I Opened Up My Eyes…
It only makes sense that a band called Pure X would produce dreamy rock-noise-pop music. After a hellish year of physical injuries, long breakups and long-distance communication amongst band members, the three-piece from Austin display a smarter, crisper sound in their full-length sophomore album, Crawling Up The Stairs. They’ve dropped most (but not all) of the fuzz and reverb from their lo-fi debut album, and added more keys, synth, and overall diversity of sound to the second.
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By Nicole Goddeyne Posted in Reviews Pure X
I Wanna Get So High With You
The Mohawk Lodge is a band formed by accident. In the early 2000s, when Canadian frontman Ryder Havdale recorded a bunch of songs with his other bands that weren’t fitting well on their albums, he took the out-of-place songs and created a whole new band that would cater to them, The Mohawk Lodge. Since then the band, which includes Havdale and about a dozen rotating members, has released four albums, the most recent being Damaged Goods. And if that wasn’t enough, Havdale also took it upon himself to found the band’s record label, White Whale Records.
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By Nicole Goddeyne Posted in Reviews Ryder Havdale, The Mohawk Lodge
The Dark M83
At one point, there was another half to the French electronic band M83. Anthony Gonzales had help from Nicolas Fromageau, but shortly after co-founding the band together, Fromageau parted ways with Gonzales and later moved onto his new project, Team Ghost. And while Team Ghost has released four EPs and a compilation album, Rituals is its first true full-length album.
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By Nicole Goddeyne Posted in Reviews France, Rituals, Team Ghost
Nostalgic Charm
Growing up around the DIY Los Angeles punk scene inevitably creates fascinating memories—enough to create an entire persona and way of life. Sisters Jessica and Jennifer Clavin grew up in the San Fernando Valley, taking two- or three-hour bus rides into Hollywood to catch shows. Eventually, after being surrounded by so much inspiration and so many people, and with a lot of time on their hands to teach themselves how to play instruments, the two found themselves first in Mika Miko, a local low-fi punk favorite, and now as their own duo Bleached. And their first full-length album, Ride Your Heart, certainly serves as a reflection of the fast-paced, fun-yet-heartbreaking lives they’ve grown to know.
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By Nicole Goddeyne Posted in Reviews Bleached, Los Angeles, ride your heart
The Music Is You
There forever will be a place for the late Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr., more commonly known as John Denver, in American culture and in the world’s musical canon. Even the Muppets loved John Denver. And finally, fifteen years after Denver’s untimely death, a slew of musicians have come together to compile The Music Is You: A Tribute to John Denver, released on ATO Records.
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By Nicole Goddeyne Posted in Reviews Jay Mascis, Jim James, John Denver, My Morning Jacket, Sharon Van Etten, Train
Live In A Daydream
Hailing from what Forbes has ranked as America’s “Best Hipster Neighborhood,” the Silverlake, Los Angeles natives Hot As Sun have released their debut full-length album Night Time Sound Desire on Last Gang Records (Crystal Castles, Metric, Death From Above 1979) after bandmates Deborah Stoll and Jamie Jackson—a journalist and a composer, respectively—discovered their mutual love of weird sounds.
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By Nicole Goddeyne Posted in Reviews Hot As Sun
We Just Need To Survive
Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro have been at it for awhile, for almost two decades now, yet their sound still attracts fans who are younger than the amount of years the band has been around. Their sixth studio album, Opposites, couldn’t be contained on just one disc, so they’ve released a two-disc, 22-track set that has become their first album to top the UK Albums Charts.
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By Nicole Goddeyne Posted in Reviews Biffy Clyro
You’ll Never Die, You’ll Never Die, You’ll Never Die
You might not know it from listening to his albums, but 23-year-old Trevor Powers, more commonly known by his stage name Youth Lagoon, uses writing music to sort out his thoughts. His sophomore dream-pop album Wondrous Bughouse (released on Fat Possum Records) is, in Powers’ words, about “becoming more fascinated with the human psyche and where the spiritual meets the physical world.”
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By Nicole Goddeyne Posted in Reviews Trevor Powers, youth lagoon
Synthesizing Nostalgia
Swedish indie rockers Shout Out Louds took their time with creating their fourth album, spending a year and a half recording in Stockholm, writing and working on parts individually first, and then coming together as a five-piece to create Optica. It’s probably the reason the album’s songs are expansive, surprising and well thought-out, yet not too dense or sporadic.
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By Nicole Goddeyne Posted in Reviews Shout Out Louds
Unicorns and Rainbows and Happiness
If you have any friends looking for a completely non-confrontational and sub-par indie band to play their next rooftop party in Santa Monica, you’d be okay to suggest the band The Little Ones. Based in Los Angeles and having just released their sophomore full-length The Dawn Sang Along, these guys fit the bill pretty well with their easy-listening pop-with-a-hint-of-indie tunes.
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By Nicole Goddeyne Posted in Reviews The Little Ones
