To quote Magnum P.I., “I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right…” other than the obvious point that this is a collection of covers, there’s something incredibly familiar about the material that comprises Have Another Ball. To be fair, I actually had to review this album twice because I thought it was a reissue; I have fond memories of blazing up the highway in a burned out, angelic blue Toyota Tercel to parts unknown with many of these Gimme Gimme-ized...

When I’m forced to watch American Idol, it is always remarkable how simple finding “it” really is. By the time episode three or four rolls around, it’s evident who belongs and who doesn’t. While most singers make you feel some sense of nervousness for them, the real contenders are, in every case, the ones who make their performance seem all so effortless. More than just talent, they have that indefinable glint in their eye—the ones who just have “it.” This...

Ratatat is one of those groups you won’t ever fully appreciate until you experience them at noise deafening levels. Their sound has so much going on with it that listening to one of their albums at a comfortable volume is a little like having protected sex with a pregnant hooker. It’s less risky, but not as fun—a fact I’ve yet to ingrain in my own mind, even after the release of their third studio album (not including their two remix...

Ratatat is one of those groups you won’t ever fully appreciate until you experience them at noise deafening levels. Their sound has so much going on with it that listening to one of their albums at a comfortable volume is a little like having protected sex with a pregnant hooker. It’s less risky, but not as fun—a fact I’ve yet to ingrain in my own mind, even after the release of their third studio album (not including their two remix...

Ratatat is one of those groups you won’t ever fully appreciate until you experience them at noise deafening levels. Their sound has so much going on with it that listening to one of their albums at a comfortable volume is a little like having protected sex with a pregnant hooker. It’s less risky, but not as fun—a fact I’ve yet to ingrain in my own mind, even after the release of their third studio album (not including their two remix...

I arrived at the Fillmore Monday night to see Omaha’s The Faint along with what appeared to be a hairstylist convention for the hip and tragically ironic. This is my first time seeing the band but I’ve been a fan of their lo-fi electro-angular guitar sound for some time and was excited to check them out. The first band to hit the stage was Shy Child from New York. The vocalist, Pete Cafarella plays the keytar, which is complemented by...

It’s difficult to believe it when you say – in print or out loud – that a band who first found fame in the grunge era is still going strong. The mainstays that no one thought were going anywhere have long since gone the way of the dodo; Nirvana flamed out early and yielded the wildly successful, Dave Grohl–fronted Foo Fighters as well as bassist Krist Novaselic‘s efforts in a couple of different groups (Stinky Puffs, Sweet 75, Eyes Adrift...

It has been contended and upheld by the band since they first appeared in 2000 that Broken Social Scene, as a group, is less a single artistic unit and more of a revolving-door artistic collective. In spite of those admissions, fans were confused when a BSS album centring out Kevin Drew appeared late last year and concerned that the band’s members might be going their separate ways. That wasn’t the case then and isn’t the case now either though. Both...

Because the release of their punk rock cabaret live DVD got them exposed to new audiences unfamiliar with the idea that Kurt Weill might still have a place in rock n’ roll (the last band to give him his proper due was The Doors when they covered “Alabama Song”), the pressure must have been on Dresden Dolls to get another record out as fast as possible in order to capitalize on the interest. So appears No, Virginia… – an album...

That the Dresden Dolls make incredible and interesting records that imply a remarkably cinematic experience can’t be disputed but, given that the sound is produced by just two players, the most realistic question is how said material translates live and what sort of show it makes. All questions are answered, however, at the Roadhouse in London as The Dresden Dolls bring the punk cabaret (as opposed to The Rolling Stones’ Rock N’ Roll Circus) to the stage and illustrate just...