra Ra Riot The Rhumb Line Barsuk
08.19.08 Bears Simple Machinery Self-released
08.12.08 The Dreadful Yawns Take Shape Exit Stencil
08.05.08 Oxford Collapse Bits Sub Pop
07.22.08 Lackthereof Your Anchor Barsuk
07.15.08 The Hold Steady Stay Positive Vagrant
07.08.08 The Muttering Retreats The Muttering Retreats Self-released
06.24.08 HotChaCha Rifle, I knew you when you were just a pistol Exit Stencil
06.17.08 Wolf Parade At Mount Zoomer Sub Pop
06.10.08 American Analog Set Know By Heart Tiger Style
06.03.08 Shearwater Rook Matador
05.20.08 Jeremy Jay A Place Where We Could Go K Records
05.13.08 Portishead Third Island
05.06.08 Frightened Rabbit The Midnight Organ Fight Fat Cat
04.29.08 Constantines Kensington Heights Arts & Crafts
04.22.08 Film School Hideout Beggars Banquet
04.15.08 Sun Kil Moon April Caldo Verde
04.03.08 The Microphones The Glow Pt. 2 K Records
03.25.08 MGMT Oracular Spectacular Columbia
03.18.08 Trouble Books The United Colors of Trouble Books Self-released
03.04.08 Ladyhawk Shots Jagjaguwar
02.19.08 Bon Iver For Emma, Forever Ago Jagjaguwar
02.12.08 Say Hi The Wishes and the Glitch Euphobia/The Rebel Group
02.05.08 Hot Chip Made in the Dark Astralwerks/DFA
01.29.08 Black Mountain In the Future Jagjaguwar
01.22.08 Times New Viking Rip It Off Matador

11.13.07 Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings 100 Days, 100 Nights Daptone
11.06.07 Expecting Rain Saint Cecilia Sound System Self-released
10.23.07 A Place to Bury Strangers A Place to Bury Strangers Killer Pimp
10.16.07 Celebration The Modern Tribe 4AD
10.09.07 Jens Lekman Night Falls Over Kortedala Secretly Canadian
09.25.07 Jose Gonzalez In Our Nature Mute
09.18.07 Emma Pollock Watch the Fireworks 4AD
09.11.07 Film School Hideout 4AD
08.28.07 Liars Liars Mute
08.07.07 Okkervil River The Stage Names Jagjaguwar
07.31.07 Slaraffenland Private Cinema Hometapes
07.20.07 Arthur & Yu In Camera Hardly Art
07.10.07 Spoon Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Merge
07.03.07 Marnie Stern In Advance of the Broken Arm Kill Rock Stars
06.26.07 Built to Spill Keep It Like a Secret Warner Bros.
06.19.07 Panda Bear Person Pitch Paw Tracks
06.12.07 The Narrator All That to the Wall Flameshovel
06.05.07 Handsome Furs Plague Park Sub Pop
05.29.07 Parts and Labor Mapmaker Jagjaguwar/Brah
05.22.07 The National Boxer Beggars Banquet
05.15.07 Mice Parade Mice Parade Fat Cat
05.08.07 Elliott Smith New Moon Kill Rock Stars
05.01.07 Coffinberry God Dam Dogs Morphius
04.24.07 Thee More Shallows Book of Bad Breaks Anticon
04.17.07 Hold Steady Live at Fingerprints Vagrant
04.10.07 Love of Diagrams Mosaic Matador
04.03.07 Ponys Turn the Lights Out Matador
03.27.07 Low Drums and Guns Sub Pop
03.20.07 Land of Talk Applause Cheer Boo Hiss The Rebel Group
03.13.07 Sun Kil Moon Ghosts of the Great Highway (reissue) Caldo Verde
03.06.07 Wolf & Cub Vessels 4AD
02.27.07 Do Make Say Think You, You're a History in Rust Constellation
02.13.07 Field Music Tones of Town Memphis Industries
02.06.07 Loney, dear Loney, Noir Sub Pop
01.23.07 Menomena Friend and Foe Barsuk