Various Artists - Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie: Reinterpreting Black Flag
Various Artists Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie: Reinterpreting Black Flag In 1984, punk fans could laugh off the ridiculous conceit of the Circle Jerks as a lounge band, stumbling clumsily through an acoustic rendition of "When The Shit Hits The Fan" for the Repo Man film and soundtrack. A quarter-century later, will they still be laughing when they hear...
Stephen Egerton - The Seven Degrees Of Stephen Egerton
Stephen Egerton The Seven Degrees Of Stephen Egerton The whole point, it seems, with Descendents/ALL was to make punk rock fun again after the ballyhooed LA revolution resulted in a trail of mascara compacts and a major decline in safety pin sales. Their songs were masterful homage to both the hardcore of their roots, the...
Punk Goes Classic Rock
Punk Goes Glassic Rock Think your parents' music is lame? Think again: Judging by Punk Goes Classic Rock, Journey, Queen and Tom Petty are the dominant influences on your favorite Warped Tour bands. The ninth installment of Fearless Records' Punk Goes… series is an impressive, fun homage to the dinosaurs coming to an outdoor amphitheater near you this...
Portugal. The Man - American Ghetto
American Ghetto Portugal. The Man have truly become prolific. The Portland, Oregon-by-way-of-Wasilla, Alaska, band have managed to release an album each year since their 2006 debut, Waiter: "You Vultures!"–not exactly an easy task since the group also tour relentlessly. Sure, you can toss new material out to the public any time you want (paging Ryan Adams)...
Kaki King - Junior
Junior Often the question isn't so much about talent as what to do with it. In Kaki King's case, she established herself as a gifted, expressive acoustic guitarist comparable to stylistic heavyweights like John Fahey, Leo Kottke and Preston Reed with her first two albums, 2003's Everybody Loves You and 2004's Legs To Make Us Longer. She could've...
Bridge And Tunnel - Indoor Voices
Indoor Voices New York's Bridge And Tunnel could only come from the basement. Their rough-hewn pop-minded punk oozes the sort of DIY aesthetic that proved the defining ethos for a wide swath of agitated guitar rock during the '90s. Like the finer groups of the steadfastly indie basement underground, Bridge And Tunnel have evolved from...
Band Of Horses - Infinite Arms
Infinite Arms Band of Horses' first two albums, 2006's Everything All The Time and 2007'sCease To Begin, were near-perfect distillations of roaring twang, indie folk and timeless jangle. Vocalist Ben Bridwell whispered and yelped lyrics that were alternately joyful and broken, his reverb-haunted voice comparable to My Morning Jacket's Jim James after huffing helium. On the strength...