The kids in Menace Beach remind us of the essential elements of British alt-rock: punk’s spirited amateurism, a laser-like focus on pop hooks, fluency in the semiotics of guitar-bass-drums, and the good sense to keep things simple. Their new album Lemon Memory goes down like a sweet confection, ten remarkably consistent tracks digestible by even […]
21 years later it’s hard to remember just how big a hammer blow the original soundtrack to Danny Boyle’s film “Trainspotting” was to the mid-1990s pop music scene, but it was. The inclusion of Iggy Pop and Lou Reed along with ’90s British bands like Underworld and Primal Scream reestablished those old guard protopunks in […]
The guru of garage rock is back with a new album so killer, and so central to his artistic agenda, that it merits the eponymous distinction. Behold: Ty Segall. I’m guessing it doesn’t help to describe it as a “high octane shredfest,” since those terms pretty much apply to any Segall record. So what kind […]
It does my heart good to see that Washington, DC still plays for keeps with guitar-bass-drums punk created in an independently produced, communally minded context. The scene’s legendary DIY tradition — think Bad Brains and Minor Threat of the 1980s, and Fugazi, Bikini Kill, and Nation of Ulysses in the 1990s — may seem quaint […]
It’s easy to fall under the spell of Cate Le Bon. When you listen to the breezy, loopy “Rock Pool,” try closing your eyes tightly enough to trigger the fireworks show on your eyelids, and you can just about picture Le Bon as an “it girl” from some mythical North Atlantic country where pilly wool […]
Someone forgot to tell Australia that indie rock is supposed to be artistically spent by now, because in Melbourne they’re partying like it’s 1995. The city seems flush with musicians who introduce a fresh perspective (ideally while very high) to this by-now classic style. Melbourne is also witnessing a new cohort of charismatic frontwomen; as […]
Deep Throat Choir is a London-based all-women singing collective that’s been active since 2013. The group was formed by Luisa Gerstein (formerly of Landshapes); it started as a handful of friends and quickly expanded, staying true to a vocals-only performance style augmented by minimal percussion. Their repertoire consists mostly of interpretations of other artists’ songs […]
What were the best records of 2016? Leonard Nevarez is here to tell you! 1. David Bowie – Blackstar It was released on a Friday in January, and by Sunday he was gone. Backed by his most adventurous music in decades, the starman delivered a eulogy for himself and a lament for the condition of […]
Lately it’s become clear to me than it ain’t sh*t if it doesn’t have a sense of humor. So thank the electronic stars for Joe Goddard. Best known for his role in beloved indietronica/electro-pop UK group Hot Chip, Goddard also served as half of the 2 Bears and as a songwriter, producer, DJ, remixer and […]
This Deap Vally song killed me when it came out over the summer, but it sounds even more right on this most fucked up of days. Don’t let any man tell you how to be. Hang in there and fight back. The new Deap Vally record is called Femejism and it’s out now. You should […]