Indie Basement (11/3): a week of classic indie, college rock and more.

November starts with happy news for music fans. October's deluge of new releases continues unabated, and this week I review nine albums, including: the Drop Nineteens' first album in 30 years; the bar italia band's second album from London 2023; the debut album from supergroup Lol Tolhurst x Budgie x Jacknife Lee; and Spiritual Cramp, Hotline TNT, The Embassy, Matmos (on Smithsonian Folkways), Old Fire and the remix album Jockstrap.

Meanwhile, Andrew reviews 11 albums in the Notable Releases category, including Empty Country (formerly of Cymbals Eat Guitars), Marnie Stern and Laura Veirs.

Want to know what came out in October? I take a look at the best songs and albums of the month.

With no time to waste, let's get to this week's reviews...

ALBOMB OF THE WEEK #1: Drop Nineteens - Hard Light (Wharf''Cat)

The Boston shoegaze band's first album in 30 years is their best?

Almost nothing comes as a surprise in the music world these days, but when the Drop Nineteens announced last year that they would not only be reuniting but working on their first album in 30 years, the sound of hundreds of music fans already crossing 40-50 hit the floor in a jaw-dropping fashion. The Boston-based band, one of the few American shoegaze bands in the genre's original era, had only been around for a few years, during which time they released two albums and several singles/EPs. One of those albums, 1992's "Delaware," is an underrated classic, but the Drop Nineteens never transcended college radio like their British counterparts. They're a perfect example of a cult band.

And here we are, with a classic''s lineup, including vocalists and guitarists Greg Akella and Paul Kelly, bassist Steve Zimmerman, guitarist Motohiro Yasue and drummer Peter Keplin, who are back after a long hiatus. That in itself is already surprising, as most of the members stopped playing in bands or recording music in the '90s. This makes "Hard Light" an even more remarkable album that requires no excuses. The Drop Nineteens sound is in love with the sound of guitars, and this album is full of guitar sounds, as you would expect from a band with three guitarists. They are sometimes hazy, sometimes crisp and clear, sometimes noisy, often beautiful. "Hard Light" is the Drop Nineteens' best sounding album, and while it lacks the youthful giddiness of "Delaware," the love and skill''possession of the instruments is still present, and dare I say it, the songs are better in it, without a single failure. Some of the best songs sound bright and modern: "The Price Was High," sung by Kelly, has a slightly mysterious sound that the Drop Nineteens never tried in their original period of existence; "Lookout" is tender and sweet; and "Gal" is a beautiful slow dance with lots of sounds that make it impossible to tell what's producing them. "Hard Light" also skillfully blends pop and the band's sound, something they tried to do in 1993 with the album "National Coma" but failed to fully realize. "Tarantula" is their best song since "Winona," an epic anthem that sounds youthful in its thunderous chorus. "Gal", "Scapa Flow" and closing song "T" also keep up. They also''Great job on The Clientele's song "Policeman Getting Lost". Perhaps their 30-year absence from the scene has given this album a freshness - they seem to have found the joy of playing together again and found these songs waiting for them and went their separate ways. "If 'Hard Light' isn't what they were expecting (whoever they were)," says Akell, "it might be because we were more interested in trying to create what they needed. Even if we didn't know we needed it.

ALBOMB OF THE WEEK #2: bar italia - The Twits (Matador)

The London trio step out of the fog of secrecy and are even better because of it on their second album of 2023.

Much has changed in the world of London trio bar italia in the five months between their first and second albums 2023. When they released Tracey Denim in May, they seemed stubbornly''cryptic: no attribution on the album, a horrible blurry band photo on the cover and even worse as official press photos. They didn't talk to the press, and you weren't sure if they wanted anyone to hear their (very good, actually) music.

Except for the optics, not much has changed in the way Femi, Sam Fenton and Nina Cristante make music together. It's still basically one riff over which they swap lead vocals and melodies, but there's more focus this time around, and sometimes the songs even have a verse-chorus structure. Sam Fenton becomes a master of hooks, creating the album's super catchy pop moments, such as the chorus of "I wanna be where you are / It'\''s on the seat of your car" in "my little tony," which fits perfectly with Femi's emotional squeal and Kristante's addictive chorus of "Keep playing with my recreating hand" (play with me some more). This is by far the most immediate song so far''por.

The second most memorable single in bar italia's prolific three-year career is "world'\''s greatest emoter," also from The Twits album, where Fenton creates another popular tune, though he only sings it once. These three still don't follow the rules. The Twits is a noisier, more energetic sounding album - you can wiggle your foot to most of these songs, and despite the band having a name that many mistake for a reference to Pulp (it's not), the 1997 album "Blur" feels like a real influence. Maybe bar italia has something like "Song 2"? They are moving in that direction.

Album of the Week #3: Lol Tolhurst x Budgie x Jacknife Lee - Los Angeles (PIAS)

Supergroup featuring former drummers of The Cure and Siouxsie & The Banshees, U2 collaborator Jacknife Lee and a host of notable''guests (James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse) is turning out to be pretty awesome.

What would you even expect from such a hard to name trio? Lol Tolhurst and Badji both played drums in two of the most iconic bands of the UK's dark 80s alternative scene. This puts your thoughts in one place, while joining mega-producer/composer Jacknife Lee (U2, REM, The Killers etc) is a trump card that throws pressing notions out of the window. And, of course, an impressive guest list including James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream, Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse, The Edge and more. I'm happy to report that the trio's debut album 'Los Angeles' exceeds your expectations while also being the homage to this city that all three of them are''cherished.

Maybe not all expectations have been polled. With 2/3 of the band's lineup being drummers, this record is packed with percussion, and if you're familiar with Lol's work in The Cure (think "The Hanging Garden") and Baji's work in Banshees or The Creatures (think "Spellbound" or "Standing There"), this is clearly a starting point with music revolving around that center (krautrock, post-punk, industrial). But Lee brings hooks and structure, and these songs aren't just loudly hammering drums and screaming people over the top of them. Songs like "Ghosted at Home," a collaboration with Gillespie, could have been an integral part of Primal Scream's "Xtrmntr" album. Others, however, pull new sounds out of all of them. "We Got to Move," the most immediate song on this album, begins in Arabian territory before making an emergency U-turn in''Infectious motorized dance rock with Brock's inalienable screaming behind the wheel. It's a setting you're not used to hearing him in, and it's so good that I'd take an entire album in this style. Speaking of howls, "Bodies" features the unique voice of outsider Lonnie Holly, and here his usual improvisation has been organized into controlled chaos with the help of harpist Mary Lattimore for a song that's somewhere between Tom Waits and Nick Cave. James Murphy contributes vocals on two songs, including the title track Los Angeles