Dear Fates, Um, didn't I just have a cold? I thought so, anyway. And, seriously, who gets a cold in the summer? I guess I'm supposed to call this "hay fever," or something ridiculous like that, but no. This is...
Now that I am home I can weed threw the inbox. These are all bands that contacted the Duke looking for some exposure. They either left me a link for downloading or have songs on their websites or myspaces. A brief description follows the track and * means Duke approved. The Colour ~ Devil’s Got A Holda Me (a rock song thru and thru)* Favourite Sons ~ Hang On, Girl (kinda like Nick Cave meets Artic Monkeys) [...]

"Sir, the nascent bits have claimed you as one of their own." Boston-area band Francine is something to talk about. Since their conception 7 years ago, thanks to songwriter Clayton Scoble, the band has three records under their belt. "Airshow", being the most recent of these released by Q Division Records, is a mildly lo-fi, folk-oriented, gem of a record. I myself have a copy of it, and have nothing but praises to spout. Jump on this train, [...]
2006 is turning out to be the year of the "grower" record. fort recovery , the greatest , powder burns , and a blessing and a curse all took more than a month or so to really digest, and thus appreciate. massachusett's francine's recently released debut air show fits the "grower" label perfectly. air show doesnt not reveal much the first few listens other than its a "nice enough" record. slowly but surely it found its way into my daily listenings. either my ipod has a crush on them or just [...]
The Boston band Francine strikes me as a bit of a rare bird these days. As a rock band that walks a fine line between radio-friendly accessibility and sonic experimentation, they bring to mind a combination of Toad The Wet Sprocket, The Notwist, Radiohead, Elliott Smith, and all that was great about mid-ninties modern rock. On their latest (and third) full-length album Airshow the band lays down track after track of wonderfully complex and layered melodic pop-rock with no discernable leanings towards any one polarizing sub-genre. [...]