The Massive and the misspelled

May is a month of massive album releases— at least, in terms of this tiny, mostly indie music community in which we choose to dwell, they are massive. Think “summer festival headliner” massive. “Display rack at Barnes & Noble” massive. “Their song's in a car commercial” massive.

Only one week ago new albums from marginally massive bands Broken Social Scene, The Hold Steady and The New Pornographers, to name a few arrived on select store shelves for our gracious ears to hear. But this week also has some impressive names to add to the building list of anticipated albums. The anticipation will be quelled, and our music storage devices—no signs of brand partiality here, my friend—will be contentedly full.

The National’s fifth studio album, High Violet, is arriving via 4AD. Their cerebral lyrics, master craftsmen skills and Matt Berninger’s rumbling vocals found significant success with their previous full-length, The Boxer, which came out way back in 2007. Years later, that album still resonates, but new material is ready and welcome, and we’ll take it, thank you. And speaking of massive, The National are set to play none other than Radio City Music Hall on June 16. It seems these boys have surpassed marginal rock stardom and have entered a central ring of commercial success: Impressive indeed.

Fellow commercial rock star Jack White also has a new album arriving this week from one of his many bands, and that band is The Dead Weather. Along with band mates Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs) and Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age), Jack will be issuing their sophomore release, Sea of Cowards, on his own record label, Third Man Records. The Dead Weather has not encouraged comparable anticipation to what The National has built. In fact, their debut album, Horehound, came out less than a year ago. To their eagerness and energy I say bravo, but to their decision to put out records so close in relative time, I say, "What’s the rush?"

Outside the massive release category, Sleigh Bells’ much anticipated debut album, Treats, arrives Tuesday. A band lauded on the net before the release of any proper album, this Brooklyn duo — who make quite loud music, if you haven’t yet experienced the induced pounding ears syndrome —will now have a full-length to their credit via Mom + Pop Records.

Freak-folk sisters Bianca and Sierra Casady, known as CocoRosie, are releasing their fourth album and their Sub Pop debut, Grey Oceans, this week. They are freaks in a good way but freaks nonetheless.

A few bands unsatisfied with conventional English spellings are also putting albums out this week. GAYNGS are a musical collective created by Ryan Olson with Zack Coulter and Adam Hurlburt of Solid Gold crafting groovy and sexy sounds. The first GAYNGS record, Relayted—out on Jagjaguwar—features vocal layers contributed from members of Bon Iver, Megafaun and The Rosebuds.

And San Francisco garage band Thee Oh Sees— the other spelling mistake band of which I speak — have a new album called Warm Slime In the Red.

There you have it: a wrap-up of this week’s most massive and most notable releases — at least in my humble opinion. I neglected to mention that Meat Loaf has a new album out called Hang Cool Teddy Bear. And I wish had neglected to mention it. I feel strange now.

--Jessi Finn, Blogger/ Album Reviews Editor