Album Of The Week: Waxahatchee Cerulean Salt

Some weeks, a simple and clear choice for Album Of The Week presents itself, and I don't have to spend all week racking my brains over who should get this entirely arbitrary distinction. That doesn't happen too often, though. Sometimes, I don't immediately love any of the obvious options, so I have to dig into whatever weird metal and country and pop albums are coming out that week until something catches my ear. And some weeks, there are way, way too many great albums coming out, and picking one feels like an indirect disrespect to all the stuff I didn't pick. This is one of those weeks. This week is stacked. The Men's New Moon is exceedingly satisfying fuzz-rock with hints of country and classic rock, and it shows just how far this band has come toward being one of the world's finest punked-up roadhouse bands. Rhye's debut Woman is mysterious, luxuriant bedroom pop that you can fall into like a silk-draped bed in a hotel you can't afford. Youth Lagoon's Wondrous Bughouse turns the triumphantly inward-looking homemade indie rock of Trevor Powers's debut into wriggling Elephant 6 brainmelt psych-pop, expanding his vision without losing the wide-eyed sweep at its core. The long-awaited How to destroy angels_ debut album Welcome oblivion sounds like a computer dying, prettily. All of them are worth your time, your attention, and maybe your money, and I wish I had a chance to write at length about any of them. But I don't, because Katie Crutchfield came through with an album that just kicks me in the gut that much harder, and that much more pleasurably, every time I hear it.