Tagged: rockpop

John Samson, singer, principal songwriter and guitarist of The Weakerthans , made a good deal of punk music before releasing this album, but it doesn't often glean through the deceivingly simple indie-pop he's created here with Reconstruction Site . Sure with songs like "Plea From A Cat Named Virtue," and "Over Retired Explorer," you hear a bit of salad day Samson, but there are also songs like "One Great City!" and "Reconstruction Site," which dabble in less-explored terrain for Samson. Aside from the wonderful songwriting on [...]

After being pushed back an extra week due to some production issues, new  Vampire Weekend has arrived.  Modern Vampires of the City is the title of the New York indie rocker's third full length album and while it may not be  Vampire Weekend  or  Contra , this record surely deserves some recognition. Tracks like "Finger Back" and lead single "Diane Young" really bring it with the beautiful yet chaotic use of different instruments and fills. However,  Ezra Koenig and company have the slower stuff figured out as well with a sweet and simple mix of piano, synth [...]

Who doesn't like watching little kids play air guitar? The National clearly do as this lad is featured front and center throughout the entire video for The National's newest tune "Sea of Love".  Check out the video below and let us know what you think.

After teasing us for a couple of years with hits like "Darty", Nick Luebke has finally released his long awaited EP, The Search .  The Wisconsin native will be on tour with SoMo beginning this week with a show in Iowa City.  You can find all the tour dates for the Show Off Tour   here  (he'll be hittin' Minneapolis on the 18th).  He's offering a free download of the album but has also put it up on iTunes for purchase.  If you like what you hear, go spend the couple bucks [...]

• Nick Luebke Music - The Search EP

My favorite song by Rogue Wave has always been "Lake Michigan" (if you've never heard it, get on that right away) and honestly I don't see that ever changing.  Their newest tune "Siren's Song" has already made it into their top five if you ask me.  It has kind of a sporatic arrangement but it's pieced together nicely.  You can find it on their forthcoming record,  Nightingales , set to be released on June 4th.

Finding a way to accurately describe a band to someone without them actually hearing an artist's music can sometimes be a difficult task. This time, Step Rockets described themselves for us.  As quoted from their website , they sound like "Pink Floyd and The Clash playing at an MGMT party."  I couldn't help but get a good laugh from reading this because after I thought about it for awhile, it was a pretty accurate description. They may be found in either the alternative or indie rock section at the local record store but they bring [...]

For anyone who has ever tried to sing along with  Barry Gibb  in "Stayin' Alive", help is here.  Capital Cities takes the classic  Bee Gees song,  slows it down, and eliminates that daunting falsetto we all think we can hit. Their electronic style brings in a fresh new take on the 1977 hit song and don't worry, the trumpet that we hear quite frequently in Capital Cities' songs in there as well.

There was nothing brave about Vampire Weekend's eponymous debut release. Just a couple of Ivy League kids making an indie-pop album after listening to an armful of Afro-pop records. Plenty of bands have done this before (See:  Paul Simon,  he actually went to Africa), but when Vampire Weekend handed out a few homemade EPs, the world was suddenly nipping at the bit for a full-length release back in 2006. This album, their debut, wasn't released until 2008.  The band's mix of west-African pop with various other influences created a sound they've dubbed, "Upper West Side Soweto," which won [...]

Often times I find myself skipping over the opening acts when I write a show review.  This time, there's no skipping over the opening performances that Future Feats and The Colourist put on Monday at The Triple Rock. In my opinion, opening acts have one job to do: get the audience pumped and ready to see the headliner.  Chicago natives, Future Feats, did just that.  Every shred of energy in the lead singer's  body was left on the stage.  Midway through the second song, I [...]

Torches is growing on my faster than wildfire... get it, it's a pun.  They teased us a while back with the release of their single "When You Gonna?" and finally this past Monday they gave us their new EP If The People Stare .  As if it was cool enough that the single was available for a free download, now the entire EP is as well.  You can follow the bandcamp player link below to their site where you can download with a "name your price" option.  Help these Cali rockers out and toss them a few dollars.

Last week I was out for a stroll while sporting my Wisconsin sweatshirt. I was told by a drunk, shoeless, passerby that Wisconsin is, "A shitty, shitty state." So much for Minnesota nice. I am glad that that same weekend I was in the record store and found Badger-A-Go-Go , a record pressed in 1989 by Atomic Records . It is a compilation of rock n' roll artists, it is blue, and it is awesome. All of the bands featured on it are from Wisconsin. Created before my birth and not knowing much about the Milwaukee music scene, [...]

J Roddy Walston And The Business  are a quartet hailing from Baltimore, MD. Check out their song "Don't Break The Needle" off their 2010 telf-titled album while we wait for their upcoming album set to release later this summer off of ATO Records (whom boast an impressive roster of Alabama Shakes, My Morning Jacket, Old Crow Medicine Show, and many more). You can also see them live on May 31st when they open up for  The Lumineers along with  Cold War Kids at the Target Center.

• JRoddy - Don't Break The Needle

Happy Tuesday music lovers! Yet another album I've been craving in this barrage of fantastic new music this year has finally arrived. Today,  Noah And The Whale release their 4th studio album entitled  Heart of Nowhere . Last week they turned the release into somewhat of a treasure hunt for fans, delivering a handful of cassette tape copies of the album at specific record stores. Each cassette contained a code and once all of them were found, fans unlocked the  Heart of Nowhere for free streaming which lasted through the end of this past weekend. I had the pleasure [...]

"Ya Hey" is the most recent video from Vampire Weekend off of their forthcoming album due out on May 14th.  It's only a lyric video but it's official, so if it's good enough for the band, it's good enough for you.  Listen and enjoy.

If you haven't seen Youngblood Hawke , make sure you do not miss this show.  In the past I have only seen them as an opener.  But now, in support of their debut album Wakeup (released in April), they're headlining their own tour across the country.   Wakeup picks up right where their debut five song EP left off.  A string of poppy tunes that have the ability to appeal to rock and pop fans alike.  I liken them to a group like Grouplove .  High energy performances that catch unsuspecting listeners by surprise and have people [...]

While scrolling through emails stuffed full of new music, many bands I have never heard of, I literally have no clue what I am going to be listening to once I hit play.  Every once in a while I come across a song that makes me instantly click "new post."  "On Fire" is one of those.  I simply got two bars in and I knew it was a winner.   Loon Lake is out of Melbourne and their debut album is on its way.  Until then, they'll be releasing a string of free downloads that you can grab on [...]

• LOON LAKE - On Fire.

Hot out of London is this lovely new group, Cloud Boat . Their first song, "Youthern" features an awesome choral intro. You have to be in the right mood for it, but if you are... it's pretty great. I look forward to hearing Cloud Boat's album when it comes out on May 28th.

Last week Phoenix released their 5th studio album Bankrupt! . What do you think of it? I haven’t had the chance to listen to it but I heard it’s pretty good. Anyway, here’s 2 free + awesome remixes by RAC & Dirty Projectors. Entertainment (Dirty Projectors remix) // download Trying To Be Cool (RAC mix) // download

• Entertainment - Dirty Projectors Remix
• Phoenix - Trying To Be Cool (RAC Mix)

If you haven't heard of this oddly punctuated band yet, you're either someone who doesn't listen to the radio/watch TV or you are oblivious. Fun.'s music has been featured in two super bowl commercials in the last two years... it's hard to miss these guys. Yet, the true calamity in all of this is the neglect of their first album, Aim and Ignite . Largely written as a Format project, Fun's debut is a dazzling display of progressive pop... I'm not sure it's rock. But, it's definitely progressive, so I'm calling it progressive pop (think [...]

Buffalo Bop: The Bop That Never Stopped appears to be, and I say appears because there is no information about it, a compilation of various Rockabilly artists from the 1950s and early 60s. They were pressed in the 1980s by a German record label. This has been a really fun era to explore, and it's full of people that I probably never would have heard of in my life. I've always found the dislike for Rock n' Roll of this time period to be pretty funny, but after looking at some of the album art from the time period [...]