On heels of a Glastonbury headlining set and building toward next week’s release of their seventh album, Kasabian has invaded the U.S. with a new direction and plenty of noise. At the heart of the band are songwriter-guitarist-producer Sergio Pizzorno and his bromantic partner, lead singer Tom Meighan, with bassist Chris Edwards, drummer Ian Matthews […]
The melodic mopery of the aptly named Dark Waves is perfect for anyone who’s spending a lot of time alone thrashing out all those unrequited love issues. It’s the project of singer-songwriter Nick Long, once of the punk outfit Dead Country, who’s now taken a turn toward intimate, meticulously produced synth-pop. With the release this […]
Please check your cynicism at the door; it’s time to spend an afternoon with A House for Lions. The classic rock craftsmen’s full-length debut “Hills So High,” produced by Tom Biller and released in June, set the quartet apart – young blood doing traditional rock with open hearts and without a trace of irony. Director […]
Corners will follow up their 2012 album “Beyond Way” (and two perfectly hazy 7-inches) on Oct. 7 with “Maxed Out on Distractions.” The LP, which will be released via Lolipop Records, trades in those familiar, woozy surf- and garage-rock riffs on previous releases for cold synths that reflect the post-punk that has recently influenced the […]
After six albums and seven EPs at the front of Chicago-bred Kill Hannah, Mat Devine has stepped out in a substantial way, under the moniker Wrongchilde. His L.A.-based project’s debut album “Gold Blooded,” which came out Sept. 16, sounds oddly current given its obvious 1980s influences. The album even comes complete with a morbid version […]
Joel Morales’ ascent to stoner svengali of the nascent psych-pop/garage-rock/all-things-retro scene in L.A. has to put a smile on the face of everybody who’s followed him in the past decade. Now using the name Joel Jerome, he makes music and produces young artists associated with the Manimal, Burger and Lolippop labels, his wizened ways earning […]
Milo Greene’s sparkling 2012 debut was notable for two qualities: an organic indie-pop feel that harked back to the folk-rockers of the 1970s and a distinctly democratic approach – i.e., principals Andrew Heringer, Marlana Sheetz, Robbie Arnett and Graham Fink, who are joined by drummer Curtis Marrero, traded vocal duties like appetizers at an office […]
Dream Boys, the jangle-pop quartet of Scotsman Wallace Meek and his American buddies Wayne Faler, Will Ivy and Mike La Franchi, immediately won our hearts with last year’s self-titled debut, and it sounds as if they’ll continue to build on the Sarah Records sound with their new 7-inch. Teaming with producer Lewis Pesacov, who has worked […]
Almost every band seeks reinvention, their fans sometimes fear it, and critics expect it. Tampa, Fla., band Merchandise have moved from being a three-piece post-punk outfit with a drum machine, to being a noise-pop quintet with an ’80s-indebted sheen. Although Merchandise are presented as a pop band, they have retained the DIY ethos of their […]
Forty-eight years ago, in the early days of media firestorms, John Lennon caused a stir by wisecracking the Beatles were bigger than Jesus, sacrilege in that era. On the title track to the Growlers’ new album “Chinese Fountain,” Brooks Nielsen advances the notion that “The Internet is bigger than Jesus and John Lennon / and […]
