Hop Along , fresh off a victory lap from the recording of their debut album Get Disowned , are opening for cerebral pop-punk powerhouses The Thermals at Union Transfer tonight, along with jangly, exuberant newcomers Cayetana . Anyone who's been following the trajectory of Frances Quinlan et al knows that the trio has a few styles to their name - power-folk, punk riffs, heart-rending anthemics. Get Disowned finds Hop Along throwing each of their trademark sounds up to 11, all while keeping anchored in the bruising, heart-on-sleeve quality with which they began. Cayetana, who [...]
Hidden City Festival 2013 kicks off in style with a nighttime block party inside the Eraserhood that features craft beer, food vendors (such as Dapper Dog, Spot Burger and Little Baby's Ice Cream), and a dance party underneath the hopefully eventual spot of the proposed Reading Viaduct Park. While Brooklyn dance sensations Hank & Cupcakes should prove to be the main attraction, the hook-laden, electro grooves of City Rain will definitely be the perfect complement. The group is currently working on releasing a full-length album this fall/winter so you're bound to hear some new material like their latest [...]
The 3rd Annual Sundrop Music & Arts Festival is back at The Fire. It kicked off yesterday, and you can enjoy some more daytime festivities today and tomorrow with free all-ages music showcases consisting of performances by local acts such as Juston Stens and The Get Real Gang , Satellite Hearts , Andrew Lipke , August John Lutz II , and many others as well as craft and food vendors. There will also be nighttime events that will conclude tomorrow evening with a tribute to Bob Dylan. The Fire, 412 W. Girard Ave., (Please check [...]
Bevelers write the kind of quiet, soulful music that can draw even the most jaded listener into a peaceful daydream. Their minimal instrumentation, enchanting harmonies and endearing demeanor can silence any room and display a mature understanding of the nuances of acoustic music. This quality, in combination with the strength of their live performance has brought them recognition from Portland's music community and lead them to the release of Be Your Own Creature , their full length debut. They'll be celebrating the release this Saturday night at The Blue Monk alongside the indie-folk jams of [...]
Released last year, Napoleon 's accomplished debut album 'Success' was an emotive collection of spacious mid-tempo rockers and pretty indie folk ballads, expertly crafted at producer Kevin McMahon's upstate studio, Marcata Recording. But not to be pigeonholed, their more recent releases- such as latest single "Moonlight"- have been tighter, more uptempo numbers. As frontman, Detroit native and former Harlem resident Julian Anderson explains to me, the group shares an ethos that each record should be a grand departure from the last. - The band will headline the indie stage at The Deli's NYC [...]
The local venues are bursting at the seams with local talent this weekend, so if you're looking for something to occupy your free time from the grind, then you've come to the right rundown. Friday If you want to hang with us tonight, get to the High Watt early because the visionaries over at OurVinyl have put together a showcase featuring Daniel Ellsworth & the Great Lakes and Sol Cat . The whole thing is being recorded, so wear your favorite dance pants or bring someone enough [...]
The enigmatic drift of Western Lows stifles as much as it soothes, placing an emphasis on its whooshing atmospheric soundscapes with a distancing mood. The frame in which the trio works may be wide in scope, but instead of wandering in nebulous distortion, their arrangements have a more direct melodic approach. The songs they've unveiled off their upcoming release "Glacier" are finely calibrated with slick shoegazing guitar work, yet the driving rhythm section is the backbone of the band, constantly veering in subtle textures while never dismissing the central beat of the song. The coy shiver of singer [...]
Arrah and the Ferns ' live performance has really come into its own in the last year or two. That is why I was greatly sadden to hear that tonight's album release show at PhilaMOCA will be their last show together for a very long while. Like many bands that I've come to know and love over the years, there comes a point in time when growing pains set in and personal lives takeover. Daniel Ryan Belski will be leaving Philly to study in Montana for his master's degree in music. Arrah Fisher will be taking off on a lengthy [...]
Songwriter/composer Jonathan Haskell, known as Seven Saturdays , has just unveiled a video for the song "One in 3", which is part of his upcoming self-titled release, out on May 28th. There's an aura of mystery surrounding the video, which depicts a portrait of self-discovery for a man and a woman as their ties of brotherly affection are strenghtened in the process. Or at least that's what lead me to believe. Regardless, the stark, commanding images fit the song's ambient synth segues and nippy guitar passages.
SF based indie rock band, Fox and Woman will be performing live in celebration of the release of their anticipated full length album on May 31st. The show will take place on May 31st at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco. Local artists, Debbie Neigher and DOE EYE will be rounding out the bill for this auspisicious music event. Get ready for a night of dreamy, electro acoustic indie rock! Congratulations to Fox and Woman on the release of their new album. You can attain the new record [...]
A southern belle has brought her charming voice and not so southern sounding tunes up north. Named after a town in her home state of Alabama, Dear Georgiana is Lauren Balthrop, former member of the retro rootsy-pop trio The Bandana Splits. She has recently released her debut self titled album, which features her signature soprano and open melodies that harken back to 1950's pop. Preview single "Wanna Be In Love" (streaming below) bears an intriguing mix of influences, from rockabilly to what we call "avant-indie." See Dear Georgiana live at Rockwood Music Hall's Stage 2 on June [...]
Sons of the West released their second ep, I'll Never Be Your Friend (A Shot In The Back) , in late 2012. Now, they are returning to the stage at Lincoln Hall. The trio plays straight ahead beer-stoked barroom rock and have been for several years. You can hear that sound blasting through on the lead track of their aforementioned ep, "Call You Home".
Making lists is an incredibly geeky thing to do. Seriously, it pre-supposed that you not only have a stupidly large and completely arbitrary knowledge of something, but also that you care enough to rank that thing. It’s super nerdy. I realized this, of course, while standing in a 45 minute line to get into the new Star Trek movie while discussing with my friends the finer points of how Wrath of Kahn was an amazing meditation on aging. So, lets just celebrate our inner nerdiness with the geekiest rock songs in the history [...]
Local area metal outfit Baroness put out a much-lauded full-length album, Yellow & Green , last year. Unfortunately, while on tour this past summer in England, the group got into a horrific accident, dropping thirty feet from a viaduct near Bath. Luckily, their fall was cushioned by trees, but the members didn't all walk away completely unscathed. Both bassist Matt Maggioni and drummer Allen Bickle broke vertebrae, and have since left the band being replaced on this most recent U.S. Tour by new members Nick Jost and Sebastian Thomson. Singer-guitarist John Baizley broke his left leg and [...]
If it seems as though we've been talking about the National's excellent new record Trouble Will Find Me for weeks now it's because we have. Even though the record was just released this week, fascination with the band and a buzzing curiosity about how they might follow up 20102s powerhouse High Violet have kept music writers (and our own comments sections) very busy over the past month or so. Initial reactions to the album have been largely positive, with our own Tom Breihan claiming that Trouble 's "soft, majestic intensity is [...]
Creepoid and Moon Women are beloved local bands that haven't been playing out as much as we'd like. Luckily, the combination of Creepoid drummer Pat Troxell and Moon Women frontman Justin Pittney have been helping to fill the void with their impressive collaborative effort Residuels . In just a short amount of time, they have released an addictive fuzz-garage rock EP, played with the likes of ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, and even went on tour making it down to SXSW, a rite of passage for most new bands these days. [...]
Sometimes you have to go through a lot of changes before bringing it all together. For the soaring pop of Glod Lake , the band's history has brought the duo through several bands ('We are Balboa'), countries (Madrid) and hairstyles (I'm just assuming here, based on their stylish locks) before finally landing them at new single 'We Already Exist.' An anthemic journey showcasing singer Lua Rios's insanely huge range, the new track nicely takes the group from rock's roots to a kaleidoscopic maze of melodic movement. All that... and they've got a new remix by Helio Sequence to [...]
The eccentric Toby Driver-led KAYO DOT brings hardcore avant-metal to the big apple in a way that you don't see too often. With mellow instrumental turns, melodic vocals, and screams that aren't too in-your-face, their music is a progressive fusion that soothes yet energizes. The band is set to drop a new double-album titled 'HUBARDO' this fall, just in time to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the release of their debut album, 'Choirs of The Eye.' KD has released a 13-minute audio teaser trailer for the new album via SoundCloud. They're [...]
Shervin Lainez If it were as recently as last year, I would be spending this post - hell, yesterday's post - talking about how after arriving in Chicago last Saturday, I went almost straight to Beat Kitchen to see Laura Stevenson and Field Mouse play, on account of missing the Toronto show of their tour this past Tuesday because of this little vacation. But because I've grown as a person and am no longer spending all my time and energy trying to make it to shows and write about them, I have nothing to [...]
Ricky Stein and his handsome voice are hard to resist. He has the swag of a young Elvis, the pained lyrics of an old Johnny Cash and a strong voice like Doug Sahm. Having a voice that carries him through genres with such an expansive range and raspy sex appeal, it's like a man in a fine suit with a five o'clock shadow. "Oh" and "In the Red", two of his older songs, hold a softer indie feel both vocally and instrumentally. In his newest song, "Shreveport Blues", Ricky really breaks into a new realm as he [...]
The Deli Magazine
the WILD honey pie
Stereogum
Chromewaves
New Diarrhea Planet – “Separations”
Andrew Clarke - Under The Sun (Cyclist Gospel Remix)
HAERTS: “All The Days”
Sexy Track // “Devil Or Angel” // Lou Doillon
