It’s been more than 30 years since Los Lobos formed in East Los Angeles, and on its 13th full-length release, The Town and The City, the highly respected band shows no signs of resting on its well-earned laurels. Read more…
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Chicago-based Kill Hannah’s sophomore effort, Until There’s Nothing Left of Us, the follow-up to the band’s 2003 Atlantic debut, For Never & Ever, is actually the band’s fourth full-length release since it formed in 1995, and it shows. The music is well-played and well-polished, the lyrics carefully crafted to elicit the deeper emotions of the band’s target audience (presumably angst-ridden youth). The band’s American take on British modern rock has reportedly been hailed by no less a Chicago personage than Billy Corgan as “the future of Chicago rock.” So what’s the problem? Read more…
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The Dagons have been complimentarily dubbed “the Bizarro White Stripes” by one critic because the singer-guitarist is female and the drummer is male. The moniker is more than apt on the duo’s album, Reverse, because only in Superman’s Bizarro World would The Dagons be considered remotely as good as The White Stripes—or good, period. Read more…
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Highway Companion, Tom Petty’s third solo album, is such a majestic, relevant work that it’s hard to believe he’s been in the game 30 years. Working with just fellow Traveling Wilbury Jeff Lynne and Heartbreaker Mike Campbell, Petty turns in some of the best work of his career, not to mention one of the best albums of 2006. Read more…
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La Rocca took its name from a bar in Bristol, England, but its music is not a booze-soaked affair like The Pogues, having more in common with fellow Dubliners U2. Originally from Ireland and England (singer-guitarist Bjorn Baillie, his brother bassist-singer Simon Baillie, keyboardist-guitarist-singer Nick Haworth and drummer Alan Redmond), the band transplanted to Los Angeles to record its debut album, The Truth, one of the best pop-rock albums of 2006. Read more…
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Mexican alternative band Kinky continues its dance-party progression on its infectious third album, Reina, which is also heavier on English lyrics than its past two efforts, Kinky and Atlas. Luckily, the band’s bilingualism doesn’t mean sacrificing any of its music’s trademark DJ humor, sweetness, and sweat-inducing intensity. Read more…
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Puerto Rican hip-hop star Bimbo’s major foray into the realm of reggaeton, Bimbo Presenta: Reggaeton 100 x 300, is great to dance to, but the cumulative effect of the pounding “Dem Bow” drum-machine track underlying every song is akin to being bludgeoned over the head repeatedly. Individually, the songs on the album can be fun, but as a whole, it’s headache-inducing. Read more…
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Eagles of Death Metal (EofDM) may have started as a joke between pals Jesse “The Devil” Hughes and Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, but its music has evolved from the kooky splendor of its 2004 debut, Peace Love Death Metal, into the serious delight of its new album, Death By Sexy. The album’s predominantly harder rock is also more polished—no minor feat given that it was recorded in eight days. Read more…
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MOTH continues to mine the ‘70s and ‘80s on its fifth full-length release, Immune To Gravity, which would be fine if MOTH imprinted its mark on that sound, as Wolfmother and The Killers have done. Unfortunately, the band’s own personality is scarcely evident. Read more…
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Madrepore, having changed its line-up and producer, flaps around on its second full-length album, Overblown, searching for a style on which it can soar. The band goes from indie rock to pop, Latin rhythms to punk, occasionally gaining enough lift to glide, then crashing back to earth under the weight of its own inexperience. Read more…
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