17.Jan.2012 “Brains” by Lower Dens
On the heels of one very well-received album (2010′s Twin-Hand Movement) and one killer 7″ for Sub Pop (2011′s “Deer Knives”/”Tangiers”), Baltimore’s Lower Dens return with a new full length and a heavy theme. The band’s forthcoming release, Nootropics, is said center on the ways in which technology could be used to expand human capabilities. [...]
06.Sep.2011 The Rockometer: Endless Now by Male Bonding
Male Bonding Endless Now Sub Pop Now that Male Bonding have ditched that lo-fi style of their first album, we can finally see what this young band of English punks are capable of on this, their sophomore album, Endless Now. Granted, at the time of their debut, the shit-shine was the new pro-tools, and lo-fi [...]
10.Aug.2011 The Rockometer: Skying by The Horrors
The Horrors Skying XL/Beggars US Although Skying is technically the third album by The Horrors, it feels more like the follow up to a debut. For the band that is The Horrors today, while the same in name and same in membership, is so far removed from the 2007 buzz band who burst onto the [...]
27.Jun.2011 “Dry Ice” by Pure X
A lot of modern bands are good at mimicking blasted out guitar tones of the Reid Brothers and just as many excel at following the interstellar sounds of Spacemen3 and Spiritualized. Few, however, show themselves capable of adding any new ideas to that base, UK shoegaze sound. The Austin trio, Pure X, are an exception. [...]
08.Dec.2010 Top Jam: “Rubber” by Yuck
“Rubber,” the latest single by the trans-continental indie rock band, Yuck, is an album closer in the tradition of American underground stalwarts, Yo La Tengo. The tempo is carefully measured and its arrangement is both patient and simple. There’s a clean guitar melody, but it lurks behind an omnipresent field of static. The vocals meanwhile, [...]
17.Nov.2010 The Rockometer: Sports by Weekend
Weekend Sports Slumberland As we continue to see more and more modern acts who use touchstone, UK Shoegaze bands like My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Swervedriver, or The Jesus and Mary Chain readily as identifiable influences, it becomes important to ask the question: What separates one group of young feedback addicts from the other? It’s gotta [...]
26.Oct.2010 Top Jam: “Coma Summer” by Weekend
I Rock Cleveland Tips for Aspiring Musicians #48: You never get a second chance to make a first impression and your band name is your first impression. Name your band something totally stupid like Ducktails, Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr, Xena Versus She-Ra, Goonies Never Say Die, Golden Girls, Knight Rider, or Thundercats Say Ho and [...]
05.Aug.2010 The Rockometer: Twin Hand Movement by Lower Dens
Lower Dens Twin Hand Movement Gnomonsong Once a card carrying member of the freak-folk movement, Jana Hunter has found both a new group in Baltimore’s Lower Dens and a comfortable new sound on her band’s debut album, Twin Hand Movement. And while that new sound, the mid-point between shoegazer rock and dream pop, may not [...]
