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. [...]

The Ruby Suns have teleported to today from a past where pop was catchy and high-spirited, but they are integrating quite well with us here in 2010. They’ve created a type of hybridized style of ’80s dance and world music that is incredibly intricate in its design. In fact, think The Smiths without any instruments [...]

Xiu Xiu are theater people. I haven’t read a line of their bios, but they are — even if they don’t know it. They’re overstated, obnoxious, and consumed with self-love disguised as self-hate. On the plus side that makes for great theater, and they also happen to be great musicians (even if their songwriting [...]

You Didn’t Know I Was Alphabetical is a brilliant collection of songs ranging from Matt Pond PA to early Wilco folk-rockers. The whole album ebbs and flows from one emotional chord to another with ease. “Skin and Bones” is a hauntingly beautiful track with gorgeous vocals; PJ Bond’s voice goes from folk star to quivering [...]

To be perfectly honest, if you’re not already a fan of the alternative rock band known as Eels, their latest release, End Times, will probably not be the album to win you over. First listeners will most likely make the mistake of labeling the work as “sad bastard music,” as the majority of the [...]

There’s a fine line between noise rock and ugly chaos. On one side of the spectrum you have music that is a fascinating experiment — bold and challenging, yet rewarding. On the other side you have something that sounds like the first band you formed in seventh grade — sloppy, noisy, and egotistical.

Some of the best albums are the ones you listen to least. Certain albums just stand better in a way that doesn’t allow for blasting the single at a dance party. Rauelsson’s La Siembra, La Espera y La Cosecha is one of those albums. There is a time for music like this — when you [...]

You know that kid in school? The one that didn’t really bother anyone and kept to himself? Others may have even projected some assumptions of him as a “nerd” or something? Yet that kid had bigger agates than most of the football team? Remember that kid? This band is that kid. Not all obvious, not [...]

Elizabeth Fraser. The name alone conjures up flashbacks of the neon-spewing Eighties synth and New Wave. The Cocteau Twins breakup broke hearts in 1997, but allowed members to pursue other realms of sound and possibilities. However, the fans still pleaded for more and now, a new dose of Fraser has reached listeners’ ears, though not [...]

Basia Bulat’s Heart of My Own, “folk music from the hills,” is aptly titled as it is pure, untarnished, and from the heart. Bulat’s soulful ballads of heartache and heartbreak filtered through a wailing, strong, classic female voice (dare I compare her to Joni Mitchell?) make this album one for the charts.

It could be said that 2008 was a turbulent year for the high-energy act from Toronto, Ontario. Releasing the highly successful album The Chemistry of Common Life and appearing on Canadian MTV — only to have their fans (and even members of the band) all but destroy the studio — Fucked Up now look to [...]

I really like weird punk. It’s something that has grown on me over the years, going to shows and seeing that one band that plays their music differently. Bands like that stand out the most, though, are only appreciated by those who have developed an ear for such a style. I especially love the weird [...]

Every couple months or so, a band releases a record that makes me overjoyed that I listen to punk rock in all of its glorious forms. The Lawrence Arms has released something so great that I’m smiling until my cheeks hurt. At times like this, I consider believing in a higher being because I need [...]

Asobi Seksu stripped away the ornate elements of dream-pop and got back to basics with Rewolf. The entire album is acoustic with everything as lo-fi vocals, piano, or acoustic guitar and the occasional marimba.
Rewolf was recorded in one session at London’s famed Olympic Studios, and takes a wide variety of singles, B-sides, and album cuts [...]

There’s no shortage of misunderstood places in America, and with that there’s always a chance that some sort of musical act will rise from the obscurity. Unfortunately, North Florida bare-rockers Tubers are a group that listeners will more than likely be sending back to the mosquitoes.
Tubers take a sound that is outright simple, yet still [...]