The Faraway Places, “Out of the Rain, the Thunder & the Lightning” (Save It, May 12) – Power pop and summer seem to go together like Dodgers dogs and the crack of the bat … or cool drinks and shade trees … or like the boy-girl vocals delivered by Chris Colthart and Donna Coppola on […]
Dawes, “North Hills” (self-released) – The first album from the new quartet featuring three-quarters of Simon Dawes sneaks up on you like a moment of deja vu. Twenty-three-year-old Taylor Goldsmith crafts elegant folk-pop gems that reveal a remarkably centered songwriter who feels the currents surrounding him but won’t get swept away by any of them. […]
Great Northern, “Remind Me Where the Light Is” (Eenie Meenie, today) – Solon Bixler and Rachel Stolte have bad dreams and big dreams, and both are embodied on their sophomore album. Their fears are framed meticulously – though more musically than lyrically – in their shimmering arrangements and soaring melodies, and just when you think […]
Castledoor’s first album is titled “Shouting at Mountains,” but members of the Los Angeles sextet had to feel as if they were climbing them the past three years. After they arrived on the scene with a winsome tune and a smile, Castledoor’s career has proceeded by fits and starts, with two EPs (“‘Til We Sink” […]
[Today Buzz Bands welcomes Ted Jameson, who will be contributing occasional album reviews.] Bat for Lashes, “Two Suns” (Astralwerks, April 7) – After releasing a critically acclaimed debut album, “Fur and Gold” (2007), Natasha Khan returns with a strong second effort that is conceptually ambitious while remaining highly listenable. In an era where the album […]
Art Brut, “Art Brut vs. Satan” (Downtown, April 21) – Thank the stars Eddie Argos is so self-absorbed, then thank them again that he seems to be such a miserable schmuck. Without those qualities, the repartee on the British quintet’s third album wouldn’t be so hilariously biting. Argos’ shout-sung conversations with himself (which remind me […]
[I’d like to welcome guest contributor and local music maven Steven Wallace, who will do occasional reviews as Buzz Bands tries to cover more releases.] The Boxer Rebellion, “Union” (self-released) – A surprise hit on iTunes after its January release, the sophomore album by this intercontinental foursome (an American, a Australian and two Englishmen) aims […]
The Whip, “X Marks Destination” (Razor & Tie) – How do you make dance music that isn’t necessarily original but still sounds fresh? Manchester, U.K., quartet the Whip has managed to do so on its debut, unabashedly worshiping at the altar of New Order, Duran Duran, LCD Soundsystem and even, at moments, evoking the rockist […]
[I’m still woefully in arrears on album reviews, so I’m setting a modest goal of one per day for the near future – there are some guest reviewers on the way, too.] Gliss, “Devotion Implosion” (Rykodisc/Cordless, April 7) – The L.A. trio’s sophomore effort boomerangs in and out of the shadows – occasionally those cast […]
It’s easy to be wowed by the primal noises that Robert Davis, guitarist for the L.A. quartet the Yelling, coaxes out of his axe. It’s a hypodermic needle of Zeppelin juice, or a long tall drink of Jack White, and if it doesn’t get your blood pumping then you’d better stick to your hippie-fied electro-pop […]
