Secret Colours revel in being the bastard seed of the ’60s psychedelia and ’90s Britpop bloodlines. Since their eponymous debut in 2010, the band moved swiftly from neophyte in the Chicago psychedelic-newgaze scene to crusader over the course of unforgettable performances at Austin Psych Fest and Levitation in 2012. Appearances with Night Beats, Ringo Deathstarr, Elephant Stone, Spindrift, Asteroid #4, and The Warlocks, have continued to keep Secret Colours in the hearts and minds of their Chicago faithful, but all the while, they’ve been hard at work with producer Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Gomez, Sage Francis, Iron & Wine) sharpening the edges of their polychromatic sophomore album, Peach.

The songs from the sleeker collective of Tommy Evans, Dave Stach, Justin Frederick, and Eric Hehr are definitively next level, but are still drenched in the sound that will help you to turn on, tune in, and drop out.

The new album is Peach — available on vinyl in two different variants.  1. ultra-limited edition 180 gram wax, with special artwork by Stanley Mouse on gatefold jackets, and including a download code.  2. standard double vinyl with download code.  You can grab either copy now.

Meridian is the brainchild of Max Stern, best known as the vocalist/guitarist for rising Cleveland punk band Signals Midwest. Many of the songs comprising Meridian’s full-length debut, Aging Truths, date back as early as 2007, when Max began playing acoustic house shows around Cleveland. These songs aren’t Signals Midwest rejects, though; they draw from an entirely different set of influences, such as the Avett Brothers, Sundowner, the Mountain Goats and Frank Turner. Making the project more special is the involvement of Max’s younger brother Jake, who he taught how to play guitar at a young age and contributed to the arrangements of the songs on Aging Truths.

Pre-order now from Youth Conspiracy Records – the earlier the pre-order,  the rarer the color variant!

Completing our tri-fecta of Ohio record featurs this week (see prior posts for Kim Deal and Robert Pollard)  is Teenage Guitar‘s Force Fields At Home.  For the most discerning aficionados of Robert Pollard and Guided By Voices, Teenage Guitar offers experiments in spontaneity and lo-fi witchiness and wizardry, exploring multiple moods and styles. Brewed in the home laboratory using a historic mid-90s Tascam 488 cassette recorder, without professional engineers or adult supervision, Force Fields at Home recalls the sound and spirit of mid-’90s GBV.

Robert Pollard‘s new album – Honey Locust Honky Tonk is a compact wonder and so varied, tuneful, graceful, magnificent and ebullient that one will be forgiven for thinking that Robert Pollard has saved his best for his own album. Slicker in some ways than recent Guided By Voices efforts, though not without its own down-home charm, its 17 songs whiz by in 34 minutes, stridently showcasing Pollard’s songwriting mastery with some of the best tunes he’s ever penned.

After months of waiting, the official DEAL01 release of Kim Deal‘s solo material (Walking With A Killer b/w Dirty Hessians) is available for pre-order — pre-orders will begin shipping this week!

Brooklyn-based trio, A Great Big Pile of Leaves got their start in 2007 when guitarist/singer Peter Weiland and drummer Tyler Soucy took time from their prior projects to start writing material of their own.  You’re Always On My Mind is the band’s second full length and was recorded with Ed Ackerson (Limbeck, Motion City Soundtrack, Polara, The Replacements) and mastered by Roger Seibel (Deathcab for Cutie, Andrew Bird, Bon Iver).  Pre-order it now! (release date is July 2)

ALTO!, based in Portland, is a strongly rhythm-oriented band; dual drummers vary between synched-up pounding and subtly shifiting polyrhythms, while the guitar often functions as another percussion instrument.  ALTO! draws strong inspiration from Congotronics bands such as Konono #1, the psychedelic explorations of later-period Boredoms, and avant-garde rock bands such as Sun City Girls.  Their debut LP brings all of these elements together into a dizzying array of sound. This edition of 300 is available now on Raheem Records.

Tiny Moving Parts is a family band from Minnesota.  Their new LP – The Couch Is Long & Full of Friendship will be available very soon….so stay tuned!

Motel Glory is rock and roll with an “ex-members-of” genealogy that goes back to Clinton’s first term. They play clubs, bars, dives, houses, prisons, and forests. They want to be your friend.  The new album Weekend Treasures & Monday’s Trash is out —  Buy it now!

Coming very soon from Carbon Records – Green Dreams Sweat EP shipped out last week — you can check out this new track from the EP now!