Some albums encapsulate certain seasons and feelings, and Crystal Fighters’ sophomore effort, Cave Rave, does just that, begging to become the anthem of the summer, preferably during bonfires, road trips, and late night dance parties. The Spain-dwelling six-piece wrote the record during a two-month spell cooped up in the hills of Basque then headed
Brazos’ Phosphorescent Blues came out amidst the 2009 explosion of indie-infused folk that was led by now sensationalized Mumford and Suns and, perhaps to a lesser degree, Tallest Man on Earth, Elvis Perkins and those likes. In that wave, Brazos released its debut album Phosphorescent Blues as a perfect addition to any 2009 indie-folk playlist
When some of the best sounds of the early ’90s are crossed with the psychedelic rock sounds of the ’60s, that’s a pretty strong start in building a cult following of fans of both. Secret Colours have been compared with other forerunners of the current psych rock scene, like Black Angels and Ringo Deathstarr, but
It’s 2013 which means Apollo Sunshine hasn’t been around for about four years now, which sounds like a longer time than it feels. Perhaps that’s because, while the band might have left us, thankfully front man Sam Cohen has not. After the band’s split, Cohen took a two year hiatus before releasing The Color, the
When it comes to music José Gonzalez, the folk singer from Gothenburg, Sweden, seems to do little, if anything wrong. In the early Aughts, the singer was part of a trio with Elias Araya (drums) and Tobias Winterkorn (synth/keys) bringing forth the transformative nova folk spectrum known as Junip. To date, the trio has
It’s been three years since Kisses released its first album, The Heart of the Nightlife, and in that time Jesse Kivel and Zinzi Edmundson have looked outward, replacing the punch-drunk mood and theme of their debut with a disquieting social commentary on the privileges given to many of their peers growing up in Los
Why yes, I am a mainstream Country enthusiast. I do enjoy a nicely crafted Country-pop collection that barely scratches the surface somewhere between folk, rock, faux-pop and traditionalism without any real connection to musical history, lyrical depth or intriguing multi-layered instrumentation. However, when an album of incredibly dizzying heights, regardless of textbook genre definitions,
When it comes to Savages’ debut album Silence Yourself only one thing is certain: this is a confrontational piece of music. It’s a smack of spittle to the face; the recoil of a revolver blast; the hang time of a jump into the deep end. This is post-punk at its hardest hitting, the kind
When asked what Northern England contributes to the country, Southerners might simply answer rain and wool. They wouldn’t be totally wrong, but the North Country has also given us The Smiths; it’s given us Joy Division; it’s recently given us Alt-J and now it’s giving us Just Handshakes. Say It, released May 20 on San
As we’ve discussed before, most notably in our SXSW coverage, The Weeks are a band to watch for. There is much to say about this raucous group of four and their extremely talented surrogate keyboardist Alex Collier who has taken a full forward position on their latest album Dear Bo Jackson. The latest effort by