London – Brooklyn band Pavo Pavo harbours a quirky name, a retro future album cover, and a classical meets pop heritage that perhaps unsurprisingly yields a fascinating mix. The band name comes from a southern constellation whose brightest star is called Peacock, or Pavo in Latin. The graphics on the striking cover of its debut
London – Perhaps it’s no accident that the acronym of new spin-off band from the UK’s Morton Valence, Black Angel Drifter, is BAD. Not that its eponymously titled debut album is at all bad – far from it – but it is typical of the black humour that MV’s front man Robert “Hacker” Jessett employs.
Los Angeles - From Indian Lakes is the multi-genre conception of California-based multi-instrumentalist Joey Vannucchi. The moniker is derived from Indian Lakes, California, where Vannucchi started writing and recording songs at the age of twenty. Over the course of three full-length albums, Vannucchi has steadily evolved both sonically and emotionally. His proclivity for subdued guitars and
London – Flock of Dimes, the solo project of Wye Oak’s Jenn Wasner, is a product of much love. You sense that her debut album, If You See Me, Say Yes, under this enigmatic moniker has been some time in the gestation, even if the final impetus was triggered by her move from her native Baltimore to
London – With critical approval and a diehard fan base on board, the English duo of Adam Pickering and Paula Walker aka The Daydream Club has carried one of those “hotly tipped” mantles for some time. The release of Lux should find the recently married couple pitched on the verge of a bigger breakthrough, with
New York – While Ultimate Painting may sound like some hipster sporting event, which millennials play over cold-brewed coffee, it is actually the name of a brilliant indie band, comprised of Jack Cooper and James Joare. The London duo can credit its collaboration to a kismety encounter; the two met while touring with respective other bands –
London – What’s in a band name? The Head and The Heart perhaps takes a little less unravelling than most, offering a choice juxtaposition of the rational and the sometimes rash. Signs Of Light is the third album from the Seattle six-piece, and while that title might hint at an imminent coming-of-age musically, the sheer accomplishment of this
San Francisco – The number two: it’s powerful, yet submissive. It’s strong, yet unpredictable. It’s stalwart, yet malleable. It seeks comfort, yet it aches for dissonance. An album’s second track holds a powerful role, as it anchors the cohesiveness of an entire piece without demanding immediate satisfaction. Los Angeles-based outfit Local Natives has no qualms
Chicago – I have a confession to make: I’ve been listening to the new July Talk LP for weeks now, but a combination of being too busy, while simultaneously procrastinating when it came to what little down time I did have, mixed in with an enormous amount of self-induced pressure to give Touch its due
San Francisco – There’s a few things y’all should know about New Orleans. Yes, it was a former home of mine. No, the streets aren’t filled with topless ladies begging for strings of plastic beads (that’s just Bourbon Street between Canal and St. Peter). Yes, Popeye’s Fried Chicken does taste better there. And yes, one of the best