The second coming of Naked Raygun? I don’t know but these guys are good.
For Porcelain, Rogers moves forward from the 60s and into the early 70s, especially the Rolling Stones-style glam rock balladry of Mott the Hoople.
Like Squeeze’s recent Spot the Difference CD, Regeneration faithfully recreates Styx’s classic-rock singles with the band’s current touring lineup. This is both a treat for current fans and a means for fans to thank their heroes for soldiering on.
A collection of shelved material turns out to be a treasure trove.
Thought experiment: What if Weekend was the first band you’d ever heard?
It’s accessible and relatable because who hasn’t had a few years of living dangerously.
Le Chelsea Beat are are welcome new band of bad-ass fuzzed out pysch rockers that slay in both official languages.
On Mesdames et Messieurs.. , this gang of crack musicians have created a pared-down half an hour plus slab of mod, psych and freakbeat influenced tunes that carry a wide range and obvious love and capacity for the genre.
Occupying the middle ground between the more ethereal Brock Van Wey and the darker and dirtier Thomas Watkiss, this is an exceptional debut.
Happy Black Friday. If you go anywhere to shop today, head to your local indie record store and give thought to this, the second Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings review of the week.
For conceptual depth, musical ambition and instrumental command, Quadrophenia remains unmatched among the Who’s canon. This set gives Who fans unprecedented insight into a justifiably beloved album.
An album against cheap fuel and capitalism, it actually is indisposable.
How can ghosts have gravitational pull?
This 45rpm single demonstrates afresh that the leftovers from soul providers Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings top many artists’ prime cuts. “He Said I Can” is a funky strut, while B-side “It Hurts to be Alone” reinterprets a Wailers classic recorded in 1963.
White Wives demonstrate really anthemic songwriting chops with very interesting concepts and influences, mainly from the Provo Movement of the 1960’s.
Earnest, hardcore and totally driving, The Speaking Tongue’s first full length carries with it all the weight and grit of the Mississippi Delta where it was recorded.
This former Revolting Cock reinvents himself by taking a fresh approach to the past.
New Blood seems best suited as a gift to Peter Gabriel’s most committed fans – the devotees who are interested to see Gabriel unmake and recreate a favorite song like “Solsbury Hill,” and the ones who want to focus upon the power of his singular voice.
Projekt mastermind takes listeners on an expanded journey into the vast unknown. Do not operate heavy machinery while under its influence.
It’s important to keep your expectations in check since this is a mixtape but his talent is so much greater than most hip-hop artists that even his leftovers are better than those artists’ singles.
A concise description of the third track, the cleverly titled “Cyst and Decease”, would be “Captain Beefheart in Space”.
An idea that started a few years ago has led to a 7” on Matador.
This Lp pulls no punches and sounds as good in 2011 as I imagine that it must have in 1982.
I know you’ve been burned by the initial debuts of modern-day “girl groups,” but The Bandana Splits have a few things to show you with their debut album.
This is easily Iced Earth’s best collection of tunes since 1998. If you jumped off the bandwagon like I did, now’s the time to get back on.
The music-loving experts at Drag City have reissued the first two records by Portuguese guitarra maestro Carlos Paredes, and these two records are an interesting introduction to the late guitar innovator.
Concealer is one of those exercises in minimalist aesthetics that betrays a deeper well of talent, an understanding of the process of subtraction and the importance of what’s left out.
Like Deerhunter’s debut for 4AD last year, this is my favorite in Atlas Sound’s respective catalog.
Take this for what it is: a great band dialing it in to fulfill a commitment. But with some great tracks in spite of themselves.
This DVD is an essential for any Jesus Lizard fan as well as a primer for those who were always curious about the band but too afraid to ask.
All this would be enough, but as a bonus we get the first official version of The Faith’s 1981 demo.
Comparisons to another band be damned, Albuquerque’s Coma Recovery has produced a very fine collection of heavy instrumental rock music.
Greg Boerner is a natural troubadour with acoustic folk/blues chops and personality to spare. Of his four releases, his newest album Prophetstown comes closest to witnessing the artist in the wild.
Prolific Swede indie-popper Johan Angergård’s project Pallers have produced a debut of wonderfully dour 80s new wave.
This independent project shows a maturity of craft and is worth a listen for fans of female singer-songwriters ranging from Carole King to Alison Krauss. The talent on display here is worth sharing beyond its hometown roots.
Where does one even begin trying to offer a glimpse of the huge, planet-destroying force that is the band Natsumen. An Orchestra of joy. A free rock orgasm of sheer playing prowess and compulsive sound masses and melodic breakdown. This band hypnotizes, overwhelms and scintillates. That, added to their own self-descriptor, “Progressive HardCore JAZZ Aggressive Improvisation ROCK band.” and we’re getting close.
A heavy duty rock n’ roll cyclone of an album, full of piss & vinegar that carries the Cramps, Stooges and MC5 genome with authority.
Sludge riffing combined with atmospheric foreboding makes this an interesting debut EP.
From Fukuoka Japan, Hyacca are an incredibly exciting band. Their most recent effort Hanazono is a perfect high-kick of ripped rnr and driving psych-punk. There is, like many recent bands emerging from the Japanese underground, a whirlwind blend of genres at play that end up transcending the idioms into something sublime, earnest and tight as shit.
With all that said, what about the music on here? Well, it’s amazing.
Intense post punk return, not to be missed…
Motown giants The Temptations celebrate an astonishing fifty years of pop music history with The Singles Collection. This set is a treasure trove for fans unfamiliar with the Temptations’ early work and the many quality singles that dotted the group’s trajectory from hit to hit.
The band’s name and debut album’s title may make you think that the music within is dark, folky, and somewhat wet. Guess what—it is!
Public Disgrace compiles three intense live recordings from a stellar lineup.
Evil Farm Children have made a beauty of a 7” that plays well with anything Norton. Throw in a rad black & white hand-drawn sleeve and this is exactly the kind of candy that rock and rollas like me love to get wired on.
Candian-based Tim Hecker concludes his year by releasing an album of stark, basic sketches of songs used as the basis for the album he released at the beginning of the year. Surprisingly essential.
Mostly gone is the flamboyance that is sure to piss off more than a few diehards. The raw, dangerous, funk element is missing. But with The Great Escape Artist, Jane’s Addiction proved that they can age gracefully and still be relevant.
Canadian-based The Darcys issue the first in a trilogy of vinyl-only releases; the novelty does not detract in any way from the quality.
On what is perhaps their first “official,” i.e., non-CDr or cassette, release, Viodre have assembled a collage of negativity that is at once disturbing, meditative and demanding, an unapologetic aural assault akin to those nightmares that just won’t let you wake up.
Oh, OK, I understand why this Athens, Georgia band has been piling on the accolades.
The Besnard Lakes impress yet again, this time with a gorgeous, dreamy 4-song 12” single.
