It’s May! To start the summer off right, new summer jams are a must! Before the season gets going, now is the time to put some brand new tunes on your iPod. There are a ton of Anticipated Album releases due out in the upcoming months. To get your summer going, The Pier has 10 album releases, due out in May, that we would like to spotlight.
The Supervillains – Robots EP
Release Date: May 1st
May 1st, The Supervillains officially released their new EP, Robots. Released on Rah Rah Rah Records, produced by Brett Hestla, and mastered by Fuller Sound, “The Robots EP is a blast from the past, 10 years in the making, firing audio cannonballs at the listener, as it volleys through 6 stages of afterlife and musical genre, covering everything from “Ska-pocalypse” to “Heaven-metal”… It’s a 23 minute long, six song, non-stop concept record, about the stages of afterlife… based off Dante’s Divine Comedy.” Read more about the Robots EP by clicking here.
77 Jefferson – Truth & Love
Release Date: May 6th
May 6th, 77 Jefferson released their highly-anticipated album, Truth and Love, on Gan Jah Records. The album includes collaborations with Dan Kelly of Fortunate Youth as well as Ikena Dupont from Hawaii’s Cease Fyah. Singer Joel Castillo described the album as “generally encompassing the reality of love: I feel [love] is something everybody needs; realness, truth, and love.” The album will put on show 77 Jefferson’s best work to date, as they always aim to one-up themselves through their ambient bass lines and easy skanking. Read more about Truth & Love here.
Santana – Shape Shifter EP
Release Date: May 15th
Santana’s upcoming album, Shape Shifter, will be his 36th album, and the first off of his very own, brand new label, Starfaith Records. The album comes complete with 13 tracks, showing the mastery and brilliance of Carlos Santana’s instrumentals, along with the full Santana band, including his son Salvador Santana (piano). Shape Shifter, is set for release on May 15th, and the album is fuelled by Santana’s instantly recognizable virtuoso lead guitar and the Santana Band’s world-class musicianship. Read more about Shape Shifter by clicking here.
The Expendables – Gone Soft(Acoustic)
Release Date: May 17th
On May 17th The Expendables will release thier very first all acoustic album, Gone Soft. However, it’s not simply the acoustic version of Expendable hits. It is the re-composition of fan and band favorites, with re-thought out melody changes, and instrumentation. The album consists of 12 redone songs such as “Bowl for Two,” and “Positive Mind,” with a bonus track available for free download. Read more about the Gone Soft by clicking here.
Ballyhoo! – Medium Rare (B-Sides)
Release Date: May 18th
As part of their Kickstarter campaign, Ballyhoo! compiled a 19 track, B-Side album titled Medium Rare. With unreleased, live, and exclusive material, Ballyhoo! is sharing the album with those that help support their summer tour and aid in finances for the greenest tour bus out there, a Rock-It Ship. “We’ve been talking about a B-Sides record for a couple years, but we really wanted to get a new full-length out first… We had to come up with some good incentives for people to pledge and help us out. We immediately thought that creating an exclusive album for our backers would be a great idea. We have a lot of material lying around that we’ve never used for anything. Some of the songs are rare and had limited pressings on old compilations… We thought it would be great to get those out there again.” Read more about Medium Rare by clicking here.
The Holdup – Consequence
Release Date: May 18th
San Jose group, The Holdup, will drop of their long awaited follow up to Still Gold, on May 18th. Produced by Mike Garmany and Clev Stiles out of Dub Rock Records, the 16 track release, titled, Consequence, will be The Holdup’s 4th album since their formation in early 2008. So far the band thinks it may be some of their best work to date. “Consequence will be our senior album, we have grown a lot in the last 3 years and so has our fans. Our music has always consistently changed to keep our sound fresh… Consequence will be fresh but still have that Holdup sound, heavy hip-hop influence with catchy hooks. This album is some of our best work & we feel our fans will agree.” Read more about Consequence by clicking here.
HI Roots – Pretty City Lights EP
Release Date: May 18th
Based out of San Diego, but with roots stemming from the Hawaiian islands, HI Roots is set to release their first full length EP, Pretty City Lights.The EP will feature the familiar reggae vocals, accompanied with the groups hip-hop flar, and fast paced, dance-ready instrumental pairings. The EP was recorded out of 17th Street studios in Costa Mesa, CA working with Producer Lew Richards. They will be officially releasing the EP on May 18th via their CD Release Party at Winstons in Ocean Beach, CA. You can download a NEW HI Roots song “Gone” inside our MP3 Massive Section by clicking HERE
The Pier – Japan Regional Sampler
Release Date: May 22nd
The Pier is proud to announce that our FREE Japan Regional Sampler will be released for a limited time from May 22nd – July 17th, 2012. This sampler will be a 100% FREE digital zip file comprised of 14 MP3s and album artwork from 14 different artists in the Japan region of the world. We wanted to put our spotlight on a region that has not yet be shined on. We’re confident this is music you have not yet heard, from bands you probably never heard of. Become familiar with Japan’s reggae-rock community as we’re excited to introduce you to the groups and artists that will be featured in our May 22nd release of our FREE Japan Regional Sampler! Read more about the Japan Regional Sampler here.
Donavon Frankenreiter – Start Living
Release Date: May 29th
Singer/songwriter/pro surfer, Donavon Frankenreiter, will officially release his new album Start Livin’on May 29th. The 9-track album was co-produced by Frankenreiter himself alongside Matt Grundy, his long time bassist. In fact the pair, and no one else stayed holed up in a Southern California studio for seven days to create Frankenreiter’s fifth full-length album. The Hawaii-based musician admits that this album was somewhat experimental, using instruments far out of the ordinary like pots, pans, bells, Zippo lighters, and even beans and salts in a can. “Start Livin’ is basically a love album…Most of the songs are about my wife and our two boys, and the life that we’ve built together in Hawaii.” Read more about Start Living here.
Top Shelf – There’s A Place EP
Release Date: May 29th
May 29th, Top Shelf will be releasing a 5 song EP, titled There’s A Place. The band recorded the EP out of Trillium Studios in Sebastopol, CA and Russian River Records in Ukiah, CA. Guests include Steve Culuture and Jay from the band Paua. “With our next project we are looking forward to bringing it back to our roots, while continuing to break boundaries within the reggae rock scene, our tracks will be heavy bass driven rhythms with group vocal harmonies that will make you wanna put your windows down and your system up. Get ready!” Read more about the There’s A Place EP here.
Whenever there is new music, there is generally tours to support them, so be sure to check our Show Locator to see where each band will be playing next. If there’s a group you don’t see inside our Show Locator, let us know and we’ll update it!
Article By: Aaron Solomon