Tegan and Sara – Sainthood
First, to clarify, my daughter’s name is spelled differently. T-E-A-G-A-N. That fact alone made this post difficult to write. Okay? So with Sainthood the Quin sisters have followed up their wildly (and for me oddly) enjoyable 2007 album The Con (which followed the enjoyable 2004 album So Jealous) with something altogether much darker and heavier, (Read more…)
Venna – Even A Little EP
It must have been at least a couple months ago that I got an envelope in the mail that contained the three song Even A Little EP from Venna. The CD came in an envelope that was sealed with hand-stamped wax and a personal letter that was typed with (gasp!) a typewriter. It was almost (Read more…)
Modern Skirts – All Of Us In Our Night
Modern Skirts arrived on my radar with their second full-length All Of Us In Our Night as Mike Mills’ (from R.E.M.) favorite band from Athens, Georgia, so that’s kinda what I expected and that’s kinda what I got. I’m not normally a huge fan of this sort of indie pop and this album isn’t about (Read more…)
Matt & Kim – Grand
One of the funnest (is funnest even a legit word?) albums I’ve heard all year is Grand from the New York keys-n-drum duo Matt & Kim. It’s darn near perfect Summertime music if you ask me. The songs on Grand feature dancy urban indie-pop beats that aren’t techno and aren’t electronic but damn do the (Read more…)
Bombadil – Tarpits And Canyonlands
The new Bombadil album, Tarpits And Canyonlands is a brilliant follow up to A Buzz, A Buzz (which is also very good). Really, the music speaks for itself here, so I’ll be brief. You should read Tart’s excellent review of it at Love Shack, Baby or just take my word that it is great. If (Read more…)
Good Old War – Only Way To Be Alone
I saw Good Old War back in April when they opened for The Gaslight Anthem at the Bottom Lounge and I’ve been totally digging their album Only Way To Be Alone since then. It ain’t complicated, but their brand of upbeat folk pop just puts a smile on my face every time I hear it. (Read more…)
Review: The Red Romance – The Red Romance EP
Taking cues from the likes of The Strokes, The Cure, Tears For Fears, Simple Minds, and more, New York City’s The Red Romance dishes out synth-heavy indie guitar-pop that often sounds more like The Killers than The Killers do (but with less pretense). The band contains former members of Ambulance LTD but it isn’t that (Read more…)
Review: Sia – Some People Have Real Problems
Sia is an Australian singer-songwriter who is probably best known for her song “Breathe Me,” (from HBO’s Six Feet Under). Whether you’re familiar with Sia or not, her new album Some People Have Real Problems is filled with sultry (but playful) female vocals and soaring arrangements that almost perfectly fill the space between Nelly Furtado (Read more…)
Review: Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
Yeah, I’m (again) the last person in the world to jump on the Vampire Weekend bandwagon, but their self-titled debut album is just so damn infectious that it simply can’t be ignored. I ignored all the initial hype, I missed them on SNL, and I was basically an idiot for ignoring them as long as (Read more…)
