indie

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the I Planted, Apollos Watered, But God Kept Making It Grow LP by the crushedvelvets. Not every reader of this review will have experienced any kind of skepticism at the current health and validity of rock music, but they can rest assured that it’s coming. In my own case, I remember being in university when the validity and health of rock music was being called into question; at the time, an increasing...

Stress Dolls Queen of No (Sun Pedal Recordings) Queen of No, the new Stress Dolls album, lives up to the band name. It is a journey through head Stress Doll Chelsea O’Donnell’s anxieties, ranging from health issues (she suffers from Crohn’s Disease), relationships, social media and more existential questions. Though the music is firmly based in pop-punk, a variety of styles illuminate the various themes which run through the album. In general, the more declarative songs — where she directly...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the “Mantra” b/w “Surfers On Acid” 7” single by Trabants. It’s impressive how engaging Trabants prove they’re capable of being on their “Mantra” single, particularly given that the first which tends to hook listeners is the thing that is noticeably absent from the band’s construct: a singer. Usually, a band’s singer is the first thing that engages listeners and brings them into the music but, without that, Trabants finds a way to...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Leave Us A Loan Picture Disc reissue by The Low Budgets. Alright, the fact is that not every punk rock record is golden. Any fan of the music can begrudgingly admit that, and every fan should – because it is the definition or critical thinking. The first step to truly appreciating any music genre is recognizing that some shit is exactly that; it’s shit. That’s how we differentiate between poor records...

I have followed Brenda Carsey over the past ten years, first as a solo artist with an acoustic guitar to keyboardist with alt-rock band Feral Kizzy, to leading her own band Brenda Carsey and the Awe and beyond. I have consistently been impressed by both her talent and her dedication. She keeps pushing the boundaries of her music, but always has fun doing it. Her music is hard to pin down; bringing together soul, pop, folk, jazz, and much more,...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Is This What It Feels Like To Feel Like This 12” EP by The Wombats. After having embarked on a career which has seen the band release six full-length albums, one compilation and nine EPs with startlingly minimal popular notice, there’s no way to deny that The Wombats are one of the most tragically underrated bands of all time. Someone, somewhere could go so far as to call the band’s ability...

The Christian Family The Raw and Primitive Sound of… (Voodoo Rhythm Records) While it would be easy enough to spill plenty of ink on the fact that The Christian Family is pretty evidently a kindred spirit to such popular “dirty shirt rock n’ roll” bands as The White Stripes, Boss Hog, Royal Trux, The Black Keys and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, actually making such comparisons is entirely too convenient and doesn’t actually do anyone any favors. Stripped even more...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into TK and The Holy Know Nothings’ The Incredible Heat Machine LP. It isn’t always easy for this writer to get into country music (there often has to be a “alt-country” plank in the floor to make it easier to enter on), but it didn’t take me long to find my way to relishing the music on The Incredible Heat Machine – TK and The Holy Know Nothings’ sophomore full-length album. From note...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Blood Lemon’s self-titled debut album. The beauty of great music – I mean truly great and timeless music – is that while listeners will feel as though they can easily pick out aspects of what they’re hearing and place it among other excellent or classic works, they’ll also breathlessly enthuse about how original that album is too. Listening to Blood Lemon’s self-titled debut album is just exactly like that; from note one,...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the clear, colorless 2LP pressing of 5EPs by Dirty Projectors. From the very first instant I heard the music contained on 5EPs by Dirty Projectors, the clear and colorless 2LP set gave me pause. True, I had heard the group’s music before (the first album I heard was Swing Lo Magellan in 2012, and it really won me to the band’s banner), but 5EPs featured a sound so captivating that, the first...