Album Review The Handcuffs: Waiting for the Robot, (OOFL Records) due 9/6/11 “Testing, testing / May I have your attention / We are The Handcuffs / This is a test” Chloe Orwell sings through her bullhorn on “This Is A Test.” The good news is: they passed the […]
Album Review Hospital Ships: Lonely Twin (Graveface) May 22, 2011 Lawrence, Kansas-based Hospital Ships have set sail with a stellar new album. The band’s second release, Lonely Twin (Graveface), finds Jordan Geiger exploring places he may never have been (and never thought he’d go). With this meloncholy and […]
After fans waited 24 years – assuming that the Cars would never reform – it has happened. Today marks the release of the first Cars record, Move Like This, since 1987’s Door To Door. Sadly, singer and bassist Benjamin Orr passed away from cancer in 2000. The four […]
Album review: The Rainmakers: 25 On (Bat Records), released 3/14/11 Hailing from Kansas City, Missouri, The Rainmakers have always lived up to the “Show Me State” motto (in a define-rock-and-roll-for-me kinda way). Forming as Steve, Bob & Rich in Kansas City in 1983, Steve Phillips (guitar, vocals), Bob […]
New Release: Amanda Palmer Plays the Popular Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukulele Dresden Dolls leader and Evelyn Evelyn member Amanda Palmer is celebrating her liberation from Roadrunner Records with a special EP of Radiohead covers. She claims to be a big fan and is going about […]
The first track on the self-titled debut from Atlanta’s Oryx and Crake transports the listener to a melancholy place with its cello, guitar, and plaintive vocals of leader Ryan Peoples. Then the guitar gets fuzzy, harmonies are layered in, and the clouds part on the beautiful “Fun Funeral.” […]
In 2007, Crowded House fans got an unexpected reunion of their favorite band. After a 13-year hiatus which showed no signs of ending, mainly due to drummer Paul Hester’s suicide in 2005, the band regrouped with a new drummer, a new album, and a sold-out tour. Now CH […]
New York’s Setting Sun have brought us a beautiful sound that combines several genres. Chief architect of songs Gary Levitt merges indie rock, folk, and maybe a dash of chamber pop in his creations. At times, listeners may think they’re hearing Crosby, Stills, and Nash outtakes. Levitt’s layered […]
For their third release, Sparks, Britain’s Fiction Plane has woven a tighter and more accessible web of tunes. The first single, “Push Me Around” has more hooks than a fishing tournament. Singer/bassist Joe Sumner (son of Sting) sings “I used to think I was something / I used […]
NEW RELEASE: Solex Vs. Cristina Martinez + Jon Spencer Amsterdam Throwdown, King Street Showdown! (Bronze Rat Records) Listening to this first ever collaboration among these three, one can only think of that line from St. Elmo’s Fire: “A metaphysical precision collision.” The Dutch goddess of electronic, Elisabeth Esselink […]
