By Will McGuirk

Expected drops of new vinyls Friday Jan 14 include the debut album ‘Gender Studies’ from the post-punk Irish act M(h)aol. Recorded in three days by the five piece the album stomps alongside Sonic Youth calling out male white corporate oppression and The Slits asking “Who invented the typical girl?” but add on a couple of decades of “in this modern age so little change” fuelling the tunes.

‘Hell on Church Street’ is the new record from the Punch Brothers. The album is a tribute and reimagining of the late Tony Rice’s ‘Church Street Blues.’ The band says ““No record (or musician) has had a greater impact on us, and we felt compelled to cover it in its entirety, with the objective of interacting with it in the same spirit of respect-fueled adventure that Tony brought to each of its pre-existing songs.” The album includes tracks by Bill Monroe, Gordon Lightfoot and Bob Dylan and is available on Nonesuch.

The Kernal also tips the hat to those prior to him on his album ‘Listen to the Blood”. His father was a bass player at the Grand Ol Opry for three decades and The Kernal aka Joe Garner has over the last couple of albums tried to get inside his music and find his own space within his country heritage and the modern age.