noise pop

Loud Quiet Loud: The Top 15 Pixies Songs

Loud Quiet Loud: The Top 15 Pixies Songs

These are the best songs from Pixies’ original lineup. There are sounds here you didn’t think a guitar could make, and screaming that sounds close to inhuman.

Pixies’ New LP Is a Fine Addition to Their Second Act

Pixies’ New LP Is a Fine Addition to Their Second Act

Pixies’ latest LP, featuring new bass player Emma Richardson, is another solid but not earth-shattering effort. It’s clever, if not cute, with a charming theme.

Mr. Bungle’s ‘California’ Still Feels Fresh 25 Years Later

Mr. Bungle’s ‘California’ Still Feels Fresh 25 Years Later

Despite not being strictly metal, Mr. Bungle’s unhinged musical adventurousness showed heavy metal could get weird and silly without losing the heaviness.

Shamir’s ‘Homo Anxietatem’ Is a Candid Work of Confessional Pop

Shamir’s ‘Homo Anxietatem’ Is a Candid Work of Confessional Pop

Shamir’s gorgeous voice is a genderless, androgynous instrument, soulful, tight, airy, and jazzy, capable of lilting beautifully over shiny pop beats.

Deerhoof Reach a New Miracle-Level By Daring Themselves

Deerhoof Reach a New Miracle-Level By Daring Themselves

The always-brazen Deerhoof challenged their process for their new album, giving themselves tight deadlines, tough decisions, and singing it all in Japanese.

Deerhoof Endorse Collective Dreaming on ‘Miracle-Level’

Deerhoof Endorse Collective Dreaming on ‘Miracle-Level’

Deerhoof’s Miracle-Level explores music’s humanitarian capabilities, expressing a longing for the miraculous and a rejection of the mundane.

The Beating Heart of Yo La Tengo’s Discography Turns 25

The Beating Heart of Yo La Tengo’s Discography Turns 25

A quarter of a decade later, Yo La Tengo’s game-changing genre-bender continues to invite listeners into its cozy little corner of the world.

Horsegirl’s First Love Song Is a Claustral Noise-Pop Cuddle

Horsegirl’s First Love Song Is a Claustral Noise-Pop Cuddle

Chicago teens Horsegirl repackage lovesickness into cozy noise-pop on their new single “World of Pots and Pans” with their debut LP due out in June via Matador.

Amusement Parks on Fire Return in Thrilling Fashion on ‘An Archaea’

Amusement Parks on Fire Return in Thrilling Fashion on ‘An Archaea’

On the first new Amusement Parks on Fire record in over a decade, Michael Feerick continues to push the boundaries of what a rock album can be.

Yo La Tengo Leaf Through Their Back Pages on ‘Sleepless Night’

Yo La Tengo Leaf Through Their Back Pages on ‘Sleepless Night’

Do six disparate pieces, culled from the dusty corners of Yo La Tengo's career make a satisfying whole?

My Bloody Valentine’s ‘Loveless’ and the Un-Invention of Cock Rock

My Bloody Valentine’s ‘Loveless’ and the Un-Invention of Cock Rock

My Bloody Valentine’s ‘Loveless’ offers a gender-bending sonic style that severs the entrenched connections between the electric guitar and masculine phallic power.

Los Campesinos! ‘Romance Is Boring’ Holds Up a Decade Later

Los Campesinos! ‘Romance Is Boring’ Holds Up a Decade Later

The three albums Los Campesinos! released after their debut showed who the band really were: angrier, artier, and more thoughtful than we initially thought. Romance Is Boring holds up in its notable decade-on reissue release.