Pat Thomas Is a Skeptic with a Light Heart on ‘I Ain’t Buyin’ It’ (album premiere)
Cool Ghouls singer/songwriter/bassist Pat Thomas gently brings his hometown of San Francisco to task on his new solo album, I Ain't Buyin' It.
Ian King
Author of Appetite for Definition: An A-Z Guide to Rock Genres (Harper Perennial, 2018). www.ianfking.com
Jay Bolotin Reflects on How “No One Seems to Notice That It’s Raining” (premiere)
Singer-songwriter Jay Bolotin gets an overdue release of his recordings from the first half of the 1970s.
79.5 Sing of Strength and Vulnerability with “Sisters Unarmed” (premiere)
New York City's 79.5 harmonize and synthesize throughout their soulful debut album, Predictions, and share the politically charged single "Sisters Unarmed".
A Hawk and a Hacksaw Summon a Vibrant Folk Spiral with “The Sky Is Blue, The Desert Is Yellow” (premiere)
The Old World-splicing folk duo, a Hawk and a Hacksaw, draw a humid, sandswept slice of music from their latest album, Forest Bathing.
Spiritualized’s ‘And Nothing Hurt’ Is a Remarkably Efficient Record
Jason Pierce’s latest And Nothing Hurt is a kind of condensed greatest hits of the greatest merits of Spiritualized.
NEEDS Invite and Incite You to “Rage Against the Miami Sound Machine” (video premiere)
Unruly post-hardcore band NEEDS from Vancouver, BC, hijack the hijackers in their new video for the Limitations track.
The Posies Redefined Themselves on ‘Frosting on the Beater’
On Frosting on the Beater, the Posies subsumed their early XTC-isms and other influences into a distinct mode and found their own sense of the timeless.
Gringo Star Feel the Summer Longing on “Easy” (premiere)
Atlanta's Gringo Star bring new elements to their effortless retro-pop zeal with their new album, Back to the City.
Jordan Reyes Walks a Haunting “Crooked Road” (premiere)
"The Crooked Road" is the reflective first track from Jordan Reyes' latest cassette of gothic folk, Afraid of Death.
Spesh Kick Off Their Own Summer of ’89 with “Teflon” (premiere)
Seattle's Spesh calls up the rowdy spirits of Madchester and Northern psychedelia on their forthcoming debut album, Famous World.
Chastity’s ‘Death Lust’ Is an Exorcism of Youth’s Most Dramatic Rehearsals
As Chastity, Ontario's Brandon Williams offers a bracing, brutal assessment of teenage life in his hometown on new album, Death Lust.
The Love-Birds Have Made a Worthy Addition to the Power Pop Panteon with ‘In the Lover’s Corner’
San Francisco quartet the Love-Birds's assured debut album has a scuffed sheen of power pop legacy.