Franz Ferdinand stays alive-something their namesake couldn’t manage.
Posts tagged "indie rock"
Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City: Album Review
There was a time that Vampire Weekend perched, perilously, on the precipice of being one of the great one-album wonders of the ’00s. Like Cannibal Ox or At the Drive-In or Bloc Party before them, the Ivy League pop-rockers seemed poised to turn heads with one masterstroke of a record, and then retreat into either obscurity, oddity, or simple irrelevance. That album was 2008’s Vampire Weekend — the one with “Oxford Comma” and “A-Punk” and basically all the Vampire Weekend […]
Mikal Cronin, MCII: Album Review
Mikal Cronin is making music to get addicted to. The Ty Segall sideman and solo artist is far from a household name. Google searches and Rateyourmusic keywords seem to suggest that the singer-songwriter exists in the realm of “garage rock”, although that hardly seems like a fair shake for a guy responsible for some of the most addictive, giddy pop music of 2013 yet. Mind you, the multi-instrumental’s sophomore set, MCII, does occupy the same headspace as, say, Guided By […]
She & Him, Volume 3: Album Review
She & Him’s charm used to seem a little… Starbucks-y at times. You know what I mean: it’s fine for what you need, but both the band and the big-box coffee chain seem a bit like mainstream, inoffensive versions of their respective wares masquerading as hip versions of the same. (Also, She & Him sound like they probably get played at Starbucks a lot.) And yet, with three proper albums and a toe-tappin’ Christmas record under their belts, the Zooey […]
Guided By Voices, English Little League: Album Review
If the year 2012 conditioned music fans to anything — other than the fact that “Call Me Maybe” is inescapable, and the only way to mount a true offense is to just give into its charms already — it’s the cultural inevitability that is the re-formed mid-’90s lineup of Guided By Voices, and the Pavlovian sense that, every four to six months, GBV will be releasing another record, so pull on your Bee Thousand t-shirt and prepare your mind for […]
Phoenix, Bankrupt! : Album Review
“List-o-mania, my testes, see ’em grow… like-a-rhi, like-a-rhino!” These are, the internet tells me, definitely not the lyrics to Phoenix’s breakthrough hit, “Lisztomania”. I never actually thought that the Parisian indie-rockers were narrating a peppy, Kafka-esque tale about growing rhinoceros balls, mind you — but the absurdist image never failed to make me chuckle, and anyway, why futz with something that was probably way cooler in my brain? (Actual lyrics: “Think less, but see it grow; like a riot, like […]
The Shouting Matches, Grownass Man: Album Review
Musical anonymity can be a funny thing. Justin Vernon, the neo-folk mastermind behind Bon Iver, isn’t going completely incognito by stepping out with a few friends to record a loose-limbed garage-blues record, but it’s something of a musical disguise nevertheless; his ethereal, crooning falsetto replaced with a gnarled, expressive wail, one could easily mistake his vocals on The Shouting Matches’ Grownass Man for the work of… of anyone else, really. Take your pick. But that’s not to say that Grownass […]
Walk Off the Earth, R.E.V.O.: Spin Cycle
Album Reviews / Indie Rock / music / New Releases / pop culture / Pop Music / rock music / Spin Cycle
In several ways, the scrappy members of Walk Off the Earth are bucking the stereotypes. Consider that if this band name rings a bell, it’s likely for one of two reasons: 1. You saw that viral video of Walk Off the Earth covering “Somebody That I Used To Know” on a single guitar, or 2. You are a member of Walk Off the Earth. That video’s their claim to popular fame, and yet there’s no accusing them of being a […]
Spin Cycle: Jim James, Regions of Light and Sound of God
At first listen, Jim James’ first proper solo album might sound a bit alien to fans of his daytime gig, My Morning Jacket. It’s an intangible thing to pin down — vocally, James sounds as dynamic and distinctive as he ever has on record, and musically, Regions of Light and Sound of God bears a few particularly distinctive earmarks of his other band’s inimitable style. The vast, canyon-scaling vocals, the slow-burn funk that seeps into ambient soundscapes… it’s all there. It’s […]
Spin Cycle: Frightened Rabbit, Pedestrian Verse
Scottish indie-rockers Frightened Rabbit are back with “Pedestrian Verse”, and just as self-deprecating as ever. Popblerd has the review!
Vampire Weekend Announce Release Date For Third Album
Excited? Vampire Weekend are returning this spring!
Spin Cycle: Ra Ra Riot, Beta Love
There are quite a few releases that I’m looking forward to in the first quarter of 2013. The first to hit shelves is Beta Love, the third full-length LP from indie darlings Ra Ra Riot. Following 2010’s The Orchard, the last time we had a new release from the band was their excellent cover of Steve Winwood’s “Valerie” a Record Store Day 2012 exclusive release. Just over a month ago, the band leaked “When I Dream” in advance of the album. As I noted in our Singles Bar post on the track , “When […]