Rating: 4.5 / 5 Reviewer: Greg Hutton Cloud Nothing’s second full-length effort, Attack On Memory, is impressive both in its affectation and its bite, improving on 2011′s self-titled debut across the board. Memory is the portrait of a band evolving and prospering in an age that is less than amenable to second albums
Posted in Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Rating: 3 / 5 Reviewer: Michelle Kennedy When you listen to La Grande, Laura Gibson’s third full length album, there is little surprise. Even if you haven’t heard of her, you will know two things upon first listen: a) she is from Portland and b) La Grande has come out on Barsuk Records
Posted in Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Rating: 3.5 / 5 Reviewer: Nathan Atnikov Hospitality’s debut album is a collection of unsettlingly confident pop gems that squeak and squeal with cuteness. But cuteness, if you ask a band like She & Him for example, can only get you so far.
Posted in Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Andrew Mitchell Poignant, hook driven, psychedelic rock tunes have defined a Dr. Dog album over the past decade. While 2008’s Fate felt heavily steeped in late 60’s retro rock nostalgia, 2010’s slickly produced Shame, Shame marked somewhat of a turning point.
Posted in Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Rating: 3.5 / 5 Reviewer: Kevin Hartford Old Ideas is aptly named. It has all the elements you’d expect from a Leonard Cohen record: lyrics about sex and mortality and religion, cooing female backup vocalists, sparse, piano-heavy instrumentation, and Cohen’s trademark chainsmoker grumble speak-singing from beginning to end.
Posted in Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Cam Hoff As the frontman of The Hold Steady, Craig Finn is the cilantro of the indie music scene – people seem to either love his brand of talky/shouty vocals or just don’t care for it at all.
Posted in Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Rating: 3.5 / 5 Reviewer: Nathan Atnikov Rock and roll is often the domain of the young, and when the old try to inhabit it, they can come off looking desperate or, worse yet, clueless. Then there are some older bands who come along and show the kids how its done. Imperial Teen is one [...]
Posted in Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Nathan Atnikov Johanna and Klara Soderberg are First Aid Kit, a prodigious sister duo being hailed as the next great addition to the retro Americana movement currently housed by the likes of Fleet Foxes and others.
Posted in Folk + Roots, Music Reviews, Rock + Pop
