Patrick Costello doesn’t knock politely on “Heart Like a Hurricane”; he kicks the screen door off its hinges and drags you onto the dance floor. The San Francisco multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, composer, and drummer, who also leads The KnabokovCollective, usually roams from political blues rock to bluegrass to rock-jazz-Latin-reggae instrumentals. Here he plants both boots in rockabilly, surf rock, and classic rock and roll. https://open.spotify.com/album/6WzXS5qbr4JBj9ffbsr9TD The...

Darkness can leave room for a joke, and heavy music can still move. On "Rustbelt Rejects", Akron artist Zmack puts that relationship to work through abrasive textures, grooves and odd humour. His original album brings hip-hop into contact with Memphis trap, Horrorcore, industrial, funk-metal and phonk. Yet the aim is not genre display. The range accommodates memory, loss, anger, pride, relationships and Irish-American identity. It gives...