It’s a usual story. A bunch of young dudes grow up in New York City, form a rock band. They’re influenced by a lot of cool bands, and they want to have a cool name that they can make a cool logo out of. NYC is full of bands like that, and since the city is full of inspiration, a lot of really good music is made. But the city can also sometimes be hollow, and unoriginal. The Young Things’…

  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 to Los Angeles to record with Justin Meldal-Johnsen (M83, Air, Beck), and the finished product possesses elements from each drastically different location and state-of-mind. What…

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 with tracks like “Day Glo” seamlessly in the thread. Then, Brazos was the folk moniker of Austin’s Martin McNulty Crane. Now, Brazos is the band…

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 having also established themselves in their home base of Chicago as a psychedelic “new wave” band to take note of, they’re mixing in several other…