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 cynicism; The Libertines are just too goddamn catchy. The original hype surrounding these rockers back in 2001 was as apt as can be, and thankfully, the people that put together this compilation know the band's work well,...
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 ballad in his sleep, wake up, not comb his hair, and then drop an absolute gem of spastic rock, no one would even bat an eye at his new sound, direction, girlfriend, etc. But the dichotomy of his genius—superlative...
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’ set eleven years after the show happened is particularly gut-wrenching for those familiar with Layne Staley’s story. Unplugged was the first show that AIC had done in three years at that time and, while the performance was fantastic, it’s...
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 about their sound. Of course, these boys from Newmarket, Ontario, went ahead and sprinkled in some other talent-laden chords throughout last year’s debut, A Lesson In Crime. Now, the Canadian outfit...
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 Snoop Dogg, WC and Mack 10. So for anyone that has yet to experience the awesomeness of Straight Outta Compton here’s a new chance to enjoy this west coast original. The reissue track listing includes:1 Straight Outta Compton2...
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 sweat-drenched shock. Arriving too late to catch any of the opening acts, I climbed to the top mezzanine at the Troubadour and placed myself quietly on the bleachers in anticipation of the harried...
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 Go. So the news that Barsuk will be putting out the band's new album Lucky on Feb. 5th will make us sit up and take notice. For those who can't wait until '08, Nada Surf is teasing us with...
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 genres since the release of those albums and continue to exert influence to this day except that Blank Generation is very much the dark horse of the lot. While Horses plays like a direct guide for every female songstress with...
The one good thing about a Cat Power album is the CD or mp3 can’t get up and storm out of your apartment or yell at you for not having the sound levels set up to her liking. On that note, Matador released details on her next album, which is a follow-up to a covers record from 2006 called The Greatest. The nest one, which doesn’t have to called, Greatest-er or something, is cleverly titled Jukebox. It’s set to be...
Perhaps because they’d heard somewhere that The Butthole Surfers were once called subversive because they’d signed to a major label twelve years ago and had since signed on to another smaller label that still had major-sized distribution (Surfdog and Universal respectively), in the last five years Ween has hopped between three of the big four record companies. Now allied with Universal, Ween’s newest offering is only really a walnut color; fans will notice that tracks including “Friends,” “Learnin’ To...