Tagged: frontpagespotlight

Two Tripwire staffers sat down with Yeasayer's new video for "Madder Red" and this is what came out of their mouths as they watched. Bevan: Oh there it is Bevan: Oh there's Sarah Marshall. Sarah Marshall has a lazy eye, I read about it on Wikipedia a couple months ago Bevan: That looks like Krang from the Ninja Turtles Hanly: Looks like Meat Wad Bevan: The Yeasayer guys definitely have a Ninja Turtles thing going on 'cause that's Krang Bevan: Oh Sarah Marshall, you're so cute Hanly: That's like the [...]

Aaaaaactually, no one got naked. That's just a word some people use to describe rock 'n roll music played both intimately and without e-lectricity. Austin's Woven Bones , as noted back in April, proffer sweet, sweet sludge to the fuzz-hungry masses. Their excellent debut LP, In and Out and Back Again , which came out on HoZac back in May, came coated in just that, but as you can see above, Woven Bones sounds just as good in the nude. Before diving back into the fuzz later that night at Brooklyn's Union Pool, they [...]

• Woven Bones - Wann Tell Ya_1-2

We met up with Villagers ' Conor O'Brien last week on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade to film what would feel, retrospectively, like a serenade along the banks of the East River. Romance! Skylines! Moving on. O'Brien told us that his goal on tour at the moment is to play "Becoming a Jackal" in every city he visits or just about anywhere he steps foot. The latter seems like a stretch, but it was still fitting that of the two songs he shared with us that afternoon, "Becoming a Jackal" sounded as fresh as it did. Check that out [...]

We met sisters Johanna and Klara of Sweden's First Aid Kit at The Levi's/FADER Fort in Austin, TX during their first visit to the US this past March. We assume they had a nice visit because they came back last week and got a little taste of New York. We accompanied them on their visit to Brooklyn's Bell House to film what we thought would be their soundcheck but turned out to be more of an awesome, private show just for us. Well, it was technically their soundcheck but we'd like to think otherwise, [...]

It was a lovely day in New York City when the perma-summer'd Los Angelenos Chief took us outside in the sun to busk their hella appropriate "Summer's Day." Alternately, the dudes did "Night and Day" inside Heather's Bar for The FADER . These guys have a knack for atmosphere, don't you think?

And by play, we mean Dave and Graham stripped down to their acoustic underpants and introduced a few songs from their excellent new LP, Champ. Oh shit, you know what? They played some deep cuts, too! Watch "End of a Spark" above and after the jump, sink your teeth into "Wait Up", "Hands Reversed," and "Tessellate". Everything tastes good! Champ is out June 8 via Mom + Pop . "Wait Up" "Hands Reversed" "Tessellate"

Earlier this week, the men of Mumford and Sons came over to play with our dogs and air out some tunes. Above you can check out "Awake My Soul," a rousing feel-good cut from their full-length, Sigh No More . Then, after the jump, NERD BONUS: the dudes share a cover of "Dance Dance Dance", a Neil Young-penned lullaby originally included on Crazy Horse's 1971 debut LP. Sigh No More is out now courtesy of Glassnote .

We're bringing it back! Before washing down some tacos with some spiked Jarritos at the Chocolate Bobka show at Los Hermanos Tortilleria two Saturdays ago, we filmed Eric and Andrea of Twin Sister slow-jamming out in the back of their van parked outside. Good luck trying to find their four-wheeled friend, though: using a strategically-placed sticker, they disguise their van as a "Champion's Tae Kwon Do" transport. Watch them float through "Ginger" (above) and then continue on with "Nectarine" which you can view after the bump. When you're done with that, go check out Pure Ecstasy [...]

Story by Samuel Duke Photography by John Francis Peters It's dinner time and The Soft Pack are hungry. This is reasonable. What is perhaps unreasonable is that I'm sitting in their van, badgering them with questions about menial shit like how they chose their band name, and (unknowingly at the time, for what it's worth) preventing them from sating themselves. If I were in that position I would probably be answering monosyllabically, unable to elaborate on anything, lost in a dream about [...]

Last Thursday, March 4th, marked the day we snuck into NYU's Kimmel Center to film Born Ruffians ' soundcheck. Today, March 10th, marks the day we reveal the fruits of said sneaking. Actually, we didn't really sneak in. Sorry. We showed our old, faded NYU Card instead! All that said, the Ruffians are actually much softer than their name might suggest: they were nice enough to let us hang out and listen to their "check check 1 2 33 as well as the slightly more soothing "meow meow meow." Watch them play their new single "Sole Brother" above and [...]

Story by Adam Daniels Photography by Dorothy Hong Breaking up is always hard to do. With your main squeeze, definitely. But with your band? There goes your job and your best bros. Most people would need some time alone to bust out their Belle and Sebastian records and mope around. Luckily, Paul Sprangers and Scott Wells aren't most people. A few years ago, their band Hockey Night called it quits. And it wasn't one of those friendly breaks where you call each other on your [...]

Interview by Chris Ruen Photography by Dorothy Hong Though the spot in the venn diagram where "lo-fi," "psych," and "bedroom" meet up has been effectively mobbed over the past couple of years, Philadelphia's Kurt Vile has been graced with a talent for differentiation. While many artists shyly hide their disaffected voices below layers of reverb, Vile proudly hollers through the aural decay. Where others mask their casually strummed guitars and chord changes under oceans of delay pedal, Vile [...]

Story by Adam Daniels Photography by John Francis Peters The Big Pink are not meant to play to empty rooms. This is why seeing them play soundcheck is a pretty surreal experience. It's like walking into a movie theater playing Independence Day and being the only person in the room. Their songs are are so huge they engulf you in this setting. Nowhere is this more apparent than in "Dominoes." The song serves as a [...]

Story by Chris Ruen Photography by John Francis Peters I was tempted to take Andy Falkous for an angry man, watching him lead his band, Future Of The Left, through a merciless set at the Music Hall Of Williamsburg last October. Falkous' guitar lashed out from the PA, backed by Kelson Mathias' sucker-punch bass lines and Jack Egglestone's thunderclap drumming. Falkous' unrelenting power chords swallowed the venue whole and might have bestowed a Medusa-like curse upon [...]

Story by Michael McGregor Photography by John Francis Peters It's mid-December in Northern New Jersey and the members of Real Estate, known for songs like "Beach Comber" and "Let's Rock the Beach," are bundled in scarves, flannel and woolens. The pool is long since covered. Smoking cigarettes on the back patio, drummer Etienne Duguay and guitarist Matt Mondanile are taking bets on whether frontman Martin Courtney, on the phone meandering through his backyard, can walk across the covered, unfilled pool without falling in. Walking backwards, Courtney's foot hits the [...]

Story by Michael McGregor Photography by John Francis Peters It's mid-December in Northern New Jersey and the members of Real Estate, known for songs like "Beach Comber" and "Let's Rock the Beach," are bundled in scarves, flannel and woolens. The pool is long since covered. Smoking cigarettes on the back patio, drummer Etienne Duguay and guitarist Matt Mondanile are taking bets on whether frontman Martin Courtney, on the phone meandering through his backyard, can walk across the covered, unfilled pool without falling in. Walking backwards, Courtney's foot hits the [...]

A recap: Below you'll find full album stream through our friends over at LaLa . What we'd like you to do is lend us your brainwaves and tweet whatever crosses your mind while listening. Maybe there's a riff you can't get out of your head. A lyric? A moment? An image? If you're feeling ambitious, spend your 124 characters reviewing the record as a whole. Just toss those tweets over to us at @thetripwire and by the end of the week, we'll cobble together and share the beautiful mess of a madlib it creates. Or, [...]

Just as we did a few weeks back when smelly bands made a CMJ mess of our Levi's®/FADER Fort bathroom , we've decided to compile every psychedelic inch of JEFF the Brotherhood footage in one impossibly convenient feature post. So from here on out, if you're wasting time on the Tripwire instead of say, YouTube, visions of them soiling our bed with their rock 'n roll will now be available for you right here. Except they won't be visions: THIS ALL REALLY HAPPENED. "Heavy Days" "U Got The Look"

Story by Adam Daniels Photography by Dorothy Hong "Do you need a drink?"
"Yes, I need four double whiskeys and four PBRs." It was Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson's record release show at Williamsburg's Union Pool, and while he was among a roomful of friends, he was not at ease. Robinson's former fiancé obliged the request, assuming it was on behalf of the entire band. This was not the case. Robinson wasn't a household name in indie rock at the time. But he had a lot of the pieces in place [...]

Your mission: It's possible that over the past several weeks you've noticed the reviews slow to a trickle around these parts. We had our reasons! Cookies weren't involved! Okay, maybe they were! All of us at Tripwire HQ are pleased to introduce to you today a new chapter in our "take" on music criticism—by handing over the keys. Starting this week and every Tuesday hereafter, we'll be posting a full album stream through our friends over at LaLa. What we'd like you to do is lend us your brainwaves and tweet whatever crosses your mind while [...]