There are certain buzz words that appear over and over again in album reviews: fuzzy, crunchy, dreamy, maturing, etc. They’re not genres, necessarily, but they’re words used to almost categorize a band’s sound down to Kingdom-Phylum-Class-Order-Family-Genus-Species status. They let you know exactly what you’re getting into before you even open the CD or, as is
It might not have come up in conversation with every person I’ve ever met, but I feel fairly confident when I assume that at least 96% of people I’ve met in my life have at least heard of Bob Dylan, at least. For a new band to be touring with Bob Dylan, then, must be
Milo Greene is not a real person. He is a fictitious manager/booking agent that three struggling musicians and college classmates created to help effectively promote their individual endeavors. Those three friends were Andrew Heringer, Robbie Arnett and Marlana Sheetz, and years later, when the three-piece finally decided to write music together, they found it appropriate
Canada seems to be the breeding ground for crunchy electro pop these days, and Toronto-based Parallels may be one of the groups that helped start it all. The synthpop trio formed in 2008, when Cameron Findlay, the former drummer of fellow Canadian electro poppers Crystal Castles, teamed up with vocalist/composer/producer Holly Dodson. Since its inception
A Place to Bury Strangers release their third full length Worship today on Dead Oceans, and if you already know them, it’s what you want to hear. If you don’t, it’s an accurate representation of what the band is all about: dark visceral noise and pure drugged out rock and roll. Opener “Alone” immediately hits
Some bands were just meant to live in another era, and the Los Angeles-based quartet Vintage Trouble is one of them. Ty Taylor, Nalle Colt, Richard Danielson and Rick Barrio Dill not only create a soulful blend of blues and R&B, but they look like they stepped out of the 1950s. Dressed in fedoras and
I’ve recently heard a lot of buzz about a new band, but I hear buzz about a lot of bands. One of the reasons I ignored the buzz on this particular band was because of their name, Trampled by Turtles. It’s a name that screams shitty indie band. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Los Angeles band RACES is hitting the scene with their first full-length album, Year of the Witch. Formed in 2009, RACES have distinguished themselves through their alternative, orchestral, rolling melodies and awesomely spastic moments of fuzzed-up, garage instrumentals. This LP is the follow up to their Big Broom EP and limited edition 7” featuring songs
There is no question that the ‘80s are making a comeback. It seems like the majority of recent buzz bands pull to the decade of sweet pop and crunchy synthesizers for inspiration, making keyboards a necessity for most modern acts. So how does a group make its influences unique? For the Toronto-based electro-goth duo, Trust,
Brian Lopez, a soulful, curly-headed, Tucson-raised singer-songwriter has made his way on to my music radar and left a great first impression with his first solo, full-length album, album, Ultra. Branching out from his role as the leader of experimental three-piece group Mostly Bears (which, according to Wikipedia, [awesomely] sounds like “Radiohead circa 1996 getting