Cash + David are a U.K. duo who make electro with a rockist spine, judging from their first single. “Funn” is reminiscent of M83 and Big Black Delta – radiated guitar up against slippery synth up against vocals from another planet. The video is pure genius too: Johnny Cash and David Bowie lookalikes engage in […]
It’s quite possibly one of the best “albums” you will hear all year, and if not that, then at least a gobsmacking display of songwriting chops that will have you scrambling for the lyrics sheet. If there were one. The hitch is: “The Wrong Man” isn’t an album. Its 14 songs aren’t even recorded, and […]
“Answers,” the latest EP from Duniven, is a more restrained affair than either 2012’s “These Dreams” or the breakup-inspired 2011 full-length “I Need to Try for Her.” It’s almost as if singer-songwriter Patrick Thomas captured and bottled the vibe of “a long day, living in Reseda” and ignored the freeway running through the yard. The […]
Cibo Matto‘s video for their first single, “MFN” is colorful and avant-psychedelic, but that should be no surprise since they’ve worked with directors like Michel Gondry in the past for ’90s hits like “Sugar Water.” This new GEORGIA-directed clip brings the NYC-based Japanese duo – Miho Hatori and Yuka C. Honda – back from an […]
Imagine this: Jack Antonoff is still writing songs you can’t get out of your head, even if there may be a little frowning man on your shoulder imploring you to ignore them and move on. Antonoff, the fun.-ster and co-writer of the hits “We Are Young” and “Some Nights” whose work in Steel Train remains […]
L.A. quintet Line & Circle are not fast workers, but they are meticulous workers. The band – singer-guitarist Brian Cohen. keyboardist Brian Egan, guitarist Eric Neujahr, bassist Jon Engelhard (having replaced Nathan Gammill) and drummer Nick Cisik – recalls those heady days of the ’80s and ’90s when songwriters wrote anthems, not just hooks. And “Mine […]
Singer-guitarist Van Pierszalowski got into our heads not long after he departed the band Port O’Brien and started doing business as Waters. The 2011 full-length “Out in the Light,” inspired by time the songwriter spent in Norway, was a scuzzy take on power-pop with some explosive moments (see “For the One”). After finishing school, touring […]
Singer-songwriter John West was one of those feel-good stories, a regular performer on Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade who landed a major-label record deal, worked with industry A-listers and released singles featuring Big Sean and Pusha T. When things didn’t go as planned and West got dropped by the label, he set about deleting his […]
There’s some meaning, and maybe a little bit of irony, behind the new Deluka single “Home.” The synth-pop band, built around the songwriting duo of Kris Kovacs and Ellie Innocenti, is, after all, on its third home since they formed in 2004 in Birmingham, England. Deluka subsequently departed the U.K. for New York, enjoying what […]
L.A. quartet Kiven is one of several bands around town making the hopeful claim that rock is back. And even though the quartet of singer-guitarist-keyboardist Tyler Demorest, guitarist Danny Schnair, bassist Matt Cohen and drummer Jake Reed may not exactly on the vanguard, rockists may find some tasty licks on Kiven’s self-titled album, which comes […]
