Tinkering Pays Off in Wild Pink’s ‘A Billion Little Lights’
With A Billion Little Lights, Wild Pink (John Ross) takes his inclusive approach to another level. He’s allowed himself a lot more time to tinker with the songs at home, and it shows.
Christopher Laird
Christopher Laird is a teacher and a writer from Alton, Illinois. His hobbies include writing and teaching and playing floor hockey. Find him on Twitter: @SeaLairdPop
Teenage Wrist Morph Into a Modern Alternative Rock Band on ‘Earth Is a Black Hole’
With their lead singer leaving, most three-piece groups would call it then and there. Teenage Wrist did not. It might be quite a different band, but they’re not less successful in what they are doing.
Maxwell Stern Gives Us a Warm Car in Frigid Winter with ‘Impossible Sum’
Maxwell Stern's debut record, The Impossible Sum, is a relaxed, honest, deeply felt exploration of what it means to be a feeling, caring human in our time of incessant gaslighting and doom scrolling.
Jack Name’s ‘Magic Touch’ Evokes Sober Moments of Memoirs
Jack Name likes to make little worlds with his albums, and Magic Touch is no exception. I found myself thinking of it as a prose work.
Better Person Moves Away From Darkwave to the Light on ‘Something to Lose’
Better Person's Something to Lose is mainly FM electropop through its straightforward presentation of mostly unadorned synths and pre-programmed tones.
Tobin Sprout Goes Americana on ‘Empty Horses’
During the heyday of Guided By Voices, Tobin Sprout wasn't afraid to be absurd amongst all that fuzz. Sprout's new album, Empty Horses, is not the Tobin Sprout we know.
Lomelda’s ‘Hannah’ Is an Internal Dialogue Leaking Out
Small town Texas indie-folk group Lomelda took over a year and three tries to record Hannah. They needed to get it right. They did.
Old 97’s’ ‘Twelfth’ Is Masterful
The years have fallen quite well upon Old 97's as Twelfth stands out as masterful even among their stacked discography.
Electronic Music’s Photay Discusses His Warm, Humanistic Sound and Making a Difference
As an artist who loves surprises, Photay ensures no two tracks sound the same. Pick a random track from his discography, press play, and let the love of it all sweep through you.
The Naked and Famous Go All-Out Pop on ‘Recover’
The Naked and Famous' first album since 2016, Recover, eschews the idea of a rock band. They have gone and hard-boiled their sound into something resembling modern day pop forms.
Nana Grizol Reckon with US’ Racist Past and Present on ‘South Somewhere Else’
The Elephant 6-related, new Nana Grizol album, South Somewhere Else, finds the band attempting to reckon with the racist past and present of the US South.
Photay’s New Electronic LP ‘Waking Hours’ Is About Taking Time Out
Electronic music of the sort that Photay creates doesn't typically have much to say lyrically, but on Waking Hours, Photay has a message, and he gives the human voice much more space than ever before.