Take a look at what our music reviewers are listening to this month.

Animal Collective / Tangerine Reef
I came across Animal Collective (aka AnCo) in a novel way to find new music. Usually, I simply scour my Apple Music account for something I think I would like, or try a recommendation from a friend, or click on a link in an e-mail a PR firm might send me. Being a great lover of the ocean, I found this band because I happened to be doing an Internet search on coral depletion. So how did that happen? Animal Collective uses music to raise awareness of the issues concerning our planet.

Tangerine Reef is a very experimental album, pairing echoed vocals in kind of a Pink Floyd-like cadence, electronic sound, metallic rhythm and space-age buzzing and chiming, resulting in a sound combination that I have never really heard anywhere before. He becomes the droning voice of an entity that cannot speak for itself, encouraging preservation and thinking twice about environmental effects. The sound is sad and haunting, a psychedelic and surreal journey that seems to take you underwater. The album is an audio-visual one, so it has a video that goes along with it – a collaborative effort between Animal Collective and Coral Morphologic. You can find the video album on YouTube (released in August). Keep in mind, this is art in its purest form and may not be for everyone, but it is interesting and raises awareness and stands up as unique in its own right. Give it a whirl. For more information, visit myanimalhome.net.

Jennifer Russo

Clutch / Book of Bad Decisions
Twelve albums in and Maryland rock group Clutch sounds like it’s just getting started. Book of Bad Decisions, the band’s newest release, is a loud and bombastic slam of rock ‘n’ roll.

Teaming up with producer and Grammy-winner Vance Powell, the guys in Clutch sound as alive and in-your-face as ever. The distorted boot stomp of the opening “Gimme the Keys” sets the tone for the rest of the album with its frantic energy and loose, swinging backbeat. There’s a definite classic rock feel on Book of Bad Decisions; the title track features some tasty guitar fuzz, while the slide guitar-fueled “Hot Bottom Feeder” turns into hard-edged Deep Purple-like space funk. These are all great highway songs to put the pedal down to, as is “A Good Fire.”

You would have to be oblivious not to pick up on some of the political and social themes on Book of Bad Decisions. On the combustible “How to Shake Hands,” singer Neil Fallon makes his bid for the Oval Office, promising to “put Jimi Hendrix on the twenty-dollar bill.” Between this song, another titled “Weird Times” and the bald eagle on the cover (which has its back turned to the viewer), there is certainly aim taken at the current upheaval in our country.

Take heart, though. Book of Bad Decisions isn’t bogged down in self-righteous soapboxing, if you can call it that, so if you’re tired of all things evening news, don’t be turned off from spinning this solid album. There are tons of awesome rock ’n’ roll tunes to be heard here, particularly the delirious beauty that is “In Walks Barbarella,” a jam that comes out of left field with a horn section and is what Fallon proclaims, mid-song, to be “weaponized funk” – with ray guns, to boot. Book of Bad Decisions is a non-stop barrage of guitar and drumdriven euphoria that leaves the feeling that it’s more than your run-of-the-mill rock release. For more information, visit pro-rock.com.

Jason Savio

Jake Shears / Jake Shears
If you don’t know Jake Shears, you might want to get on board now if you’re one to embrace funky beats paired with the amped-up, outrageous musings of a talented singer. The Scissor Sisters frontman has gone solo for the first time whilst his band remains on a seemingly semi-permanent hiatus. Infused with disco, funk and a whole lotta sass, Shear’s self-titled debut album includes everything we love about Scissor Sisters…only with more excess (is that even possible?) and, yes, more Shears!

It’s evident upon a first listen that an indulgence in all things electronica is the theme of the album, even if there is more than a little hint of honky-tonk. Recorded in New Orleans, this album could have been a disastrous experiment for him. But going south from the Big Apple really works for Shears (like it may not have for others: Kylie’s Golden or Lady Gaga’s Joanne). He’s having hella fun, and the beats are both lively and infectious, while the lyrics prove that Shears is witty with his words, even if it’s all with a sly wink. Sure, Shears may be too much for some: His electroclash, over-the-top glam could be considered tacky or catchy and borderline brilliant. Which camp are you in? Because he’s all camp! What you must respect is thathe’s unapologetic at every turn, and frankly, we don’t think he cares what you think. If you want to be a part of this parade he’s marching in, party on, and he’ll lead the way. For more information, visit jakeshears.com.

Mike Wood