Robert Ham

She & Him Classics It’s really a wonder that She & Him didn’t record an album like this sooner. This is, after all, an outfit who have spent their existence fighting against the modern tide, with a transistor radio-ready pop and country throwback sound that should be familiar to anyone with a musty Burt Bacharach […]

CJ Ramone Last Chance To Dance Apparently, even if you’re not one of the original quartet that started the peerless punk band 40 years ago, if you’re a Ramone, you’re a Ramone for life. At least that’s what Chris Ward (aka CJ Ramone) would have us believe. Though he joined the group well after they […]

Antemasque Antemasque The continuation of the musical partnership between Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez should be a cause for celebration. These are, after all, the two men who helped move the post-hardcore needle forward as members of At The Drive-In and who revitalized the art of prog rock with the Mars Volta. Yet, this new […]

Seaway All In My Head EP Maturity can be a painful process for most any band, but especially so for outfits that truck in that lovingly juvenile genre known as pop-punk. Few come out looking or smelling terribly sweet as their creative puberty hits. Ontario-based quintet Seaway, though, have pushed right through the awkward, gangly […]

Jenny Lewis The Voyager Jenny Lewis’ latest solo venture is a difficult listen. Not the music on here, mind you. These 10 tracks are completely easy on the ears and the constitution, and have been scrubbed and moisturized to give it a soft, supple glow. The hard part is trying to shut off the part […]

Morrissey World Peace Is None Of Your Business What do you want to hear from Mr. Stephen Patrick Morrissey on his first solo effort in five years? An acidic “fuck you” to a newlywed? Maybe a bit of half-hearted Beat poetry that speaks of “babies full of rabies” and a “tyke full of grippe”? Or […]

Mastodon Once More ’Round The Sun For all the rave reviews that Mastodon’s 2011 album The Hunter snapped up, even their most ardent fans had to own up to the fact that there was something amiss with it. Maybe it was something to do with the Atlanta quartet aligning with Mike Elizondo, a producer better […]

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart Days Of Abandon The Pains of Being Pure At Heart frontman Kip Berman achieved as many of his life goals as possible right out of the gate: releasing music on one of his favorite labels, appearing on late-night TV, working with famed U.K. producer Flood (Depeche Mode, Nick […]

Young Magic Breathing Statues Although Breathing Statues is technically Young Magic’s second full-length, it could be viewed as their first. Album No. 1, Melt, was more of a compilation, cobbled together from a handful of singles. But while this follow-up was written and recorded while Melati Melay and Isaac Emmanuel were on tour, it was put […]