Franz Ferdinand-Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action

How many of you like me were enamored with Franz Ferdinand back in 2004? It’s hard to describe, but something about that debut album lit a post-punk fuse in me. I’d just begun listening to Gang of Four and had dabbled in The Jam as well. These cats were just the right modern take on […]

White Hills-So You Are…So You’ll Be

White Hills are one of those bands that are pretty much fearless. They’ve run the gamut on their records over the years from Sabbath gut busters to spaced-out Hawkwind to Tangerine Dream-esque ambient interludes. And the crazy thing is that they can pull them all off quite well. Their 2010 double album H-p1 seems to […]

Outfit-Performance

I think most folks know a little something about Liverpool, England. Well, unless you were born after 1990 or you’ve been living under a rock for the last 50 years. Either way, here’s a little history lesson for the uninformed. Liverpool has given us more bands than just The Beatles. Gerry and the Pacemakers, Echo […]

No Age-An Object

What is it that No Age is so angry about? I keep listening to An Object and I’m wondering who rained on their parade? I mean, they’ve always had this angst-y vibe about them. Everything In Between seemed to be the point where they found the perfect balance of angst and rebellion mixed with a […]

Medicine-To The Happy Few

When you hear a song like “Long As The Sun” -the opener on Medicine’s excellent new album To The Happy Few– you don’t think that this is a band that has essentially been stored in moth balls for 18 years. You think you’re hearing The Beach Boys ran through the Jesus and Mary Chain warpulator. […]

Mournful Synth-ony For Stylish Trash…

or, Frodo Baggins and the Magical Scalp. I’m not here to endorse the film Maniac. On the contrary, I’m here to say that if horror films -in particular the serial killer chasing the beautiful girl type- don’t float your boat, then this one is certainly not going to make you think twice about the genre. […]

The Love Language-Ruby Red

Stuart McLamb is one of the good guys. Like many other indie rock luminaries over the last 20 years McLamb began The Love Language as just a guy recording personal songs in his bedroom. Very personal and emotional, the first Love Language album was a break up album of sorts, filled with rough little pop […]

Whirr-Around

Whirr are lumped into that genre we Generation X oldsters affectionately call “shoegaze”. And while some of my favorite music is lumped into this category, I have to say it’s getting used way too much. It’s become this generic term used to describe anyone that looks at the floor more than ten seconds in order […]

Speedy Ortiz- Major Arcana

You know, I try to be “with it”, and “in the know”. I want to be “up to date” on all the relevant music of today. Even as a kid in short pants growing up in rural Hoosierville I was always buying cassettes at my local record store. If there was some new band everyone […]

James Murphy Is Playing At My House

Last night I finally watched LCD Soundsystem’s swan song live documentary Shut Up And Play The Hits. While it didn’t move me quite like I’d hoped it would(an 8 year old punching couch cushions pretending to be a member of the Justice League throughout the film didn’t help…in my living room, not the movie itself), […]