Except for 1985’s Low-Life and 1986’s Brotherhood, New Order has never been a band to release albums too frequently. Since their last proper release in fact—2001’s Get Ready—it’s been about three-and-a-half years. And before that? 1993 and Republic, before which
In 2003 the boys in pith helmets released their debut album, The Decline and Fall of British Sea Power, which, in this reviewer’s opinion, was the finest album of that year. Naturally, this has had some of us a little antsy about what might show up as their follow-
This review is two weeks late. And I know that there could be many very believable reasons for this, but this is the truth: Typically, when reviewing a record, I’ll listen to it as I compose the review. It’s an obvious thing to do, really, but in the
In 1992 Suede was hailed by the notoriously excitable Melody Maker magazine as “The Best Band in Britain”—before they even had a legitimate single out. The appraisal, almost unbelievably, was frighteningly accurate. They were extraordinary to see, thrilling to hear. Not since the Smiths had a band combined such
This stunning debut EP from new-ish New York Band Sonoma Aero features waves of tough, confident guitar-bass-drum combos reminiscent of Swervedriver and Unwound, but they’re obviously onto something altogether their own—there’s something very special here. Deft, lazy vocals waft over a cauldron of intense
A predictable choice? Fine. It’s the name on everybody’s lips…even the band’s own: Lead singer Win Butler quipped, “Hi, we’re Flavor of the Month,” at the band’s show last week at Mercury Lounge. So everyone’s currently nuts over the Arcade Fire, and with
Isn’t this supposed to be techno? Er, electronica or whatever? And yet it sounds so un-manufactured. So handmade and crafted, these dark, brooding anthems that seem (intentionally) barely held together by tinny wire and sheer concentration. Throbbing digi-bass riffs and paralyzed vocals recall something Joy Division-y
If you are one of the people who can imagine music that’s a precise combination of His Name is Alive, the Cocteau Twins, and It’ll End in Tears-era This Mortal Coil, then there’s a good chance you have a 1993 Vaughan Oliver calendar on your bedroom
After a decade in the wilderness, mired in irrelevance, the Cure, at last? After misconceived covers of Bowie and the Doors, after multiple flits through a revolving door of band members, after so many questions from fans of whatever happened to them…where did it all drop so suddenly away?
Punk rock, though its definitions vary, can be seen wherever a message determines its music. If that’s true, then the Thermals are very, very punk rock—which is hardly to say the tunes themselves suffer for it. In fact, the guitar-bass-drums-voice instrumentation is as gorgeous and
