Whirr :: Sway

Whirr’s Sway doesn’t deviate from what they started on last year’s Around EP. That album replaced their debut’s more upbeat punk aesthetic, and gave us instead a curtain of dark melancholy. Slow, gray swaths of gothic dream pop and almost antagonistic, visceral shoegaze. Those songs were as brooding and heavy as anything you’d find on […]

Tweedy :: Sukierae

Isn’t it every dad’s dream to someday play in a band with his son? I know I often think about how cool it would be to have my son playing drums to some little ditty I wrote over a cup of coffee at the kitchen table. And it wouldn’t have to be my son. One […]

Cymbals Eat Guitars : Lose

Cymbals Eat Guitars have intrigued me since the first time I heard their epic “…And The Hazy Sea” way back in 2009. A mix of shoegaze-y guitar noise and early 90s indie rock aesthetic that showed they weren’t afraid to wear their influences on their sleeves while still sounding decidedly unique. While their debut Why […]

“My lips feel like Cocoa Puffs”

Oh the things we do for a pretty smile. It was the end of 6th grade and I was told I needed braces. My teeth weren’t perfect, but they weren’t horrible. Still, my mom took me to the orthodontist and I was fitted with braces on my top and bottom teeth. The entire process lasted […]

Marching On

The weekend brought us to our first Marching Band competition for our oldest daughter. Yes, yesterday was a preview of what the next three years have to bring; overzealous band directors living their long lost dreams of drum core fame through high school underlings, concession stand crowds that would give the Soldier Field pee troughs […]

Sinoia Caves : Beyond The Black Rainbow Soundtrack

I love whims. They seem to reciprocate some of the best finds. On a whim, I picked up Breakfast of Champions at 15 years old and discovered one of the greatest writers in my time or any other time. On a whim I went on a blind date when I was 17 and found the […]

Blonde Redhead : Barragán

Ever since I first listened to Blonde Redhead nearly seven years ago there seems to be a dedicated group of hardcore fans that’s equally matched with ardent naysayers that compare this New York trio with a plethora of classic “artsy” bands and musicians of yesteryear. I don’t hear it, to be honest. I don’t think […]

Fifteen Years Gainfully Employed

Yep, this is my anniversary month at my place of work. I’ve been working in shipping/receiving/inventory management at (insert orthopedic company name here) for fifteen years now. Before that I was at (insert another orthopedic company name here) for six years. Prior to that I worked for two months in the newspaper industry, a year […]

Ty Segall :: Manipulator

I have to be completely honest here, okay? I’ve never been much of a fan of this guy called Ty Segall. Yeah, I know this is a shocking revelation to the world at large, but I felt I needed to get that out in the open before I went any further with this review. I […]

Labor Daze: Part Deux

So despite my bemoaning of the corporate tax laws on my “gifted” day off by my employer, I did have a pretty decent three-day weekend. Friday all of the kids were off doing their own things so the wife and I got to hang out, eat pizza, spin records, and drink. I enjoyed a New […]