Welcome to the BroBible New Music Round-Up, where we see what new music has been released this week and if we were involved in a rap beef, it’d be with pollen. For more follow me on Twitter:  @ryanoconnell79

This Week’s Playlist

The Strokes made news this week when they debuted a new song at a show in Los Angeles. To celebrate the return of the band, here’s a playlist of 20 of their best songs.

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The Black Keys “Go”

You know what they say, right? It’s not a full-fledged comeback until you release your third song.

Well, no one actually says it, but in all fairness, it feels like something someone would have said at some point. People have been saying things for a long time. It’s simply the law of averages.

Anyway, I suppose we can all rest easy knowing that this Black Keys comeback is a very real thing. On Thursday morning they released their third song from their upcoming album Let’s Rock. The album is their first in over five years and during that time, more than a handful of people out there wondered if we’d ever see them again.

Yup, it’s true. I can admit that I was wrong.

And I’ve never been happier to be wrong.

The band’s last album, Turn Blue, which came out back in 2014, was good, but lacked the punch and fire of the band’s previous albums. It was spacey and wide open, as opposed to something like the excellent Attack and Release, which felt cramped and confined, or even Brothers, which felt sweat-drenched from the murky humidity of the bayou. Turn Blue was still a good rock record, just a much different kind of rock record we had come accustomed to.

Let’s Rock has so far felt like a return to the good old days for the band, with each song sounding tight, focused and for the most part, a creation of the band members themselves. Ever since Attack and Release, the idea that the band was still just a two man operation started to feel more and more far-fetched, as their sound expanded and their live shows featured double the amount of musicians.

“There are zero keyboards on the album,” Brian Hiatt of Rolling Stone wrote earlier this year. “Auerbach played most of the guitar solos live; he’d simply stop playing rhythm and kick into lead.”

Let’s Rock comes out on June 28th and will be followed by a fall tour with Modest Mouse that kicks off at the end of September in Las Vegas.

Wu-Tang Clan “On That Shit Again”

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Speaking of the welcome return of long-lost friends, Wu-Tang Clan are back in our lives.

The second episode of the Showtime documentary about the group, Of Mics and Men, will premiere Friday night, but earlier in the day Wu-Tang dropped an EP, a release that is doing double duty as the documentary’s soundtrack as well. It’s the group’s first release since 2017’s The Saga Continues.

On Wednesday they released a track from the EP, the Ghostface Killah and RZA-fronted “On That Shit Again.” In a move that makes sense given the nostalgia surrounding the crew, the track is full of reflective lines and verses.

The 7-track EP isn’t a full-fledged Wu-Tang project so to speak. Each track features a couple of the dudes on it, not the whole gang. But hey, it’s better than nothing, right?

Wu-Tang are touring throughout the summer, with a portion of that tour included in the “Gods of Rap Tour,” which features Public Enemy and De La Soul.

Slipknot “Unsainted”

Slipknot are back and you can tell because of the rumbling come from the metal head’s office down the hall. Don’t bother to ask them to turn it down. Even at a lower volume, things are still going to be shaking because of all the bass drums.

Slipknot is here to two things, man: wear masks and thump on bass drums.

The new track is the first single off of their upcoming album, We Are Not Your Kind, which as album titles go, is something that didn’t need to be said. Slipknot are aliens. So unless you yourself are an alien, then yes, they are not your kind.

“Unsainted” is full of thundering drums, screaming guitars and howling vocals. Meanwhile the video could best be described as “creepy as hell.”

So yeah, Skipknot’s back.

We Are Not Your Kind comes out on August 9th. The band’s summer tour, Knotfest Roadshow, starts at the end of July.

The Heavy Sons

You know who The Heavy are. You know even though you think you don’t. Trust me.

The reason for this is because that song “How You Like Me Now?” has been featured prominently in the following movies:

• Ted
• Horrible Bosses
• The Fighter
• This Means War
• The Transporter Refueled
• G.I. Joe: Retaliation

On top of that, the song has appeared in several commercials, TV shows and video games.

So unless you live under a rock, you’ve heard The Heavy before.

Now “How You Like Me Now?” was originally included on the band’s 2009 album, The House That Dirt Built. Since then they’ve released two albums, with their third, Sons, coming out today. The British band’s music is super hard to nail down and if I had to, I’d say it was garage funk. It sounds dirty and raw. “How You Like Me Now?” wasn’t an aberration; they still have that sound a decade later.

Kool Keith feat. B-Real “Zero Fux”

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Rap’s resident odd ball, Kool Keith, is back with a new album, KEITH, with “Zero Fux” clearing out the lane. As with the rest of the album, the track was produced by Psycho Les of The Beatnuts and features a bounce to it that is direct from the far-reaches of the galaxy, just like Kool Keith himself.

The 14-track album also features guest spots by Paul Wall and Jeru the Damaja and is set to be released on July 12th. In a press release, Kool Keith said “‘Zero Fux’ sounds so emperor!!” I don’t really know what that means, but I’m assuming it’s a good thing.

Of the album, the rapper said “it’s real raw art.”

Sounds good to me.

Steel Pulse Mass Manipulation

Summer is right around the corner, friend. Do yourself a favor and get a jump on filling that Summer Jams 2019 playlist by diving into the new album from reggae legends, Steel Pulse.

Mass Manipulation is the group’s first album in 15 years.

Man, comebacks are a theme this week!

Speaking to Rolling Stone about the album, Steel Pulse’s David Hinds says that “when it comes to addressing the current issues of the world, we hope that this album will be able to sharpen the minds of man to uproot all negativity, and foster embracement; presenting each and every one of us a higher level of consciousness for a harmonious future.”

Steel Pulse haven’t been on the shelf these past few years though. They’ve dropped singles here and there, with one of the most notable ones honoring Trayvon Martin, “Put Your Hoodies On (4 Trayvon.)”

The band will be on tour throughout the summer.

Elsewhere in Music…

So Like, Woodstock 50 is Back On?

So last month, Woodstock 50, the giant festival  featuring Jay-Z, Chance the Rapper, the Black Keys and several more was cancelled. There was much sadness.

Then there was confusion.

The event’s co-founder Michael Lang claimed it wasn’t cancelled. The county in New York where the festival was to take place said they still had a permit. The production company bailed. Lang still said it was going to happen.

Now a new development in the saga has led people to believe that the show might be back on.

In a recent ruling, a judge ruled that Dentsu, one of the financial backers of the show and the ones who initially announced the show’s cancellation, had no right to do so. Dentsu doesn’t have to return the money they pulled off the table though, meaning that Lang and company will have to find new backing. So far he has been turned down by Live Nation and AEG.

I suppose that if you’re sitting on some loot and are a big fan of nostalgia, now would be a good time to act.

It’s worth noting though that even if funding does come through, Woodstock 50 isn’t a guarantee to happen.

Stay tuned I guess.

Well Okay Then, Kacey Musgraves

Since winning a handful of Grammys earlier this year, it’s Kacey Musgraves’ world friends. The rest of us are just living in it.

The latest example of her cultural dominance occurred earlier this week, when she showed people how queens do Tequila shots.

To quote the queen herself, “take that, ya savages.”

I Guess I Won’t Be Seeing The Who Anytime Soon

https://youtu.be/hl5rb8L9pXI

The Who (Pete Townshend and Roger Daltry) are on tour because The Who are always on tour. It’s what The Who do. Their “Moving On! Tour” is a big outing, one featuring a full orchestra and Liam Gallagher of Oasis. Provided they play “Behind Blue Eyes,” I’m sure it’s a heck of a good time.

Well unless you either A) are there to smoke weed or if you do, you are B) Roger Daltry.

Daltry is apparently super allergic to pot smoke, with it causing his voice to shut down.

Now this is the first time I’ve heard of this, but I’d assume that if you’re the kind of person who would throw money down to see 2/4’s of The Who, you’d be hip to this. Or at least some people would. It seems that some folks at the band’s recent New York show didn’t get the memo, resulting in Daltry having to give them the business.

“All the ones smoking grass down in the front there, I’m totally allergic to it,” Daltrey told the crowd at one point. “I’m not kidding, whoever it is down there, you fucked my night and you made me really … I’m allergic to that shit and my voice just goes [slurps]. So fuck you!”

Okay then.

Did I mention Steel Pulse is touring this summer?

And We’ll End Here

https://twitter.com/KaceyMusgraves/status/1129004227639087105

See you next week!