She-Devils: “Come”
There’s a feeling to the She-Devils’ “Come,” a sense of plastic wrapped anachronisms. The sound of 1950s pop loops in the background like a skipping record, while singer Audrey Ann beckons with each skip, sprea...
74%Overall
Hinds: Leave Me Alone
It’s easy to get lost in Hinds’ new album, Leave Me Alone. The lo-fi debut from the Madrid rockers is a sunny affair; its melodies shine and harmonies kiss like a summertime afternoon. The coo and call over eas...
Inheaven: “Bitter Town”
When I hear the natural gallop of Inheaven’s “Bitter Town,” I’m immediately reminded of last summer. During those days, working my soul-sucking seasonal job as a custodian, I found a sense of buoyancy in a sele...
93%Overall
Oneohtrix Point Never: Garden of Delete
What world is this? Where are we? What was that sound? There’s a grating noise, pulverized between some primitive rock decoration and an industrial vice. It’s being melted down now, tossed against the grating o...
Violet Swells: “Gravity Wins Again”
I lived in a world detached from the world of Violet Swells. Psychedelia was a dead art in my Wisconsin town, a musical form surviving only in the Doors and Beatles CDs we’d snag from five-dollar bins and the l...
ISLAND: “Stargazer”
ISLAND’s “Stargazer” is further proof that AM was actually a cultural powerhouse. The way the chords are delivered in that clean, greaser tone recalls some of the suave ease the Arctic Monkeys commanded back in...
80%Overall
Protomartyr: The Agent Intellect
I remember seeing Protomartyr for the first time; it was at High Noon Saloon in Madison. The bar was largely cleared out of the usual furnishings, making room for the full house that packed the building. In fro...
Hugh: “Learn to Fall”
Hugh’s “Learn to Fall” has a sense for drama — almost too much of a sense for drama. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to hear something like this in a 50 Shades of Grey soundtrack, or somewhere in a young adult dysto...
Kurt Cobain: “Sappy”
Nirvana is one of those bands that, as the years grind on, have become less about their music and more about an image. They’re the band that made the 1990s the decade of flannel and ripped jeans. They’re the co...
83%Overall
Eagles of Death Metal: Zipper Down
Josh Homme and Jesse Hughes pull into an anonymous suburb, the riffs of Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen” blasting over their radio. They’re driving a black Pontiac Firebird, the 1978 model with a glossy phoenix d...
MUNA: “Loudspeaker”
A friend and I had a weekly tradition of midnight drives. Every Monday night, either a beaten Toyota or brand new Ford would hit the road, with a pair of high schoolers just bouncing thoughts off each other as ...
The Big Moon: “The Road”
The Big Moon’s name is fitting; the British guitar sluggers aren’t exactly shy. They’re the type of band to double down on ragged guitar lines and a pinch of soulful crooning, where their jagged indie pop struc...