All three of these bands are lo-fi heroes putting out uncharacteristically hi-fi records. I forgive them all, though I worry Jesus may not.

• The Thermals are totally awesome. Melodic punk w/ punches in the face and dense interesting lyrics. Cool!
• I'm going to see M. Ward in September at the Metro. Awesome!
• Looks like the Mountain Goats are becoming committed to John Darnielle's falsetto. This is unfortunate. That notwithstanding, the songs are well written and really good. Zounds!

Right. I'll be at the record store on the 22nd, even though I've got a huge long plane flight that day. I'll make time. (And if you tell me to just download them off the internet, then I glare at you and call you Cap'n Crunch cuz you are a DIRTY PIRATE who makes children fat.)