Working the revivalist angle can be a dicey proposition at best. It’s easy to fall into the realm of being a mere copycat with nothing new or interesting to add to the pre-existing template, and many artists do exactly that, with results that pale in comparison to the originals. Some try to update or modernize… Continue reading Pinkshinyultrablast at All Music
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Black Watch at All Music
Named after an obscure John Lennon quip on an outtake of A Day in the Life, Sugarplum Fairy, Sugarplum Fairy is the 18th record by prolific L.A. indie stalwarts the Black Watch. At this point in their 26-year career, the band is (and generally has been) essentially singer/songwriter John Andrew Fredrick, who plays every instrument… Continue reading Black Watch at All Music
The Primitives at AllMusic
A good general rule for a band attempting to make an album after re-forming would be to do no harm. Don’t sully the past by making an uninspired update of your classic sound, don’t try to be modern and come off sounding desperate…don’t suck, basically. The Primitives already passed this test with flying colors thanks to their… Continue reading The Primitives at AllMusic
Fishboy at Allmusic
Fishboy‘s leader Eric Michener has a thing for concept albums. After one (Albatross: How We Failed to Save the Lone Star State with the Power of Rock and Roll) about trying to save Texas with the help of Buddy Holly‘s ghost and one (Classic Creeps) about a group of interconnected fake people, the band delves into the story… Continue reading Fishboy at Allmusic
Luxembourg Signal at AllMusic
Following in the footsteps of Aberdeen, the band most of their members used to be in during the late ’90s and early 2000s, the Luxembourg Signal‘s debut album is solid indie pop built around strong melodies and lots of guitars. Unlike Aberdeen, there is a heavy dream pop-bordering-on-shoegaze influence and a much fuller, much more realized sound this… Continue reading Luxembourg Signal at AllMusic
Hobbes Fanclub at AllMusic
With the dramatic way that the shoegaze movement crashed and burned in the early ’90s, with the main players doing weird things like going country (Moose), turning into a terrible rawk band (Chapterhouse), or basically vanishing (My Bloody Valentine), one would have been hard-pressed to believe that 25 years later bands would still be gazing… Continue reading Hobbes Fanclub at AllMusic
Eureka California at Allmusic
With their sophomore album Crunch, Athens, Georgia-based fuzz pop duo Eureka California whip through 11 blasts of punk-spirited and pop-minded minimal rock, delivered with equal parts deeply considered construction and tossed-off nonchalance. The band, made up of shouty singer/guitarist Jake Ward and metronomic yet spare drummer Marie A. Uhler, plays its songs with the same careless smirking approach… Continue reading Eureka California at Allmusic
Muuy Biien at Allmusic
On some levels, Atlanta-based group Muuy Biien could be construed as by-the-numbers punk rock. Short tunes made up of snotty shouts, bumbling basslines, and grating guitar lines made up the majority of their 2012 debut LP, This Is What Your Mind Imagines. However, breaking up these blasts of fury every so often were longer passages of subdued textural… Continue reading Muuy Biien at Allmusic