SEA WOLF-Leaves in the River

Is it twee? With a name like “Sea Wolf,” the band has got to either be that or heavy metal, right? And with an album title like, “Leaves In The River,” you’d be right to guess against metal. But we’ll get to the answer to our question later. For now, answer this one: Do you [...]

HEALTH-“Health”

Health’s new album starts of slow. 30 seconds of near silence slowly builds into tribal drum and solemn organ. Eventually, the guitars start to hit and the cymbals crash and the entire first song, “Heaven,” crescendos into silence, followed, after a few beats, by a loan chime of the organ. So, is this a gentle [...]

REFLECTIONS: DOGS WITHOUT FEAR OF DYING

“What the hell is that weird crap on the stereo?” You’re likely to get that if you crank “Reflections: Dogs Without Fear of Dying” in a crowded room. But you’ll also probably get a couple T-Rex or Gary Glitter fans who say, “Wow! What the hell is that weird crap you have on?” The new [...]

10 REASONS I LEARNED TO LOVE OF MONTREAL

I like my tunes to be free of pretension, so when I heard of an album called, Hissing Fauna, Are you the Destroyer?” I said thanks but no thanks. When I was forwarded the first single, “Heimdal’s Gate Like a Promothean Curse,” I said thanks but no thanks. I even listened to it and found [...]

10 REASONS MY BLOG WILL LEND YOU SOME SUGAR

As promised . . . 1. Hey Ya-Low 2. Hey Ya-Fuzz 3. Hey Ya-Ryan Miller. An awesome acoustic alt-country version. 4. Hey Ya-Supersuckers. 5. Hey Ya-Starbuck of Ekoostik Hookah 6. Hey Ya-Drive By Truckers 7. Hey Ya-Razorlight 8. Hey Ya-Weeping Tile 9. Hey Ya-The New Amsterdams 10. If you can figure out why I selected [...]

LAUGHING OUTLAW RECORDS

Is that Americana? Nope. Alt Country? Kinda, but not really. It’s Aus Country! I just got a huge package from Laughing Outlaw, an Australian indie label with a tremendous catalog of, as you might guess from the label’s name, good old fashioned shitkicker tune. I haven’t listened to every album all the way through yet, [...]