In the print version of Verbicide, I once declared that Flogging Molly were the best active punk band in the world. I stand by that, although I probably don’t listen to quite enough punk anymore to judge. However, Flogging Molly are now in the most treacherous phase of a punk band’s career: maturing. Somehow already [...]

Is Spoon the New Power Generation for the Pitchfork crowd? That’s the question posited by Spoon’s seventh studio album, Transference. Just think about that funky Batman soundtrack if you don’t get the connection. It’s easily to see Prince’s “Future” slipping between the one-two punch of Transference’s, “Who Makes Your Money” and “Written In Reverse.” Rob [...]

Electric President is made up of Ben Cooper and Alex Kane, both natives of Jacksonville, Florida. Their musical history is scattered — Ben played in bands from the time he was 13, in as many of four at once, sometimes as a guitarist, or a drummer, singer or bassist. Alex first started playing as the [...]

The Mars Volta sibling band Zechs Marquise hits the road once again today, supporting RX Bandits on a lengthy North American tour. The El Paso quartet featuring Mars Volta multi-instrumentalist Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez and his bassist brother Marfred Rodriguez-Lopez has toured almost incessantly since the August 2009 release of its debut album Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare [...]

At long last it is upon us. One of the most important and influential alternative bands of the 1990s, Pavement, have reunited.
To commemorate the occasion, Matador Records presents Quarantine The Past, a 23-track best-of collection compiled by the band and fully remastered.
The tracks span the entirety of Pavement’s career from 1989 to 1999, from the scratchy and mysterious sounds [...]

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists have arrived on the almighty Matador Records with The Brutalist Bricks, a nonstop work of musical expertise. It’s a beautiful thing to hear veterans of a genre sounding so fresh and new. And it’s not just Ted Leo’s songwriting (though that is quite strong) — The Pharmacists cannot go unnoticed. [...]

2009 brought the release of the highly acclaimed sophomore album from Somali-born K’naan, entitled Troubadour. From that album, which The Source called “an album that displays raw emotion coupled with genre-bending song composition” and “a breath of fresh air” comes the song “Wavin’ Flag.” The track has been selected as a theme song of [...]

Jason Collett has one topic he wants to cover on his newest album, Rat A Tat Tat. That topic is love — the good, the bad, and the alt-country. It’s well-worn territory in that genre, yet Collett’s music never feels stale. While not every track is memorable — and oftentimes falls into easy listening background [...]

Garotas Suecas come raging from Sao Paolo, Brazil — five boys and a girl playing fuzzed-out, psychedelic garage rock nu-Tropicalia. Influences range from Otis Redding to Os Mutantes. Imagine ? and the Mysterians jamming it out with Gilberto Gil, and you might have an idea how fun this band can be. Better yet, listen to [...]

Driving melodic punk rock is what The Reveling is all about. Hailing from Brooklyn, their sound is filled with a certain working class rawness that fittingly represents their hometown environment.
Within the four songs featured on this EP it’s clear we are hearing the works of a musically tight band…

Fresh off the Dope Winter Ball Tour alongside Tash of The Alkoholiks, League510 is back with their latest leak, the fun and catchy “In My Face (Womp Womp).” Hailing from the Bay Area, the group is quickly making a name for themselves as the leaders of the burgeoning Town Techno movement. Off their upcoming compilation [...]

The Street Dogs, it is somewhat of an understatement to say, are from Boston. Mike McColgan’s name was already indelibly linked with the city, as he had already made his name as the frontman for the Dropkick Murphys, the standard-bearers of Boston punk during the late 1990s. Most musicians dream of achieving that kind of [...]

Though a succession of releases for the Gern Blandsten, Ace Fu, Lookout (and most recently) Touch & Go labels, Ted has established himself as one of the best songwriters breathing, regardless of genre. For the sake of argument, however, we’ll testify that Leo’s marriage of modern punk with classic pop is always subject to revision [...]

The Silver Lake quintet Local Natives have been compared to groups such as Vampire Weekend, Animal Collective, and other bands that combine modern day indie rock with international influences. However, to this lowly reviewer’s ears, there are no hints of afropop, or lo-fi calamity present on their debut full-length…

Ben Davis was in punk bands Sleepytime Trio and Milemarker, and has developed into a musician with diverse interests and influences.
Lovitt Records released the critically acclaimed The Hushed Patterns of Relief in 2001 which was recorded at Salad Days by Brian McTernan. The record began as a quiet four-track project, Davis’ first release was a [...]