New Music Releases – October 2012

With October 2012 new music releases coming, and the sweltering summer finally behind us, we can forget about all those sticky-sweet fun 'n' sun R&B jams and finally get into some real music -- albums we'll live with like favorite sweaters for the duration of the fall. October brings a bevy of choice alt-rock and indie records, and while the month's release schedule lacks the kinds of big names -- DMB, No Doubt, Green Day -- that dominated September's calendar, the coming weeks offer plenty to get excited about.

Some of October's most anticipated music comes courtesy of old friends. On Oct. 2, perpetually perky electro-rock twosome Matt & Kim hit us with 'Lightning,' and a week later, brainy power-pop mainstay and sometime New Pornographer A.C. Newman returns with 'Shut Down the Streets.' On Oct. 16, Ben Gibbard temporarily parks the Death Cab and drops his solo debut, while brooding Interpol crooner Paul Banks regales us with his second solo LP, simply titled 'Banks,' on Oct. 23. That same day, shambolic Jersey punks Titus Andronicus unveil 'Local Business,' the follow-up to their Civil War-themed 2010 epic 'The Monitor.'

The month also brings more wonky electro-whatsit wizardry from Flying Lotus, brazen Brit-rock from the Vaccines, dizzying dream-pop from Tamaryn and a heck of a comeback effort -- really, we've heard it -- from the Wallflowers, whose new single 'Reboot the Mission' plays like a killer Clash outtake.

October 2
Flying Lotus, 'Until the Quiet Comes'
Matt & Kim, 'Lightning'
Muse, 'The 2nd Law'
The Mountain Goats, 'Transcendental Youth'
Beth Orton, 'Sugaring Season'
Taken By Trees, 'Other Worlds'
Tilly @ the Wall, 'Heavy Mood'
The Vaccines, 'Come of Age'

October 9
A.C. Newman, 'Shut Down the Streets'
Bad Books, 'II'
Black Moth Super Rainbow, 'Cobra Juicy'
Chrome Canyon, 'Elemental Themes'
Django Django, 'Django Django'
Freelance Whales, 'Diluvia'
Ellie Goulding, 'Halcyon'
PAWS, 'Cokefloat!'
Ty Segall, 'Twins'
Tame Impala, 'Lonerism'
The Wallflowers, 'Glad All Over'
Why? 'Mumps, etc.'

October 16
A Fine Frenzy, 'Pines'
Trey Anastasio, 'Traveler'
Mac Demarco, '2'
Earlimart, 'System Preferences'
Ben Gibbard, 'Former Lives'
Pinback, 'Information Retrieved'
Smoke & Jackal, 'EP1'
Tamaryn, 'Tender New Signs'

October 23
Paul Banks, 'Banks'
Bat for Lashes, 'The Haunted Man'
Diamond Rings, 'Free Dimensional'
Rah Rah, 'The Poet's Dead'
Titus Andronicus, 'Local Business'

October 30
Andrew Bird, 'Hands of Glory'
Madness, 'Oui Oui, Si Si, Ja Ja, Da Da'
The Scenics, 'Dead Man Walks Down Bayview'
The Soft Moon, 'Zeroes'