Seeing a good opener can be a cathartic experience. Sometimes it’s interesting, and you check them out when you go home, but most of the time it’s forgettable. I can count on one hand when an opener has blown me away, and I don’t even need all my fingers. When I...

WHO: Alex G WHAT: Headlights WHY: No one does lo-fi moody like Alex G. It would be easy-listening, but Headlights is just weird enough and subversive enough to give it an edge. But then there’s a consistent sweetness in all these songs, and nowhere more evident than...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the “The Beast” b/w “Rebecca” split 7” single by The Drowns and Wonk Unit. Perhaps just to prove how versatile they can be, The Drowns’ “other” recently-released split 7” single (shared this time...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the “Subculture Rock N’ Roll” b/w “Pleaser” split 7” single by The Drowns and Last Gang. Few things are as potentially harrowing for artists as a split 7” single release. Granted, a 7” can...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Bambara’s Birthmarks LP. Frances Bacon may have famously claimed that, “In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present,” but he couldn’t possibly have accounted for the darkness...

I never thought I’d know what Gabby’s Dollhouse is, but there you have it. You can’t control cultural phenomena. I have kids so it’s inescapable. There’s also something to be said for letting your kids be products of their time and not some unrelatable...

Bloodshot Bill So Fed Up (Goner Records) The moment I first saw Bloodshot Bill will forever be burned into both my eyeballs and my memory. It was at the Middle East in Cambridge while waiting for the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion to go on. And here comes this guy,...

WHO: Pulp WHAT: More WHY: I should have known my love for Pulp runs too deep for this album not be one of my highlights of the year. I thought it was just OK at first, but the more I listen to it (and I mean REALLY listen), the more I started appreciating what Jarvis...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Jealous Butcher reissue of the Meaningless LP by Jon Brion. Sometimes, as good as a record might be, it just cannot buy a break. Take the Jealous Butcher reissue of Jon Brion’s Meaningless LP, for example; even a...

Superman I can’t believe it took 10 years of underwhelming, banal, trite superhero movies for people to finally realize that they’re not really worth watching. I get it: Marvel and DC are gonna keep pumping out shitty movie after shitty movie as long as people will...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Burn All The Ships LP by Headstones. Since returning in 2013 with Love + Fury, the Headstones have illustrated that they can orchestrate a comeback with greater competence than most other bands. Over the last twelve years,...

WHO: The Darkness WHAT: Dreams on Toast WHY: It doesn’t have the kind of bangers you get from their first two albums, but Dreams On Toast grows on you the more you listen to it. Full of clever lyrics and outstandingly catchy choruses, this album pivots slightly to...