Los Angeles – One may recognize crash’s angelic falsetto from the indie folk musical collective Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeroes, but Hardly Criminal proves that he can enchant and mesmerize all on his own. The 11-track solo debut album is a tidal wave of emotion that appropriately crashes with a perfect balance of groove, shake, heartache,
New York – Sharon Van Etten is a Brooklyn-based musician whose numinous talent and tell-all lyricism knifes its way into the hearts and minds of her listeners. With her fourth studio album in sight this month, two tracks are already up for public consumption. From what we’ve heard so far, Van Etten is going in
Chicago – There’s always so much pressure placed on a band to create a marvelous sophomore album when their debut knocks it out of the park. Seeing as Glasgow band PAWShad critics raving with their first release Cokefloat!, I’m sure Phillip Taylor, Josh Swinne, and newcomer Ryan Drever felt the need to push themselves further with the
New York – I’ve found my new favorite album of spring. Memphis punk band Ex-Cult just released Midnight Passenger, the follow-up to their 2012 self-titled debut. Full of crunchy, fuzzy, garage punk goodness, this sophomore record is a right crawl through nighttime scenarios and satiating debauchery in the darkest dive bars dripping with psychedelic slime. In other
Chicago – When Wye Oak released Civilian in 2011, indie rockers Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack found themselves pretty much on everyone’s radar. After extensive touring, Wasner returned to the duo’s native Maryland, and Stack found himself moving states away, living on the West Coast and eventually settling in Texas. While on the verge of
Seattle – Four years after signing on to Communion Records, UK artist Matthew and The Atlas (nèe Matthew Hegarty) has released his first full-length album. Other Rivers, is a vocally and melodically soaring compilation of songs Hegarty’s written over the past six years. After two acclaimed EPs, To the North and Kingdom of Your Own,
Austin – Though the band name and cover art might suggest some sort of black metal nightmare, Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks’ “Enter the Slasher House” is more like a whimsical fun house. If anything, this album was created from the trappings of a bad acid trip, though it’s one I enjoy living in through the
Nashville – Even before listening to the music of the Australian artist Chet Faker, I knew he had to be an interesting guy. His debut album, titled Built on Glass, was released on April 15 on Futuristic Classic/Downtown/Opulent Records. The titles of his songs are…unique, to say the least. “Dead Body,” “Cigarettes & Loneliness,” “To
Nashville – What do you get when you get when you combine a pop vocalist and an 80’s musicality? Out of the musical depths of Los Angeles emerges Jill Lamoureaux and Dan Mufson of Scavenger Hunt, a musical duo that has recently released their debut self-titled EP on April 8. The six songs that the
Brooklyn – For a band that built its brand on evocative and sentimental lyrical narratives, we would expect nothing less than for The Antlers to bowl us over once more. The group has been busily curating their next stack of tracks and, as usual, the first cut takes aim directly at our empathetic axes. The