‘B3’ by Placebo
Returning with five-track EP, B3 (their first release of new material since 2009 LP, Battle For the Sun), Placebo offers fans what we love: A surprise gift to tide us over while we wait for the UK alt-rock trio’s 7th studio album to arrive in Spring 2013. Surprise gift or not, truth be told, there...
‘Strange Kind of Focus’ by Time and Energy
Time and Energy, I do applaud you. If there’s one thing that I can say with certainty about Strange Kind of Focus, the sophomore album from this California-based experimental indie rock duo, is this: it’s aptly named. I can’t say that this album is for everyone, or even say that it’s all that accessible, but...
Reviewed: ‘Love and Regret’ by Cold Showers
Los Angeles–based Cold Showers released their sophomore album Love and Regret last week (full stream below), and to be quite frank—nay blunt—I don’t get it. Every track is written in 4/4 timing, and nearly all of them start in the same formula: Begin with one instrument, play four bars; add another instrument, play four bars,...
‘Colored Emotions’ by Night Moves
Minneapolis-based retro-rock group Night Moves will release their debut album, Colored Emotions, October 16 via Domino, and this is an event I find myself actually counting down to. When I first pressed play on this album and heard the electric guitar, bass and toms of Headlights (the quite mellow first single from the album), I...
‘Cokefloat!’ by PAWS
Cokefloat!, the debut album from the self-described lo-fi-garage-punk-rock group PAWS, won’t disappoint fans of this, errr…these genres. The Scottish three-piece has pulled together 13 tracks from its past two years of writing, and the result is a collection of relatable life experiences. Distorted guitars and raw vocals are signatures of this urgent but under-produced record....
‘Melody’s Echo Chamber’ by Melody’s Echo Chamber
Released today via Fat Possum, the self-titled debut from Melody’s Echo Chamber (full stream below) is the epitome of the much-loved shoegaze sound, which, if I am to be honest, isn’t really my scene. The album has its obvious merits — creative ingenuity, audible dedication and telling honesty — but lacks a definitive, chills-up-the-spine revelatory...
‘Mirage Rock’ by Band of Horses
Allow me to start with a quick note: Three singles from Band of Horses Mirage Rock have already been released: Knock Knock, Slow Cruel Hands of Time and Dumpster World. Although the group currently offers a free, full-length stream of the album online, four of the five tracks that the band self-produced at Sonic Ranch...
‘Sheilds’ by Grizzly Bear
Brooklyn-born, art-rock outfit Grizzly Bear—Edward Droste (vocals, guitar, omnichord, keyboards), Daniel Rossen (vocals, guitar, banjo, keyboards), Chris Taylor (bass, backing vocals, producer) and Christopher Bear (drums, backing vocals, glockenspiel)—is set to officially release their hotly-anticipated, fourth studio album Shields tomorrow (September 18) via Warp—their first LP since 2009’s, Veckatimest. A free stream of the complete...
Oceania by The Smashing Pumkins
I confess, I was never really into The Smashing Pumpkins when I was younger; I missed them by a generation, I suppose, being too young to really find interest in their style. But after listening to their freshly-released Oceania LP—well, it appears that I missed out. Available as a convenient, free stream online, the ‘album-within-an-album’—an...