Trevor Powers found a voice for his chronic anxiety and the indescribable feelings swirling around inside of him in Youth Lagoon and the aptly titled debut album, A Year of Hibernation. When “Montana” first came my way I was instantly drawn to the dreamy melancholy floating out of the speakers. “July” has that same feeling; [...]
My current celebrity lady crush, Annie Clark, is back with a new St. Vincent album titled Strange Mercy. I always understood St. Vincent to be a pixie-ish waif with a great voice and tender, graceful pop songs. That is until I saw her on Austin City Limits with her full band just tear the ass [...]
There has been sort of an “Incense and Peppermints” roots revival of 60’s psychedelic guitar rock. Bands like The Brian Jonestown Massacre have been doing it all along but more recently, outfits like Tame Impala, The Love Dimension, and even Smashing Pumpkins are busting out albums characterized by pop melodies drenched in guitar effects and [...]
The Smashing Pumpkins have never been the best visual artists. None of their videos are particularly cool. “Rocket” is one of my favorites because it is whimsical and kind of strange. “Tonight Tonight” gained all the acclaim and it does look pretty good, but its not my favorite song. “Stand Inside Your Love” is most [...]
At first listen, this sounds like a Zeppelin / Sabbath inspired southern rock band: power riffs, whiskey-soaked and blues-y vocals, and a bare bones, retro presentation. On further inspection these dudes are Swedish, which explains the glib band name. The fact that they’re Norwegian (actually most of the defunct stoner metal band, Norrksen) and totally [...]
Room 205 is a sort of an artistic co-op. A revolving cast of musicians work with any number of filmmakers, artists, set designers, and the like to create avant-garde music videos at the confluence of visual and sonic art. Director Otto Arsenault (the naked video with Matt & Kim) works with The Soft Moon and [...]
I usually tell non-English rock music to fuck off unless, of course, it is Norwegian Black Metal, but Davila 666 has got a pretty cool tune here. It’s got a retro garage twist that makes it suitable for the climax of a Robert Rodriguez film. I like the singer too. He looks crazy. The [...]
I’m not all that familiar with L.A-based Lord Huron. I like this song’s Fleet Fox-ish sound with its dark, rustic feel. Maybe it’s because I just watched Jeremiah Johnson on AMC, but I connected with the naturalist tone of a lone mountain man losing his marbles amidst the dreary, yet beautiful backdrop of frontier [...]
The swagger, misogyny, antics, tight Lip Service pants, and even the hairless, chubby/skinny Vince Neil-ishness of Steel Panther’s lead singer completely capture the pomp of 80’s hair metal. This satirical comedy act comes so close musically to a Sunset Strip metal band that they could pass for one of them at quick glance. Songs like [...]
Ok, Ok so I’m loving Warpaint. Although their name may be better suited for a hardcore metal act, they are an all-girl alternative rock band from L.A. Comprised of actresses, musicians in other L.A groups, and a former Chili Pepper for a brief time they flew quietly under my rock radar until this song, “Undertow” [...]
