MIKAL CRONIN - MCII / THEE OH SEES - Floating Coffin

Ah, there's nothing like springtime for some of that cool Californian crunch. Thee Oh Sees out of San Francisco just keep churning out one album after another, but no complaints here! Their latest, Floating Coffin, may not have the offbeat touches of their previous efforts, but still kicks out the garage jams in a satisfying fashion. Meanwhile, from Laguna Beach comes Mikal Cronin, Ty Segall's frequent collaborator. His second solo album, released last week, finds him smoothing out his rough edges as he offers up clean, catchy power-pop.

"Mikal Cronin's self-titled debut from 2011 was all about endings: the end of college, the end of a serious relationship, and the end of his time in Los Angeles, where he grew up. So it's no surprise that his sophomore release MCII—and first disc for Merge—is all about new beginnings. 'Since the first record came out, my life has changed quite a bit,' Cronin says, referencing his move to San Francisco and tours with Ty Segall as well as with his own band. 'I was presented with a whole new slew of problems and situations that I was trying to work through.' 'Am I Wrong' and 'Shout It Out' dissect his fears over a new relationship, while 'I'm Done Running from You' and 'Weight' find him freaking out about what it means to grow up in the 21st century." - Merge Records

"John Dwyer & Co. have a style distinctly and linguistically their own at this point. Draw whatever parallels you want to various Nuggets bands, but that conversation is old and boring now. Looking at the last four (!) albums released by this band in the last three years, Thee Oh Sees can do full-band captures (this album, Carrion Crawler/The Dream), home 4-tracked goofiness (Castlemania), and studio-embracing fuckery (Putrifiers II), all while retaining the essence of what it is that makes them themselves: those balanced moments between serious and playfulness, the comforts of what we normally expect from the safety of a childish existence not necessarily broken, but rather, the two expectations trying to coexist." - Tiny Mix Tapes