May 2014
Reviews: Tiny Boats – Broken Vessels
Tiny Boats have created a lovely debut. With a respectable 45 minutes of music, this easy-listen folk-rock album is a great glimpse into the sound and stylings of this new band. … read more
Reviews: The Trouble With Templeton
- Rookie
This group of Australians recently made a musical transition with this new album. They went from alternative folk on their first album, Bleeders, to an alternative rock band. … read more
Reviews: Turchi – Can’t Bury Your Past
The beauty of the blues is that it’s so simple and raw that it can convey anything from anybody. It’s not playing different chords—it’s that one can play the same chords that have been played forever, and still play them with one’s own pain with one’s own soul. Turchi play a gritty, textured style of the blues, which, at times, is pretty remarkable … … read more
Reviews: Vertical Scratchers – Daughter of Everything
Vertical Scratchers are a two-piece band made up of ex-Brainiac and Enon guitarist John Schmersal and former Triclops! drummer Christian Beaulieu. This is the debut album for the duo, and it stands as a testament to the heartwarming, poetic rock direction that Merge Records seems to be embracing with their new releases. … read more
Reviews: Wild Ones – Keep it Safe
This album is sure to be a great summertime hit. The first song, “Golden Twin,” is catchy, and they maintain that interest pretty solidly throughout. … read more
Reviews: Unicycle Loves You – The Dead Age
The Dead Age fills well-titled tracks (names like “Suicide Pizza,” “Face Tattoo” and “Endless Bummer”) with the retro fuzz sound that’s seized the garage scene. The track names alone would be enough to get me to listen at least once. … read more
Review: The Forty Nineteens – Spin it
Blasting out with an ‘80s styled, pop-doused, garage-rock assault, The Forty Nineteens bring something different, yet very familiar, to the table. It is almost easy to overlook the notable tracks worth their weight during the initial listen. … read more
Review: The Alvaret Ensemble, Kira Kira, Eiríkur Orri Ólaffson, Ingri...
The Skeylja project is a collaboration featuring the Berlin-based Alvaret Ensemble, who traveled to Iceland to practice and play with several prominent musicians in the avant-garde/post-classical tradition (a genre which Iceland seems to foster). … read more
Review: The Apache Relay – Self-Titled
The Apache Relay, despite sporting a pretty badass (I don’t use the term lightly) and foreboding name, are actually twee in nature. As such, they are subject to the usual comparisons: Grizzly Bear, Fleet Foxes, and to some extent, Blitzen Trapper. … read more
Review: Pixies – Indie Cindy
Well, it’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for: a new Pixies album. … read more
Review: Prong – Ruining Lives
One might imagine following 2012’s Carved Into Stone—Prong’s most acclaimed and commercially successful album since the landmark 1994 record Cleansing—would put some pressure on the band. … read more
Review: Pacific Mean Time – Self-Titled
There is way too much trying to happen on this album. It sounds like the band wanted to incorporate all the elements that they like from each genre and, unfortunately, it really doesn’t work. While the album is certainly ambitious, it lacks a definitive sound. … read more
