See, it's sort of cool to see one of the new bands from the UK shuck the loosey-goosey dynamics that virtually every band since The Happy Mondays have used as a cover for not being being able to play very well and just play short, tight pop songs. The...
In some cases, a band’s sound is not just the sum of its influences. Sometimes there are more outside stimuli at work when a band comes together and begins writing music and, if one needs an example to illustrate that fact, one need look no further than...
I'm not going to undermine the significance of a band as massively influential and talented as The Libertines, but a 'Best Of' album? I mean c'mon, the band only had two albums of material in the first place… Luckily, I can't maintain this...
Hot off the heels of Easy Tiger, Ryan Adams' second legitimate, albeit questionable stab at mainstream reverence, comes the further perplexing follow-up EP Follow the Lights. If it weren't for the fact that the guy can basically write a sanctified country...
It’s a little chilling when you realize that there aren’t many alt-rock bands that crossed the MTV Unplugged stage that aren’t missing a member or are completely defunct now (Nirvana and Soul Asylum come to mind), but revisiting Alice In Chains’...
A few months ago, a friend asked me what new music he should check out and when I mentioned Tokyo Police Club to him, he said, “No seriously, what should I be listening to?” One amazing baseline later and TPC has my friend and the indie music world buzzing...
On December 4, Capitol/Priority will reissue N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton on CD, vinyl and digital download. In addition to the gangsta’ rap classic, the reissue will also come with five bonus tracks including a number of new versions from the likes of...
Polysics. Just the discordant name conjures up feelings of frenzy and riot. On a blustery October evening, the Japanese quartet of Polysics brought to this western coast a piece of the east in a splitting battery of synth pop and noise that left the venue reeling in...
There's something to be said for Nada Surf. Not too many bands in recent memory have been certified one-hit-wonders (the threesome even appeared on MTV's Buzz Bin compilation) who escaped oblivion to put out relevant, even essential albums, like 2003's Let...
Along with Patti Smith’s Horses and The Ramones’ self-titled debut album, The Voidoids’ Blank Generation rounds out the holy trinity of American punk albums that defined the parameters and aesthetics for what would follow in both the punk and alt-rock...