Juicer : Retire The Fences

Once in a while I come across an album that hits me hard with a quiet, melancholy simplicity. It locks into gorgeous pop sensibilities while never being too sweet and sunny for its own good. Bands like Wild Nothing, DIIV, Shy Boys, and Beach Fossils to name a few lock into sounds of old and […]

Dr. Dog : Dr. Dog

Dr. Dog have been consistently putting out records for over 20 years now. The pop/rock/soul indie stalwarts from Philly started out as lo-fi, rough-around-the-edges rockers that combined soaring 4-part harmonies, Beach Boys earnestness, the Beatles knack for genre-hopping, and a touch of The Band for good measure. There was also touches of Pavement, Guided By […]

Eels : EELS TIME!

Mark Oliver Everett has quietly amassed an impressive discography over the last 30 years, first with two albums under the moniker ‘E’ and then in 1996 debuting EELS. Despite the shift from singer/songwriter pop-inflected songs to a more gruff, alternative vibe both iterations of Everett’s curmudgeon poet laureate remained steadfast. Sad and melancholy but with […]

Strand Of Oaks : Miracle Focus

Timothy Showalter has been kicking around as Strand of Oaks since his 2009 debut Leave Ruin. Starting out with a folksy, singer/songwriter vibe he shifted focus into more synth and pop touches on the project’s breakthrough record Pope Killdragon. His Neil Young affectations were replaced by Tangerine Dream and Kate Bush as influences on his […]

DIIV : Frog In Boiling Water

DIIV have established themselves as one of the premier indie rock bands of the 2010s, combining dream pop, shoegaze, and noise rock into a sublime guitar squall. 2012s Oshin established guitarist and band leader Zachary Cole Smith as a prominent voice in the indie rock community and a purveyor of shoegaze, much like contemporaries Nothing, […]

Of Montreal : Lady On The Cusp

Kevin Barnes has been making music as Of Montreal since 1998. Coming out of Georgia’s Elephant 6 collective, he began as a twee folk pop/rock band. But quickly Of Montreal became Barnes’ Funhouse where he could lean into any direction the Muse would take him. From the distinct album art(done by brother David) to the […]

Dehd : Poetry

Dehd came out of the Chicago indie rock scene a few years back like a breath of fresh air. The trio, which consists of Emily Kempf (bass guitar, vocals), Jason Balla (guitar, vocals), and Eric McGrady (drums), has an energy to their sound that’s palpable. Each song sounds like an anthem to youth, life, and […]

The Black Keys : Ohio Players

The Black Keys are an American music institution. They’ve been making their own brand of Midwest duo delta blues now for just a little over 20 years, starting with 2002s The Big Come Up. The duo of Dan Auerbach(guitar, vocals) and drummer Patrick Carney(drums) started out recording their albums in a basement with concrete walls, […]

Cloud Nothings : Final Summer

Cloud Nothings arrived seemingly fully formed in 2011. The punk rock swagger, post-punk indifference, and songwriting prowess of singer/guitarist/songwriter Dylan Baldi was already in place. His bedroom solo project became an actual rock trio, and after releasing two albums written and performed by Baldi the trio recorded Attack On Memory with Steve Albini at Electrical […]

Vampire Weekend : Only God Was Above Us

Vampire Weekend are one of those bands that you either love or loathe. They have charm about them, but also a preciousness that turns off curmudgeonly old hipsters that don’t think they’re actually hipsters. On the other hand the band has songwriting chops and intellectually inviting lyrics thanks to singer/songwriter Ezra Koenig. Koenig can make […]