Blog: The Tripwire

If Wax Idols’ No Future seems bold and eclectic for a debut full-length that's because it is. As young as she looks, Wax Idols frontwoman Heather Fedewa has a more extensive resume than most rock ... read more �

Boston-based band Quilt had their coming out party this week, releasing their debut self-titled album (via Mexican Summer) and playing a celebratory show at Brooklyn's Glasslands. But you'd hardly know it by searching the internet. ... read more �

Bedroom pop-makers are not hard to come by in the high-speed internet age. Never has there been a more direct route to processing and broadcasting heartache from your machines to the world. Some of these ... read more �

Sometimes it takes a music festival with an international draw like CMJ to get around to seeing that band from down the block you've been meaning to catch. Thus was the case with Bushwick, Brooklyn-based ... read more �

Drummer Christopher Weingarten once summed up the unique mission that stellar Brooklyn noise-rock outfit Parts & Labor embarked upon for the past decade, saying, "Make the world a noisier place. Remind the noisy places what ... read more �

Belle and Sebastian is a band I perennially geek out about. They were prolific and excellent for an entire decade. But from 2006 through 2010, they disappeared. Bands are entitled to hiatuses. Then, along came ... read more �

The War On Drugs played an NPR World Café session last week. Watching it, I was blown away by the band and the sound they’ve grown into. The session closes with “Arms Like Boulders,” possibly ... read more �

The War On Drugs played an NPR World Café session last week. Watching it, I was blown away by the band and the sound they’ve grown into. The session closes with “Arms Like Boulders,” possibly ... read more �

Cass McCombs stated earlier this year that he doesn't write albums. He simply writes songs, compulsively, and doesn't look back until he's made enough to create something. This might be surprising, given the cohesion that ... read more �

Male Bonding has always seemed to me a band that suffered from some unfortunate categorization. Don't get me wrong. A lot of people have had a lot of very positive things to say about the ... read more �

Fiery Furnaces frontwoman Eleanor Friedberger may not have made a summer album in the traditional sense. This will probably not find your ears through any pulsating car speakers or block parties. But play (the aptly ... read more �

There is not a wealth of information on the Internet about UK duo Big Deal. That's cause for some degree of fascination—usually, by the time a band has a couple demo tracks and a planned ... read more �

The thing that sticks with you about Kristian Matsson—who's recorded as The Tallest Man On Earth since releasing an EP of same name in 2006—has always been this: his complex and often melancholy lyrics provide ... read more �

On July 4th morning, I woke up to a cup of coffee and a conversation with an old friend now living in a proud Midwestern city not far from where I grew up. She was ... read more �

On July 4th morning, I woke up to a cup of coffee and a conversation with an old friend now living in a proud Midwestern city not far from where I grew up. She was ... read more �

For a California dude, Ty Segall does not seem very concerned about making you feel comfortable or at ease. At least not on his latest effort Goodbye Bread (which is steaming in full here). Last ... read more �

The new Mark Ronson-produced Black Lips album, Arabia Mountain, came out last week. I'm comfortable saying it's quite good. It's less conflicted and contradictory than usual, or at least conflicted in a different sense than ... read more �

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Destroyer's Kaputt will almost surely be on my personal top 10 year-end list. Structurally and musically, the recent reissue of Destroyer's Ideas For Songs feels like a near-polar opposite to the grandiose and intricate arrangements ... read more �

Stream: The Tripwire Podcast 067 Download an enhanced version with album art, links, and chapters here (ctrl + click). 00:00:02 SIDE A: The Very End Of Time 00:01:19 The The "The Violence Of Truth" (Sony ... read more �

The Antlers' "I Don't Want Love" begins with the line You want to climb up the stairs/ I want to push you back down. This should be a pretty jarring introduction. To a certain extent, ... read more �