Summer is in full swing here on the Front Range, but we’re still searching for our next brat. Lorde is perhaps a bit too on-the-nose, though you’ll find her new one at the top of last month’s ranking of the bestselling new vinyl releases from Boulder’s Paradise Found Records and Music (1646 Pearl St.) Turnstile makes a strong case at No. 2 with their latest slice of stadium-sized hardcore breakdowns and polished pop-rock singalongs. Or maybe the nasty, nihilistic drone-metal of Swans is your sound of the summer — in which case, we are reporting you to the authorities immediately. 

Last December, Boulder Weekly arts editor Jezy J. Gray gave personalized playlists as holiday gifts to the staff. At the top of mine was “Force of Habit” by hip hop/rock fusion duo Paris, Texas, which exhaustively coursed through my headphones for weeks after. Then came the February release of They Found me with a Gun — a head banging EP spilling grimey metal riffs layered over big beats with guttural lyricism that’ll drag you beneath the surface of their cinematic discography with the rest of us. – Tyler Hickman, reporter