Saying that horrorbilly headcases The Matadors have had a rough run over the last couple of years isn’t saying the half of it. After label signings and subsequent departures, personnel instability, the band’s ongoing range war with an entire city (Hamilton,...
There are some things that – before you hear anything from the album, before you even see the track list of what’s on it – just look classic. The design of a set – the tasteful layout, dark monochrome photo on the front of an embossed tin box...
The problem for a modern artist who fetishizes a deceased musical subgenre—punk, proto-metal, no wave, bouncy '60s pop, etc. ad infinitum—is that it's basically impossible to grow as an artist. The people who pioneered the sounds you're aping...
After the fantastic electro clash-infused, club-cavorting flop that 2007’s Blackout turned out to be, which happened to coincide with her spectacular swan dive from grace in front of a succession of camera lenses, even Britney Spears’ most devout fans were...
There are some bands that, as sticky-sweet as they are, have no obvious edge of cynicism or irony anywhere in their music and so, because of that, casting disparaging criticisms in the direction of any sound they make is akin to kicking a puppy – such actions...
There is both an up and a downside to being in a band with a distinct look and sound. On one hand, being unique means that your music and image are instantly synonymous with the name which ostensibly means that there is an instantly recognizable brand in play that...
While the term gets thrown around so much that its value has been diminished exponentially, Ani DiFranco has discovered what it truly means to have a “life-altering event.” Typically speaking, a life-altering event tends to be one that, when it...
When Nickelback released All The Right Reasons in 2005, they surprised detractors by spontaneously evolving beyond the regretful, hard-feelings driven and sexually degrading rock the made their name on and got reflective; looking inward as well as out and actually...
For a good half a decade, Belle & Sebastian made the kind of florid, ramshackle indie pop that hadn't been seen since the first few albums by the Smiths. While they didn't have a white hot guitar player, they did have an unerring sense of melody and...
Since appearing with Definitely Maybe in 1994, tabloids the world over have (in some cases) built empires upon the tempestuous sibling rivalry of Oasis’ brothers Gallagher and the exploits that such behavior has driven them to. Some of those stories – like...