AC’s are blasting and ants are attacking the cat food – summer is here! Though we can’t help you find the perfect swimsuit or BBQ sauce recipe, we here at Shakedown Sheet have got you covered with new music. Here’s the lowdown on all the hottest albums to keep you cool this summer!

POCKETS WALLER – Dollar Store Outlaw (June 12)

Pockets Waller’s surprise hit “Guess We All Just Wanna Get Fucked” was ubiquitous last summer, blaring from backyard parties, strip clubs, and minivans through the Bible Belt and beyond. A widely shared thinkpiece in The Atlantic even interpreted its lyrics as a metaphor for political ennui. With a massive summer tour planned, expectations are high for his debut studio album Dollar Store Outlaw. The first single “Chunky Soup (feat Gee-Raffe)” has already spurred discussions about body positivity, along with a Tik Tok dance meme.

GOLDEN RETRIEVER – Old Dogs, New Tricks (June 25)

Alt rock legends Golden Retriever are back with their first new album since 2014’s Fetch. Lead singer Buddy Cooper had a rough decade – a fourth divorce, a stint in rehab, a stent in his heart, a fifth divorce, and so on. New single “Chasin’ The Mailman” obliquely hints at his struggles with Trazodone, a mood enhancer for pets. Fans are excited for the return of the original lineup, with Trevor Rohle on fiddle. Old Dogs, New Tricks might even hold up to their roots rock heyday of 1996’s Rebels Without A Paw and 1998’s critically acclaimed Barkin’ Up The Wrong Tree.

HANNIBAL HEFNER – Sorry About That IV (TBA)

2024 has not been kind to Hannibal Hefner. His 45-song album Just A Little Of Your Time was poorly received, and hastily amended with the 10-song EP Just A Little Bit More. Then came his highly publicized feud with rapper K Stop, resulting in some embarrassing revelations. Once again, Hefner was caught with product placements in his lyrics. We all remember how his 2019 viral hit “Crunchin’ Up” was found to just be an advertisement for Lays potato chips, full of subliminal Pringles disses. He apologized for that controversy on his Sorry About That III mixtape. But new allegations suggest that 2023’s raunchy “Suck That Up (feat Clap Booti)” was part of a secret corporate partnership with Hoover vacuum cleaners. Sorry About That IV is due this summer, barring any other allegations.

NOThumn – Songs From The Barn (July 14)

NOThumn, the first AI music superstar, has seen its share of recent troubles. It came to fame in the EDM world, where its mathematical drum programming and squiggling melodies kept festival audiences enthralled. Fans even loved its stage costume – a tablet of a smiley face posted atop a mannequin at the turntables. But last year’s gritty folk album For The Workingman was not so well received. Nor was an accompanying acoustic tour which featured the tablet’d mannequin belting out lyrics like “we ain’t lettin’ no machines take our jobs!” NOThumn’s next album Songs From The Barn is said to be a jamband-oriented affair, following its consumption of the entire Grateful Dead live music archive.

INFINITE JESS – Footnote To A Dream (July 10)

Infinite Jess’s lyrical style can be too much for some, with songs stretching over ten or more minutes. She tends to ramble, albeit with a sense of poetry and wit that her hardcore fans worship. Footnote To A Dream is her long awaited followup to 2019’s Mopping Up The System. Producer Gate Lee is back behind the boards, serving up another set of heady beats with obscure samples. The first single “U Wish U Could Read Me,” about communication problems in a bad relationship, is almost thirty minutes long.

ENTRAIL MACHINE – Star Splattered Banner (Deluxe Edition) – August 24

Entrail Machine were just another death metal band until an odd turn of fate found them singing the National Anthem at a minor league baseball game in 2009. That acapella rendition, earnestly if not so tunefully performed, went viral and won them legions of new fans. They capitalized on this with 2010’s Star Splattered Banner, the first baseball themed death metal album. Classic songs like “Sliding Into Your Grave, “Two Seam Concussion” and “Buried Alive (Under Home Plate)” will be remastered on a new deluxe edition featuring a bonus disc of outtakes and live cuts. Fans who spring for the super deluxe edition will also receive a blood splattered collectible baseball, wooden bat, and Entrail Machine jersey number 666.