Scott Morrow 
In advance of next week’s release of Four, you can hear Bloc Party’s brand-new album — a harder, more aggressive take on the band’s sound.
Three years ago, Aaron Turner of Isis and James Plotkin and Tim Wyskida of Khanate formed a haunting, melodic, ambient project called Jodis. Now the three have returned with an even greater emphasis on melody.
Garage-rock revivalist Ty Segall has a brand-new bag of heaviness coming 10/9 from Drag City, and its first single, “The Hill,” sounds like a heavy bass-and-drums duo channeling John Lennon.
Fang Island: Major (Sargent House, 7/24/12)
The second of three singles from Fang Island’s Major, “Sisterly” is the first from the anthemic album to get the video treatment. Watch below as the band and backup singers enact an ’80s-style TV performance, only to be manipulated by a mysterious hidden hand (Doctor Claw style).
The 11th album from sludge- and post-metal pioneer Neurosis — to be released on Oct. 30 — promises to be “both torturous and transcendent.” Trick or treat indeed.
Jerseyband: Forever Hammer EP (8/16/12)
“Not Hammer”
When we last heard from “lungcore” septet Jerseyband, the NYC ensemble had self-released Beast Wedding, a monster of mutated metal that conjoined Meshuggah-like “djent” with unwieldy horn-formed power chords. (Read more here.) Now the unheralded group is back to launch hammers into space with Forever Hammer, a four-track EP that reveals yet another side.
After missing 2011 due to Hurricane Irene, the Afropunk Festival is back with a bang, including the recent announcement of TV on the Radio as a headliner.