When Los Campesinos first appeared on the pop radar with the Sticking Fingers Into Sockets EP four years ago, indie rock fans of all stripes got excited. Here was a band who was having fun, but Campesinos weren't just some sort of contrived corporate machination;...
I’m no scientist, but I’m pretty sure that the dudes from Ivan & Alyosha have the same singing coach as My Morning Jacket’s Jim James or, at least, the dudes try to copy him. With the release of their second EP, Fathers Be Kind, the quartet band...
I’m pretty sure that the whole “Piano Man” scene sort of hit its peak in the late Seventies and early Eighties (see Elton John, Billy Joel et al) and went to ground hard after punk broke and got pounded even deeper when alternative reared its head...
After having been apart for fifteen years, Guided By Voices' classic lineup – with Robert Pollard on vocals and guitar, guitarist Mitch Mitchell, drummer Kevin Fennell, bassist Greg Demos and multi-instrumentalist Tobin Sprout – announced in June 2010...
Seriously, who smokes weed after/during a NOFX show these days? I am walking out of the House Of Blues on a Thursday night in October thinking just that. I know NOFX have graced us with some of the best punk/reggae the Nineties had to offer (“Kill All The White...
Sometimes, without even having a clear plan in mind necessarily, a band manages to fall ass-backwards into a charmed rock n' roll rhythm which instantly connects with listeners. It's never one particular aspect of the band's songs which ends up being...
Singer/songwriter/guitarist Ani DiFranco has announced the upcoming release of her eagerly awaited new album. Which Side Are You On? arrives via the Grammy-winning artist's own Righteous Babe Records on January 17, 2012. Which Side Are You On? marks DiFranco's...
It may come as a surprise for fans to learn just how little most musicians tend to have with their back catalogue and the reissuing of it. Greatest hits packages, for example, are often one of the endeavors with the smallest amount of artist involvement; usually the...
Merry Christmas Junkie! Oh wait – i'ssnot Christmas yet, izzit? Naw, it jus' feels'at way cuz, now dat Halloween's ova, dat's where da music bizness is lookin' next. An' I already got a coupla Christmas songs'at I found'is...
At this point, Anthrax has been bringing the noise for thirty years now and, because the band has never really stopped, one would think they might begin to slow down. Running hard can take its toll over time – voices get raspy and hands may grow sore – but...