Seattle – Sleigh Bells has always toyed with the line between loud noise-rock and jangle-pop, a combination that’s somehow seems to work. The Brooklyn duo released its third album, “Bitter Rivals”, October 8th and with it, has proven that the combination alone isn’t a recipe for success. Bitter Rivals is not the most listenable album from the
The punk drummer, truck driver, deep-voiced experimental country crooner Daughn Gibson rolled through Brooklyn recently, playing an enigmatic set with a backing band at Glasslands. I saw him once before at Knitting Factory during CMJ last year, when he was just with his drum machines, samplers, and librarian-esque keyboard player. This time around he was
Old Monk is one of the first bands that I became aware of because of a post on BestNewBands.com, back in 2011 when our past writer Jesse wrote his review on the band, colloquially complimenting the band on their outstanding musicianship and instinctual genre-bending. Just from this description I felt that this was something I could
Imagine having your own dream sequence, and being pulled into this ethereal haze, full of light but with dark visceral undertones. Atlanta-based dream pop band Mood Rings’ set at Cameo was a lot like that. There was so much dreaminess that a girl in a long, flowing white dressed stepped forward around the middle of
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
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,
NYC dream folk band Brazos recently played a residency at Cameo Gallery, chillin out every Tuesday night for a whole month. They’re gearing up to release a brand new album, Saltwater, on May 28, and they recently released a video for “How the Ranks Was Won,” so the band has a good momentum of new
I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect for my first time seeing Los Angeles avant pop band Fol Chen perform live. I had read that they play instruments that they themselves have invented, and wear disguises. However, with the release of their new album, False Alarms, they seem to have grown more into their own skin
Last Saturday, Glasslands had a night of East Coast dream rock, and variations on that theme, featuring Saskatchewan, Vensaire, and Orca Orca. Orlando-based Saskatchewan was the headliner, and brought many Florida transplants out to the front row. It was nice to see the sub-tropic south represent a little in the greatest and most eclectic city
For a band that has only been playing music together for a year, Los Encantados has accomplished a tremendous amount. The New York-based sextet has released not one, but three EPs since March, all acting as installments of a larger concept called The Same Damned Soul. Aside from copious amounts of writing and recording, the