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 […]
Posts tagged "indie pop"
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 […]
Declan’s Well, Campaign Capsized: Album Review
An electronic musician from New Jersey makes catchy pop about heartbreak and suburbia. What’s not to like?
Ra Ra Riot, “When I Dream”: The Singles Bar
Ra Ra Riot’s got a new album coming out, called “Beta Love.” Get a taste of the first single, “When I Dream,” here!
Spin Cycle: A.C. Newman, Shut Down the Streets
New Pornographers front man delivers a third solo effort, heads for the woods.
Spin Cycle: The XX, Coexist
Does The XX’s “Coexist” successfully scale Mt. Sophomore Jinx? Gonzo reviews the “moody” outfit’s second album.
Spin Cycle: Regina Spektor’s What We Saw From the Cheap Seats
Russian-born and Bronx-bred singer/songwriter Regina Spektor is back with What We Saw From the Cheap Seats, her sixth collection of idiosyncratic pop nuggets.
Spin Cycle: Best Coast’s The Only Place
California duo Best Coast are back with another collection of sun-kissed beach pop. Check out our review of “The Only Place.”
Spin Cycle: Of Monsters and Men’s “My Head is an Animal”
As I hinted when reviewing Of Monsters and Men’s Into the Woods EP a couple of months ago, the pop and indie universes seem to be on a collision course. This isn’t an entirely new phenomenon – remember all of the hullabaloo surrounding Modest Mouse embracing Top 40 with “Float On” back in ’03? – but we’ve reached a point, culturally, where the dividing line is almost nonexistent. Arcade Fire and Bon Iver have Grammys now, and Gotye and Florence + The Machine are […]
Spin Cycle: The Magnetic Fields’ “Love at the Bottom of the Sea”
Digestible and lean, The Magnetic Fields’ latest record, Love at the Bottom of the Sea, attempts to have it both ways: while each Fields album after their massive, masterful magnum opus 69 Love Songs has been more laser-focused than that thrillingly kitchen-sink record, Love at the Bottom packs 15 swift tracks into its sinewy 34-minute runtime. For this we can thank Stephin Merritt, Magnetic Fields maestro and patron saint of indie kids who scrawl their lyrical sketches on cocktail napkins and dog-eared […]
Spin Cycle: Twin Sister’s “In Heaven”
Long Island’s Twin Sister is one of those bands that without the Internet, I may not have stumbled across. I believe it was a post over at Gorilla vs. Bear that originally introduced me to music from the band’s then-forthcoming EP, Color Your Life. I was immediately hooked by their ethereal, dreamlike pop, and happily rushed to purchase the EP (even though it had been available for free on bandcamp.com ). Color Your Life quickly became one of my top picks for 2010, in […]
Why the Hell Should I Like… Field Music?
“Why the hell should I like… ?” is an experiment of sorts between Popblerd and The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit . What we’re going to attempt to do is to pick 10 songs from our favorite artists — one for which the other has professed dislike or disinterest — and show them why they’re wrong. One thing you should know about me is that I’m an unapologetic lover of British pop (Britpop if you will). There’s something about the sheer musicality and sharpness that […]
