Los Angeles – Music fans at Hollywood’s venerable Hotel Cafe were treated to an impressive display of songwriting and instrumental talent thanks to Dillon Hodges and his firekid project. Raised just across the Tennessee River from Muscle Shoals, firekid displays ample amounts of the region’s musical influence. Performing as a three piece, that included a banjo
Chicago – Missouri sibling trio Radkey rolled on into Chicago to do what they do best: rock hard. Best New Bands caught Radkey opening for Fu Manchu at the Double Door. Now you’d think that since the punk band wasn’t headlining, they wouldn’t draw in much of a crowd, but you would be greatly mistaken.
New York – Brooklyn-based indie rock quintet Caveman delivered a firmly memorable performance Sunday afternoon on the sprawling shores of the Atlantic, catching a crowd of city dwellers quite outside their usual habitat. The concert took place at The Riis Beach Bazaar, a phenomenal venue erected by the masterminds that brought us the Brooklyn Night
New York – Silversun Pickups have announced that their much-anticipated fourth studio album, BETTER NATURE, will be released September 25th via the band’s own New Machine Recordings. Pre-orders for the album in addition to other very limited items are now available at silversunpickups.com. BETTER NATURE is preceded by the incandescent new single, “Nightlight,” debuting August 6th. ”Nightlight” will also arrive
Chicago – Santa Barbara native Nick Long is no stranger to the music scene. During his younger years, the LA transplant was a member of prominent Cali punk bands Staring Back and Dead Country. Now he’s going it alone and revealing a softer side through his new project Dark Waves. Dark Waves leans more towards
San Francisco – One of my earliest memories of Owl Paws takes place outside an obscure little art gallery in San Francisco. I’m taking rough drags off an American Spirit and talking to the band’s lead singer/guitarist Derek Schultz. He’s just finished a solo acoustic set at an event designed to raise awareness for environmental
Los Angeles - UK duo Royal Blood’s current single “Little Monster” topped the Mediabase and BDS Active Rock Radio Chart yesterday, marking the band’s first No. 1 at the Rock Radio format. “Little Monster” was also the third most played at Apple’s Beats 1 last week. Last month following a remarkable appearance on the Howard Stern
Portland - Best Friends’ debut album is Hot. Reckless. Totally Insane. Born out of Sheffield, the foursome delivers self-deprecating garage pop that is more about music than show. Their LP, Hot. Reckless. Totally Insane consistently surprises its listeners with tracks that are littered with playfulness and attitude but never loses sight of the importance of skilled
Portland – (Publishers Note: We all reach that point where our favorite playlist starts to feel a bit tired and needs some new songs; well most of us do. Not writers for Best New Bands though, because its our job to listen to all the best new stuff. Actually the issue with being a writer
New York - I had the chance to chat with Simon Stalhamre of Small Feet just after he’d performed his first NYC gig at Pianos in the Lower East Side. We talked about finding the right label, recording in the wilderness and his longtime affinity for the English language. Firstly, how did you come up