As colder weather slowly uncoils across the land, and the trees begin to strip naked, paradoxically undressing as the temperature drops, as if they were sweating in the tropics like those exhibitionist palms, letting it all hang out, and pumpkin-based flavors and scents permeate everyone’s daily life whether they like it or not, infiltrating the everyday like smooth, orange and cinnamon spies, and gas company magnates rub their hands in glee as their eyes spin like slot machine reels showing double dollar signs because they’re about to get sprayed with the money grenade as heaters bang and clang to life, to wage war on the frost after half a year of slumber, we slowly drop the needle on the record, with the groove as guide, to warm our souls from the inside.

Let’s round ’em up.

The Shindellas — Shindo

Miss those 90s slow jams? Miss them no more. The Shindellas evoke those classic vocal trios like En Vogue, SWV, or TLC, but you can hear Boyz II Men in there, too. You can also hear the 80s and the 21st century, so whether you wanna dance nice and slow or with a little bit of bounce, they have you covered.

The Exbats — Song Machine

Here’s something you don’t see every day, a father and daughter band. Can’t say I’ve seen that on any day, actually. They added an unrelated bassist and now this Arizona (by way of Portland) trio sports a fresh take on the classicist sound: kind of an early 60’s girl-group rock colliding with the Velvet Underground, The Monkees, and The Ramones. Short, sharp, and often sweet.

The Rolling Stones — Hackney Diamonds

I wasn’t expecting anything from this album. Most bands undergo a steep decline after 20 years together — let alone 60 — but this album finds Mick and Keith in fine fettle as far as fettle goes, managing to sound both modern (without trying too hard) and classic (also without trying too hard). Not an easy trick. And the songs are pretty catchy while they’re at it!