Silversun Pickups : Tenterhooks

Of all the alt rock bands that came out of the mid-2000s alternative scene I didn’t expect Silversun Pickups to be in for the long haul. I dug their 2006 debut Carnavas, a mix of shoegaze haze and gnarled post-punk guitar that went down smooth. And “Lazy Eye” was a pretty fun, catchy tune that […]

Single Lash Return With Lush New Single “Now for the Real World”

Single Lash came out of the Austin music scene in a fervor of shimmering guitars, Goth romanticism, and a knack for repurposing the “college rock” sound of the 80s and early 90s. Not repurposing in a way that felt derivative in any way, but somehow channeling the magic of bands like Catherine Wheel, The Cure, […]

Kills Birds : Crave

When I was 18 oldies rock and roll were bands like the Beatles, the Stones, the Kinks, and surf music. Those bands seemed light years away from what I was listening to. Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, NIN, Garbage, etc…they were the future. The British Invasion and the Beach Boys were the past. Well fast forward 30 […]

Miki Berenyi Trio : Tripla

Lush were one of the big ones in terms of late 80s/early 90s shoegaze bands. Along with Ride, Chapterhouse, Slowdive, Swervedriver and My Bloody Valentine, Lush established their hazy, dreamy, and ghostly sound through delayed guitars, ghostly vocals, and guitarist/singer Miki Berenyi’s delivery. Berenyi’s vocals were clear, but always just a bit under the mix, […]

Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory : Self-Titled

I think Sharon Van Etten has always had a Goth queen inside of her just waiting to come out. Even from the very beginning her albums ached with the kind of doomed romanticism that Siouxsie Sioux, Kate Bush, and Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser trademarked back in the heyday of early 80s alternative. Van Etten leaned […]

The Cure : Songs Of A Lost World

There aren’t many bands that can take a 16 year break between albums without suffering some kind of hit. Most bands aren’t The Cure, though. The musical icons of grand melancholy and the Godfathers of goths everywhere have done just that. The last album Robert Smith and Co released was 2008s disappointing 4:13 Dream. It […]

The Smile : Cutouts

The Smile -the Radiohead side project of Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood- shouldn’t work as well as it does. Like Yorke’s solo albums and Greenwood’s film scores they are great listening experiences, but we’re always waiting for them to get back together with their Radiohead counterparts and give us another masterpiece. Since 2022 Yorke and […]

Daniel Davies : Ghost of the Heart

Daniel Davies comes from rock and roll royalty, given that his dad is The Kinks’ Dave Davies and his uncle is Ray Davies. He spent a good portion of his formative years touring the world with his dad before his family settled in Los Angeles. From there Davies spent time with his Godfather, the Master […]

Harp : Albion

It’s been 13 years since Midlake’s former singer/songwriter Tim Smith has released any new music. Midlake’s 2010 release The Courage of Others was a dark, somber record built on acoustic-driven tracks with touches of flute and overcast moods. Nothing as driving and 70s rock-driven as their previous effort – the excellent The Trials of Van […]

Foo Fighters : But Here We Are

Dave Grohl is one of those people you wish you were friends with. Someone you’d love to hang out with and talk about music, movies, favorite drummers, or whatever. He’s just got something about him that says ‘I’m genuine”. There’s also the fact he was in Nirvana, then tragedy hit and Nirvana was no more. […]