Boasting a bounty of country-fried sing-alongs that shine as brightly as their rhinestone-studded outfits, Midnight Cowgirls is one of those special new bands that just demands attention. Christopher Long recently chatted up guitarist / vocalist Blaise Dahl about the Cowgirls’ warp-speed world.

In the news today: Sundara Karma, Peter Gabriel, Kristin Hersh, Wet Leg, Depeche Mode, Cinema Cinema!, Thor, Swans, The Voidz, Metric, Noel Gallagher, Garbage

Blue Weekend (RCA). Review by Julius C. Lacking.

Carl F. Gauze reviews this graphic novel about a dystopian prison society obsessed with sewage and fighting.

Little Deaths (Fraternity As Vanity). Review by Jen Cray.

May Terry gets an audio-visual taste of East meets West with the L.A. shoegazing ethereal rock band, Io Echo, at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ.

2:54 (Fat Possum). Review by Jen Cray.

RJ Bowen knows that She Wants Revenge is a dish best served cold at the Club@Firestone in Orlando. Wait, that makes no sense whatsoever…

Cultivation (Stinky). Review by Aaron Shaul.

Bizarre Love Triangle (Planet XOX). Review by Kyrby Raine.

Face The Strange (DCide Records). Review by Kiran Aditham.

Based On Actual Events (Shiverstar Records). Review by Tim Wardyn.

From the Land of Volcanos (The Control Group). Review by Daniel Mitchell.

Safety in Numbers (Deep Elm). Review by Daniel Mitchell.

For Never and Ever (Atlantic). Review by Andrew Ellis.

Music for the Maases 2 (Hope / Kinetic). Review by Stein Haukland.

Log 22 (Palomine / Hidden Agenda). Review by Ian Koss.

In It But Not of It (self-released). Review by Daniel Mitchell.

The Blessing of Curses (Invisible). Review by Bettie Lou Vegas.

Gift (Hip-O). Review by James Mann.