L.A. Guns : Leopard Skin

There’s not too many of the classic 80s Sunset Strip rock bands left making music that sounds even remotely close to what they sounded like back in the neon decade. Have you seen any current clips of Mötley Crüe? How about Ratt? Or Dokken? Quiet Riot, anyone? Time, booze, and narcotics have not been kind […]

Sleigh Bells : Bunky Becky Birthday Boy

It seemed that 15 years ago the music industry was in a bit of an evolving state. We were leaving the 2000s and its thoughtful run of bands with “Bear” in their names and heading into the 2010s with a feeling of indifferent aloofness. Looking for new sounds, new vibes, and a need to find […]

Set Adrift On Memory Tapes 80s Bliss

I grew up in the early days of indoor malls, neon buzz, and Cannon Films. Dual cassette players, VCRs, and arcades were the technology I worshipped. If a movie didn’t have at least a part III or IV it wasn’t worth the trouble. Microwave cakes, hi-top Reeboks, and t-shirts enshrined with Alf, The A-Team, and […]

Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes : Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes

Every once in a while you come across an album that feels entirely new. There’s nothing to compare it to, as nothing that came before was built quite like it. You can label it rock, pop, jazz, etc…but the label is merely a means for cataloging in the record store, or in your own collection. […]

Dead Meadow : Voyager To Voyager

Dead Meadow have been making crusty, fuzzy psych rock for 25 years now. Their self-titled debut dropped in 2000, setting the stage for the DC psych rockers to lead future packs of stoner/fuzz rockers across the nation to a new generation of slackers wanting desperately to tune in, turn on, and drop out. Dead Meadow […]

Lucy Dacus : Forever Is A Feeling

The first I’d ever heard of Lucy Dacus was via my oldest kid. They’d given me a copy of her album Historian for either Father’s Day or my birthday, I can’t remember for sure which one. Growing up sharing music with my older brother or my parents was kind of a big deal. It took […]

Deafheaven : Lonely People With Power

Deafheaven are the kind of band I never thought I’d listen to, let alone find myself fanboying over. The black/death metal shrieks of singer George Clarke were not my taste; blast beats like they were going out of style, not to mention the caffeinated guitar riffs that never relented. On paper I would have passed […]

Alabaster DePlume : A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole

Alabaster DePlume is described as “an English jazz musician, saxophonist, spoken word poet, composer, and activist.” When I read something like that I instantly forget the musician and saxophonist part and concentrate on “poet”, “activist” and think I’m not going to like it. Like the music part of that equation is just a side note for an […]

Entrancer : Rit

Ryan McRyhew came into focus for me a decade ago when I bum rushed the Software Recording Co. Bandcamp page. I was full obsessive/compulsive regarding everything Oneohtrix Point Never/Daniel Lopatin and felt like I’d come across a treasure chest of unknown musical pleasures when I discovered the OPN mastermind ran a record label. One of […]

Brian D’Addario : Till The Morning

New York’s The Lemon Twigs have made a career out of digging for gold in the past. Brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario make the kind of music that used to blast from transistor radios in the early 70s. AM pop like The Hollies, The Raspberries, Big Star, Beach Boys; as well as more modern purveyors […]