The Fix

Don’t have time to search out this week’s essential new music? That’s why we’re here.

The Hold Steady “Stay Positive”
Even though you can’t actually buy it until July 15, the boozy Brooklyn band is streaming their latest albumin its entirety on MySpace. On first listen it reminds us of old Soul Asylum, and we mean that in the best way possible.
Stream: “Stay Positive”
(via The Hold Steady)

Albert Hammond Jr. “You Won’t Be Fooled By This”
This track from the Strokes guitarist’s second solo album makes us want to jump into the kiddie pool with our headphones on.

(via The Swill Merchant)

Jessie Baylin “Was I On Your Mind?”
Scarlett Johansson’s best friend is a singer-songwriter with a smoky voice and graceful delivery that makes us feel the same way we did the first time we heard Emmylou Harris.
(via Girlie Action)

Sebadoh “Soul and Fire (Acoustic Demo)”
Listening to Lou Barlow spill his guts on this scrappy but poignant home demo, lifted from the forthcoming deluxe reissue of Bubble & Scrape, makes us wonder why we ever stopped listening to these ’90s college radio titans.
(via Force Field PR)

Joan As Policewoman “To Be Loved”
Joan Wasser, the former singer of the Dambuilders and Jeff Buckley’s girlfriend at the time of his death, is in a mellow mood on her second solo album To Survive, letting her classical training come to the fore on stately piano ballads like the one below.
(via Daily Rind)