Milkweed - "Myths and Legends of Wales" | Album Review
Young Jesus - "Shepherd Head" | Album Review
The near-28 minute album is the latest in a more maverick, singular-songwriter emphasis. This is not exactly a self-conscious decision or predetermined outcome. It’s just that the 4-piece that refined each other and the improvisational methodology reached a limit, perhaps a temporary one. It’s still one that finds Rossiter solo.
Ismatic Guru - "II" | Album Review
With the generic iPhone alarm at the top of the first track setting the tone, Ismatic Guru’s II is the embodiment of waking up too early and your whole breakfast sticking to the pan. Six minutes of spastic but locked-in grooves with lyrics— when you can process them— that sound a lot like vignettes of drug use but when you look closer, aren’t.
Built to Spill - "When The Wind Forgets Your Name" | Album Review
Lincoln - "Repair and Reward" | Album Review
Holy Western Parallels - "Holy Western Parallels" | Album Review
Holy Western Parallels' debut album is the brainchild of Chicago's Steve Marek (Monobody), recorded with contributions from his Monobody bandmates and some fantastic vocal talent from Joshua Virtue, Davis Blackwell, NIIKA, and V.V. Lightbody. If you’ve spent any time listening to Monobody, Holy Western Parallels will feel familiar.
Cinema Hearts - "Your Ideal" | Album Review
You may be familiar with the idealized femininity from the prom queen aesthetics of Pom Pom Squad. It works as a visual extension of the sequined surf rock guitars and girl group harmonies of Cinema Hearts’ new Bartees Strange-produced EP, Your Ideal, but for Weinroth it stems from her experience as the winner of Miss Mountain Laurel.
Curfews - "Psalms To Strip To" | Album Review
Lawn - "Bigger Sprout" | Album Review
Mo Troper - "MTV" | Album Review
The Berries - "High Flying Man" | Album Review
High Flying Man is the third feature-length album released by Matt Berry as The Berries, his pseudo-eponymous project. The psychedelic, almost Brit-pop inspired music of the previous release is still subtly present but High Flying Man is more prominently steeped in American Rock ’n’ Roll, blistering guitar solos, and pop melodies.
Water From Your Eyes - "Structure" | Album Review
More Klementines - "Who Remembers Light" | Album Review
Four years have passed since More Klementines’ eponymous debut album came out—or have they? “Hot Peace” is making me pleasantly dizzy. Then again, what else could one have expected from More Klementines? Michael Kiefer, Jon Schlesinger, and Steubs are back at it with Who Remembers Light, sounding like they’ve never not been at it.
Steve Hartlett - "1/2" | Album Review
Kamikaze Palm Tree - "Mint Chip" | Album Review
Dylan Hadley and Cole Berliner, the LA duo better known as Kamikaze Palm Tree, are definitely not afraid to dabble with art-rock/pop or to take musical risks. Mint Chip, their second album (and first for Drag City) shows that taking musical risks can pay off if you know what you are doing and have the imagination and capabilities to do so.
Queen of Jeans - "Hiding In Place" | Album Review
Scanning the spectrum of love lost and found, Hiding In Place, the new EP from Philadelphia’s Queen of Jeans, revels in thoughtful exploration. Their first original release since 2018 briefly touches on the stretches of loneliness, excitement, insecurity and resentment inherent to relationships beginning and end.
Collapsed Skull - "Eternity Maze" | Album Review
Pennsylvania’s Collapsed Skull is a new three-piece powerviolence band featuring members of Full of Hell. Their sound on the jaw-dropping debut EP Eternity Maze is a sort of genre-salad that mashes together powerviolence, hardcore, grindcore, death metal, and harsh noise all broken up by hip-hop, spoken word, and acoustic samples.
Pile - "Songs Known Together, Alone" | Album Review
In August of 2021, Pile released an LP perfect for laying under the stars; Songs Known Together, Alone consisting of newly recorded tracks pulled from Pile's massive collection accompanied by a clever change in production. The tracks are all reimagined versions of Pile songs recorded solo by frontman Rick Maguire.
Ty Sorrell - "HomeGrown" | Album Review
The record’s easygoing and nostalgic pop/R&B vibes call up the feeling of leaning back in an air-conditioned booth on a humid summer night. If you stop and listen, you can overhear Ty Sorrell at the next table over, reminiscing and exchanging secret handshakes with the other Richmonders who sit down to catch up.