Maybe it was the pastoral setting and the subtle effects of methane on the brain, or perhaps it was resentment stirred by the anal security guards and the “No Moshing or Crowd Surfing” sign posted in the entrance, but the crew that gathered to watch Spoon and White Rabbit perform at the Chameleon Club in [...]
“I don’t think we’re going to threaten the Jonas Brothers,” says James Iha of Tinted Windows‘ self-titled debut, recently released on S-Curve Records. But the power pop generated by the multigenerational band—which also includes Adam Schlesinger (Fountains Of Wayne), Taylor Hanson (Hanson) and Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick)—is a teenage dream of catchy choruses and [...]
After retreating to the Maryland countryside and their own living room to write and record a follow-up to 2008′s If Children, Andy Stack and Jenn Wasner, the two halves of Baltimore’s Wye Oak, have returned triumphant with The Knot (due July 21 on Merge). The album’s first single, “Take It In,” ebbs and flows in [...]
When the Hold Steady formed in 2003, part of its mission statement was to combat the scourge of plastic dance rock and ’80s revivalism happening in its adopted hometown of New York City. Can a lovable band of underdogs produce such a thing as an “overrated” song? Given the near-unanimous critical praise of the Hold [...]
“I don’t think we’re going to threaten the Jonas Brothers,” says James Iha of Tinted Windows‘ self-titled debut, recently released on S-Curve Records. But the power pop generated by the multigenerational band—which also includes Adam Schlesinger (Fountains Of Wayne), Taylor Hanson (Hanson) and Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick)—is a teenage dream of catchy choruses and [...]
Ever wonder what will happen during the last five minutes of late-night TV talk shows? They let musicians onstage! Here are tonight’s notable performers: The Colbert Report: The Decemberists Unsolicited Opinion That We Won’t Back Up: The writing on The Colbert Report has been so much better than The Daily Show for a while now. [...]
The Rentals have survived hiatuses, break-ups and so many personnel changes they make the Brian Jonestown Massacre look stable. But at the heart of the band’s ever-shifting roster lies Matt Sharp, former bassist for Weezer and a standout songwriter in his own right. The Rentals’ current project, Songs About Time, is a yearlong endeavor comprising [...]
For power-pop junkies, Tinted Windows’ self-titled debut (on S-Curve) ought to feel like the smack addict’s equivalent to China white. Gleefully combustible, intellectually uncomplicated and catchier than anything from Disney’s adenoidal teen-pop brigade, its 37-minute insulin rush is perpetrated by a (sort of) supergroup whose multi-generational pedigree is less odd than it is oddly appealing. [...]
We’ve been fans of New Jersey’s finest since even before their first album came out back in 1994, so let’s just say we’re used to sitting around waiting for them to take their sweet-ass time putting out new music. (Three albums in more than 14 years makes the Wrens about as prolific as Boston, which is kind of [...]
Outdated reference point or not, the anti-apathy sentiment on Superchunk‘s sophomore single “Slack Motherfucker” still seems characteristic of Mac McCaughan 20 years after he wrote it. The recently dormant Superchunk is moving again, and McCaughan also fills his time with Portastatic and co-ownership of Merge Records. As if that wasn’t enough to keep him busy, [...]
