Best New Bands » Liam Mathews http://www.bestnewbands.com News, Reviews and Interviews Wed, 07 Feb 2018 02:08:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.41 Nadine Shah In PJ Harvey’s Shadow; Not a Bad Thing http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/nadine-shah-pj-harveys-shadow-bad-thing/ http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/nadine-shah-pj-harveys-shadow-bad-thing/#comments Sat, 04 Apr 2015 00:33:55 +0000 http://www.bestnewbands.com/?p=23143 New York – Nadine Shah is pretty much doing a PJ Harvey impression. There’s no way to avoid mentioning it; her music is so specifically influenced by Polly Jean Harvey’s mid-90s body of work that it almost should be evaluated as an alternate-universe continuation of what Harvey could have done if she had stayed in

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  1. Twin Shadow ’s LP Is a Hard-Hitting Coup New York – Twin Shadow’s work sits on the periphery of R&B, and concurrently houses a decidedly indie-pop essence. Never before has this coupling of genres been so pronounced than on this act’s third studio album, Eclipse, out this week...
  2. Colleen Green Matures With ‘I Want To Grow Up’ Los Angeles – Poor Colleen Green – she tries so hard to become a more mature, responsible and secure person.  The title of her second record for Hardly Art, I Want To Grow Up, says it all.  But even by...
  3. Lower Dens ‘Escape From Evil’ – Their Best Yet? Los Angeles – As we enter what is known as “festival season,” there are always a few bands that make an enormous impression on the audiences, their songs going on to be considered the “songs of the summer” for the...
]]> http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/nadine-shah-pj-harveys-shadow-bad-thing/feed/ 1 Jack Ladder & the Dreamlanders Bring Australian Style To Brooklyn http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/jack-ladder-dreamlanders-bring-australian-style-brooklyn/ http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/jack-ladder-dreamlanders-bring-australian-style-brooklyn/#comments Wed, 01 Apr 2015 21:07:20 +0000 http://www.bestnewbands.com/?p=23070 Brooklyn – Jack Ladder & the Dreamlanders have an unwieldy, confusing name and are an “uncool” band. They may dress ridiculously and even make “unfashionable” music. But being dorky doesn’t disqualify them from being worth your time. Lyrics-driven music is almost always uncool; look at Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker. Jarvis was a skinny nerd who didn’t

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  1. Jack Name Delivers A Pop-Psych Concept LP With ‘Weird Moons’ Los Angeles – With Weird Moons being Jack Name’s second album in two years, the enigmatic artist is displaying the trademark prolificacy of his peers on the Castle Face Records roster.  Released this week, the follow-up to Light Show is...
  2. Twin Peaks Bring The Energy To Rough Trade NYC During CMJ Brooklyn – In an age when many young popular bands are a series of nice haircuts and boyish good looks, Twin Peaks is a welcome change. Drummer Connor Brodner, bassist Jack Dolan, guitarist Clay Frankel and guitarist Cadien Lake James...
  3. Charlotte OC and Jack Garratt Bring Fresh Music from Abroad To Bardot’s Los Angeles — It was a night of international live premieres of two worthy new indie artists at Bardot’s School Night on Monday.  Charlotte OC and Jack Garratt both performed for the first time in the U.S., and judging from...
]]> http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/jack-ladder-dreamlanders-bring-australian-style-brooklyn/feed/ 0 Liturgy Test The Faithful With ‘The Ark Work’ http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/liturgy-test-faithful-ark-work/ http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/liturgy-test-faithful-ark-work/#comments Wed, 25 Mar 2015 23:55:02 +0000 http://www.bestnewbands.com/?p=22866 New York – Liturgy was a different sort of metal band from the start, when their debut album Renihilation came out in 2009. Renihilation sounded like a black metal album, with its witch’s howl screaming and torrential tremolo guitars and shotgun-blast drumming, but there was something else happening as well; it sounded transcendent, like someone

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  1. Q&A: Hunter Hunt-Hendrix of Liturgy Brooklyn may be the last place you would expect find a black metal band. But Liturgy bucks the trend. Taking their name from the dictionary definition of a form of public worship, the band’s music is an ecstatic affirmation of...
  2. Jack Name Delivers A Pop-Psych Concept LP With ‘Weird Moons’ Los Angeles – With Weird Moons being Jack Name’s second album in two years, the enigmatic artist is displaying the trademark prolificacy of his peers on the Castle Face Records roster.  Released this week, the follow-up to Light Show is...
  3. Stars In Stereo Gamely Work The Young Audience At Irving Plaza New York – Being the opening act can be a difficult role. Whether you’re a singer songwriter taking the stage alone with an acoustic guitar or an indie band the size of a pit orchestra, playing the first slot can...
]]> http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/liturgy-test-faithful-ark-work/feed/ 0 The Preatures: The Coolest People in the Boom Boom Room http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/preatures-coolest-people-boom-boom-room/ http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/preatures-coolest-people-boom-boom-room/#comments Sun, 22 Mar 2015 20:09:47 +0000 http://www.bestnewbands.com/?p=22746 New York – The Boom Boom Room at the Standard Hotel is barely a music venue. It’s mostly a swanky bar on the top floor of a trendy Meatpacking District hotel where tourists and new-money Manhattan-ites gather to preen and feel exclusive and eat frites, which is what you eat if you want to seem

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  1. Foster The People Close High-Energy Set With Somber Dedication New York – Mark Foster commanded the stage like a cult leader at Friday night’s Foster The People show at the historic United Palace. Such a grand venue was the perfect setting for the band’s brief CMJ stop. The gilded...
  2. The Preatures Debut Full-Length ‘Blue Planet Eyes’ Austin – The Preatures’ breakout EP Is This How You Feel? took its queues well. The Sydney band’s 2012 debut, Shaking Hands, introduced us to a group with a nice premise and an ambition to draw from a lot of...
  3. SXSW: Gorgon City, ODESZA and Milo Greene Austin – A lot of people say SXSW Music doesn’t really start until Wednesday, but those chumps missed out on day one. It was a little slower than usual as people waited in line to collect wristbands, but careful planners...
]]> http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/preatures-coolest-people-boom-boom-room/feed/ 1 Houndmouth ‘Little Neon Limelight’: Americana in Good Hands http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/houndmouth-little-neon-limelight-americana-good-hands/ http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/houndmouth-little-neon-limelight-americana-good-hands/#comments Fri, 20 Mar 2015 02:17:17 +0000 http://www.bestnewbands.com/?p=22659 New York – Houndmouth is from New Albany, Indiana, a history-rich town just across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. New Albany was a steamboat boomtown in the mid-19th century. Its most famous product is the Civil War-era steamship Robert E. Lee, memorialized in The Band song “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.” Perhaps

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  1. Israel Nash Performs ‘Rain Plans’ LP In Sunny SoCal Los Angeles – With a warm breeze blowing through the dry Southern California air, Angelinos could enjoy a pleasant stroll through the balmy “winter” night on their way to see Israel Nash and his band put on a roots-rock rendition...
  2. MisterWives ’ Triumphant First Album Proves The Stardom Is Deserved New York – MisterWives, an insatiably effervescent indie pop act out of New York, has rocketed to the limelight at full tilt since their debut EP one year ago. Now, the whirlwind continues with the release of the band’s first...
  3. Houndmouth Plays To A Packed House At Mercy Lounge Nashville – The rough-and-tumble blues rock of Houndmouth has been hot in Nashville lately. We figured we’d better catch their show at Mercy Lounge to see what the buzz is about and see if they’re ready to join ranks with...
]]> http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/houndmouth-little-neon-limelight-americana-good-hands/feed/ 1 Girl Band: 4 Irishmen Play Mercury Lounge http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/girl-band-4-irishmen-play-mercury-lounge/ http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/girl-band-4-irishmen-play-mercury-lounge/#comments Mon, 16 Mar 2015 00:13:04 +0000 http://www.bestnewbands.com/?p=22518 New York – Girl Band has hamstrung themselves with their terrible name. It’s almost impossible to catch anyone’s attention in the infinite, overwhelming virtual SXSW of the Internet, so a first impression via a name can be of crucial importance. A band doesn’t want to allow a potential listener to write them off without hearing

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  1. Family Matters: Wardell Plays The Mercury Lounge New York – Wardell threw a party to commemorate the release of their self-released debut album Love/Idleness, which came out this week. The show had a warm, celebratory atmosphere, with many people in the sold-out crowd seemingly friends of the...
  2. Avi Buffalo Charms Fans At Manhattan’s Mercury Lounge New York – Kicking off an early show at Manhattan’s much-loved Mercury Lounge the other night, Avi Buffalo charmed fans with an hour-long set of melody-heavy, rambling tracks. True to this act’s quietly electric identity, the night was both intimate and moving,...
  3. This is the Kit Plays The Mercury Lounge This is the Kit is the songwriting project of Kate Stables, who has a voice like an old friend. Some songs are like a comfortably rollicking lullaby, and others like stimulating psychedelic adventures. For her late set at Mercury Lounge,...
]]> http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/girl-band-4-irishmen-play-mercury-lounge/feed/ 0 Heems Returns With Haunting ‘Eat Pray Thug’ http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/heems-returns-haunting-eat-pray-thug/ http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/heems-returns-haunting-eat-pray-thug/#comments Sat, 07 Mar 2015 06:53:21 +0000 http://www.bestnewbands.com/?p=22260 New York – We missed Heems. He put out two excellent mixtapes, Nehru Jackets and Wild Water Kingdom, in 2012, just before the official dissolution of his group Das Racist that December. Until Eat Pray Thug, his only musical endeavor since the breakup was a collaborative EP with London rapper Riz MC under the moniker

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  1. Geographer Returns With Haunting ‘Ghost Modern’   Los Angeles – Ghost Modern is the third album from San Francisco electro-pop act Geographer. The record marks Geographer’s first new material since 2012’s Myth. In January, Best New Bands caught them on their brief tour introducing several new...
  2. Queens Rapper SHIRT Boasts Mix Of Pride, Regret On ‘MUSEUM’ New York – Queens is the city’s best rap borough. The form was invented in the Bronx, dudes from Harlem and Brooklyn are best at flash and attention grabbing, and Staten Island is the Shaolin, but rappers from Queens are...
  3. Future Brown Dazzles On Debut New York – Future Brown is a production collective that was formed, Voltron-like, by dance music duo Nguzunguzu’s Asma Maroof and Daniel Pineda, artist and musician Fatima al Qadiri, and Lit City Trax label owner and promoter J-Cush. Their self-titled...
]]> http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/heems-returns-haunting-eat-pray-thug/feed/ 0 Wolves Of London: Wolf Alice At Brooklyn Night Bazaar http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/wolves-london-wolf-alice-brooklyn-night-bazaar/ http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/wolves-london-wolf-alice-brooklyn-night-bazaar/#comments Thu, 05 Mar 2015 08:58:45 +0000 http://www.bestnewbands.com/?p=22177 Brooklyn – The biggest cliché in band names during the 2000s was ‘wolf.’ For a while, it seemed like if a band didn’t have an extraneous consonant, they had some reference to wolves doing something wolves don’t normally do: Wolf Parade, Wolfmother, Sea Wolf, and about a bajillion others. Eventually, a moratorium was called and

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  1. Yellow Ostrich At The Brooklyn Night Bazaar New York – Saturday night’s showing at the Brooklyn Night Bazaar was like a circus brawl. The indoor-arcades, multiple bars, food trucks and craft vendors always lend a clattering backdrop for the venue’s weekly free concerts, and Saturday night was...
  2. Lazyeyes Offer ‘90s Revival In Brooklyn Brooklyn – It’s natural to be skeptical by default of ‘90s revival bands. We tend to dismiss new bands that claim Nirvana (for example) as an influence as pandering or dull (I admit this is probably unfair). Too many bands...
  3. Mac DeMarco At Brooklyn Night Bazaar Brooklyn – With its indoor arcades, independent food and art vendors, multiple bars and live music, Brooklyn Night Bazaar is not unlike an adult playground. A festival of glittery indulgence that doesn’t feel so polished after an introduction to the...
]]> http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/wolves-london-wolf-alice-brooklyn-night-bazaar/feed/ 0 That Voice: Synthpop Duo Purity Ring – ‘Another Eternity’ http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/voice-synthpop-duo-purity-ring-another-eternity/ http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/voice-synthpop-duo-purity-ring-another-eternity/#comments Sun, 01 Mar 2015 00:45:24 +0000 http://www.bestnewbands.com/?p=22054 New York – Last year, electronic pop iconoclast Grimes released a track called “Go” that she had written for Rihanna. It was a weird moment that showed how all perceived boundaries between seemingly incompatible musical worlds are artificial. Here was a somewhat accidental star, just a few years removed from tiny DIY basement shows, pitching

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  1. Capitol Hill Block Party: Naomi Punk, Purity Ring, Wild Cub, Pickwick Keep the Party Going Well, we managed to find enough time to get well rested and ready for the second round of Capitol Hill Block Party after a wholly entertaining kick-off day; the day two party rivaled the first and gave us a wide...
  2. Benjamin Booker Finds His Voice   Los Angeles- Sometimes it’s failure that sets us on the track that we need to be on. For Benjamin Booker the inability to score a job in journalism out of college was the impetus for his now budding musical...
  3. Young Ejecta’s ‘The Planet’ Is Trippy, Beep-y, Wonderful San Francisco – Relative newcomers Young Ejecta have returned with a new EP—or “mini-album” as they choose to call it—entitled The Planet.  The electronic duo consists of Joel Ford (of Ford & Lopatin fame) and Neon Indian’s female vocalist Leanne...
]]> http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/voice-synthpop-duo-purity-ring-another-eternity/feed/ 1 Future Brown Dazzles On Debut http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/future-brown-dazzles-debut/ http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/future-brown-dazzles-debut/#comments Thu, 26 Feb 2015 04:09:52 +0000 http://www.bestnewbands.com/?p=22011 New York – Future Brown is a production collective that was formed, Voltron-like, by dance music duo Nguzunguzu’s Asma Maroof and Daniel Pineda, artist and musician Fatima al Qadiri, and Lit City Trax label owner and promoter J-Cush. Their self-titled debut album is a melting pot of dance music, taking sounds and beats from drum-fueled,

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  1. Cotillon Deliver An Upbeat Full-Length Debut Nashville – With their latest self-titled release (via Burger Records), Cotillon once again shines with an ethereal follow up to their breezy 2013 White Roses EP. Led by the visionary singer-songwriter Jordan Corso, and known for their warm, floral sound...
  2. Ghost Culture Floats Into 2015 With His Debut Release Nashville – As eerie as its eponymous moniker, Ghost Culture’s recent debut (via Phantasy) delivers a delightfully unpredictable catalog of work. Though customarily infused with a hint of Detroit techno and all of the familiar trappings of contemporary electronica, Ghost...
  3. Ultimate Painting Deliver ‘Super’ Debut  Austin – Ultimate Painting was introduced to me as a supergroup. Not in those words, but there must have been some hope that name-dropping Veronica Falls and Mazes would entice me to listen to their music. I’m not sure if,...
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