rock
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The Vaccines don’t have the most original of styles or tunes, but they know a catchy hook when they hear one. What Did You Expect From the Vaccines? is a record that functions on those basic principles of a catchy rock album: energy, straightforwardness, volume. With influences ranging from
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Snake Oil is a new CT-based psych rock project. It features a member of the band Weigh Down, and seems to be entirely instrumental. Seems like a self-recorded approach to reviving a classic sound. In a way, it sort of reminds me of Dumbo Gets Mad, so those who see
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Trap Them’s third album won’t be a shock if you’ve heard their earlier work, but they have inched once more toward a unified sound. With Kurt Ballou at the controls again, the band has built a torturous gauntlet of twelve pounding tracks. They’ve got the intensity
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Boris’ first single from Heavy Rocks is a hefty take on the bluesy sounds metal used to have during its salad days in the 1970s. It recalls the work the band did on the original Heavy Rocks, too, which came out in 2002. It’s 9 years later and Boris
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Since my review of that Craft Spells album, I’ve been having a hankering for lo-fi, self-recorded rock and pop. So, let’s introduce the Brooklyn band Ex-Cops. Though “Broken Chinese Chairs” is pretty fun and breezy, the mood of this band can get pretty dark, too. Word ’round the
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New video for the Two Wounded Birds joint “All We Wanna Do.” From the moment I heard these guys, I dug their embrace of a surf rock sound. They’re still staying true to the sand and the sea, but they’re coming out of their shell a lot more,
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Craft Spells’ debut LP is a mutated mixtape of the best sounds new wave had to offer. It’s a kind of shy LP, but the tunes will definitely stick with anyone willing to lean in and give a close listen. Though it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, this thing
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Spirit Spine is the home-recorded journey through the outsider sounds of psychedelia, kraut rock, ambient music, minimalism, and dream pop. The sounds on “Ocean of Sand” sort of remind me of Parts & Labor’s previous album Receivers, but this project’s influences run much deeper than that–just look
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It seemed impossible, but the Pains of Being Pure at Heart have somehow found a way to sound sweeter and more innocent than they did on their self-titled debut. This slight change in direction didn’t sit well with me on first listen, though. I was a little disappointed to
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Peaking Lights, Indra Dunis and Aaron Coyes, have a new LP out via Not Not Fun titled 936. Coyes skills with a soldering iron with the haunting vocals of Dunis. have added up into some lovely, dub-laced dream pop worth listening to while taking a midnight drive down a deserted
