Dig into this week’s Saturday Alternative playlist. The Fitting Room album was ken by Destroyer, out now on Merge Records.

If you don’t know Dan Bejar for his extensive catalogue as Destroyer, there’s a good chance you know him as a former and longtime member of The New Pornographers. That being said, he’s been far more prolific releasing his own music as Destroyer. His new album, ken, is his 12th. The title was inspired by the Suede song, “The Wild Ones,” which Bejar finds particularly influential. Apparently, the original title for the song was “ken,” and so he took it for himself. The album finds the ever-changing songwriter teaming up with his drummer and producer Josh Wells (Black Mountain) to explore a deep, synthetic and often simplistic post-punk vibe, sometimes reminiscent of The Cure, whom he’s said was on their mind when it came to production. Yet, for as straight ahead as some of these songs are sonically, there are plenty of surprising elements that come and go, – sultry saxophones and layers of guitar – and lyrically, Bejar is as poetic as ever.

 

 

—hour 1—

Paranoia – Liza Anne

Whiskey Roller Coaster – Jacob Thomas Jr.

Currency – The Black Angels

Discreate Disguise – King Khan – Murderburgers 

Vacation Town  – The Front Bottoms – Going Grey 

Point – The Districts – Popular Manipulations 

Skyline – Broken Social Scene – Hug of Thunder 

Underwater – Elizabeth & The Catapult – Keepsake

Ecuador (a New Year) – The Anatomy of Frank – South America 

Petals – TOPS – Sugar at the Gate 

Matters – Twinsmith – Stay Cool 

Tic Tac Toe – Django Django – Marble Skies

Break the Glass – Superchunk

Sensitive Guy – Baio – Man of the World 

—hour 2—

Bad Baby – Sarah Jaffe – Bad Baby

Bad Luck Again – The Rural Alberta Advantage – The Wild

Raw Evolution – Warbly Jets – Warbly Jets 

See Through – Splashh – Waiting a Lifetime 

All I Want – Ride – Weather Diaries 

Helen in the Woods – TORRES – Three Futures

Little Dark Age – MGMT

Destroy – Raindeer – Neon Death 

Seeds – Camille – OUI 

Heartstruck (Wild Hunger) (feat. Angel Olsen) – Hamilton Leithauser

Heaven I Know – Gordi – Reservoir 

Death of a Football Manager – Little Cub – Still Life 

Stand By – Lawrence Rothman – The Book of Law 

Glass House – Screaming Females – All At Once 

Can’t Hold On – Black Lips

—hour 2—

Lights Out – Royal Blood – How Did We Get So Dark? 

Seeing It – Bully – Losing 

Emotion – Curls – Vante EP 

Every Day’s The Weekend – Alex Lahey

Ti Amo – Phoenix – Ti Amo 

I Miss Those Days – Bleachers – Gone Now

——FITTING ROOM——

Sky’s Grey – Destroyer – ken 

Tinseltown Swimming in Blood – Destroyer – ken 

Rome – Destroyer – ken 

Masseduction – St. Vincent – Masseduction 

Equal Powers – Violents & Monica Martin – Awake and Pretty Much Sober 

Nobody Cares – Superorganism

Dracula’s Blues – Bunny – Bunny 

Formidable Cool – Wolf Alice – Visions Of A Life