The Screaming Females already have quite a following in their hometown of New Brunswick, New Jersey – for the last few years, they have frequently been playing shows in the area with other NJ punk bands such as Slaw and…
Covina Cali’s transcendental roots band, Orem (the sink) has re-freed Planets, a geo-biologically aware, lo-fidelity 2007 LP. Forget contemporary lo-fi indie hipsteria. Orem (the sink) goes beyond the yonder with timeless yet timely lyrics- “One thing about your planet is…
Depressed Horns is a mail-art project from Weirdo Records' founder and the self-described “long lost bedroom-fi stoner band” Goosewind. It is difficult to make immediate sense of their album Skate By, which combines ominous whispers, random samples, obscure instruments and…
Mandy’s Performance Quality Scale – A+
On March 26th, 2009 The So So Glos and pals Alma Mater landed at Pomona College. At approximately 8 pm out on The South Lawn, they put on one of the best live shows I have ever seen at the Claremont Colleges.
Seattleite Jordan Smith is the sweet-singing folk fellow behind Jordan O’Jordan’s Jar of Jams. Pure cane sugar might be to the sound of Jar of Jams what high fructose corn syrup is to evil. Blissfully simple banjo riffs and Jordan’s…
It’s been stated Amadou & Mariam produce not “world music” but “music for the world”. This is mildly cliché but very true. Welcome to Mali supplies proof. The album is their fifth recorded in studio and continues Amadou & Mariam’s…
Chain and the Gang is led by DC-based rocker Ian Svenonius, who has had a long and illustrious career. He's been the frontman for some awesome bands such as Nation of Ulysses, The Make-Up, and Weird War, published a book,…
Don’t mess with Texas’s Strange Boys: some Austinite Nietzsche reading lo-fi punk-rockers, who just released their first major record, The Strange Boys and Girls Club. The Sambol brothers (Ryan, guitar/lead vocals, writes all the songs and his elder, Phillip, bass)…
Vampire Hands’ 'Me & You Cherry Red / Cuz It’s a Beach Funeral' combine numerous recent trends: the ever popular noise of Wavves, the psychedelia of White Magic and Sun Araw, and the garage rock of Black Lips and the…
Julie Doiron has made an excellent career for herself playing folky, distorted, almost-expansive dreampunk. She started her career as the bassist/vocalist of Eric's Trip, one of the first Canadian lo-fi bands to make it big stateside; she's collaborated with Phil…
Tarentel, a San Francisco electro-percussive threesome, is out with Live Edits from a 2005 tour of Italy and Switzerland. The belated compilation of sensate drone sounds vibrates, gyrates, and oh my-rates as one my favorite psychedelelectric albums this year. The…
It took me two listens to shimmy my way into Dearland- a rich, heartbreaking New Orleanian funeral procession-inspired record- the 2nd “second-line” album of Elvis Perkins. He plays seamlessly and tautly with his three versatile band-mates who pick up instruments…
The Portland foursome’s four-song EP 'Spooky' is minimalist in every sense of the word. The band’s debut album, 'The Mystery & Her Crew', was released in 2006, and had a folkier sound juxtaposed with 'Spooky', which vibes a sort of…
Adam Lipman is a former Riverside resident who I believe now lives in the Bay Area. However, the internet tells me that this record was recorded in Salt Lake City. Like most of his previous works, Lipman uses music as…
Wavvves (3 v’s) is the second full-length album from Wavves (2 v’s), the pseudonym of San Diego musician Nathan Williams. This album radiates with the atmosphere of Williams’s laid-back hometown, helping to create fuzzy, relaxed beach punk reminiscent of surf…