Jess Pillmore
Reveal
Lujo Records

Sometimes all you can muster is a bleak and melancholy outlook on life. Sometimes you try to push it away and be in touch with your inner mirth, but other times you decide to just let it fester and let the wistful and ill-tempered emotions make themselves feel at home for awhile. When you have a gloom that you just can’t shake and you need some company, indulge yourself in Jess Pillmore’s Reveal. Continue Reading »

The Cops
Get Good or Stay Bad
Mt. Fuji Records

The Cops’ debut full length, Get Good or Stay Bad, is a good time rock and roll album that is firmly planted in the classic punk sound that was made familiar by bands like The Clash and the Buzzcocks. Their press sheet suggests further comparison to British post-punk group Gang of Four, which is vaguely recognizable, but the Seattle four piece’s sharp guitars and sing-along choruses have more in common with the first two aforementioned acts. A few listens to stand out tracks like Don’t Take It Personal Dave, Controller, and Invisible City and it’s very understandable why the band has received quite a positive buzz in the past year. Continue Reading »

Clogs
Lantern
Brassland Records 

It is rare to encounter a musical ensemble that simply cannot be labeled with a genre. Clogs are four musicians from Australia and the United States who come together with their multi-instrumental abilities to combine guitar, banjo, percussion, viola, violin, piano, melodica, and bassoon into a sound uniquely their own. They recently released their fourth album, which combines touches of folk and classical music with the compositional styling of rock and jazz. Each track on the album is an instrumental piece composed in a peaceful and meandering style that, like their genre, cannot be pinpointed or labeled. Continue Reading »

According to Damien Jurado’s introduction, Looking for Trouble is a demo of a new song and it’s name very well may change by the time his new albums land in stores. That’s right- albums.  Secretly Canadian Records reports that Jurado has recently wrapped up recording for two sister albums set to be released a couple of weeks apart, most likely in fall ’06 and early ’07.  If Looking for Trouble is any sign of what to expect than sign me up as excited.

 MP3:  Damien Jurado – Looking for Trouble

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A good friend of mine nabbed some cool footage of Ben Barnett of Kind of Like Spitting performing an improptu accoustic set after their show at the Hard to Find in Goleta, CA last night.  The video quality and lighting aren’t the best but you can still get a general idea of the magic that is Ben Barnett playing his acoustic guitar in a run down basement room. 

The video above is of A Song for Annie’s Harmonica; you can check two other videos for the Phil Ochs cover That’s What I Want to Hear and March 25, 1998 by clicking here.

Suffering & The Hideous Thieves
Ashamed
Lujo Records

Upon first hearing this record I thought perhaps I was hearing a resurgence of grunge rock blended harshly with a more modern indie-rock format of song arrangement. Well, looking back a week or so into the past I realize that I was pretty wrong. The only way this band could be connected to the early 90′s form of rock is through the vocalist, and they are indeed a vocally driven band. If you haven’t enough of the Eddie Vedder/Chris Cornell sounding vocals, you might like this. Except on Ashamed we have slightly more poetic lyrics applied to a dissonant and dirty voice which seem to follow some sort of theme which attaches itself to the music. That is when I realized how much of an idiot I was. I recognized these vocals! This is Jeff Suffering from Ninety Pound Wuss. So this is certainly not grunge rock, this might just be how the face of punk is evolving. The singer’s vocals do have hope in them when talking about people changing and growing, which is something I was able to connect to. When coupled with the overlapping string arrangements, the vocals seem truly complete. I wouldn’t be able to bare most aspects of this bands music if it wasn’t for the unique insertion of unique instruments and sounds. One song is completely made up of a duet between a violin and an accordion. It makes for an interesting and pleasant transition. Continue Reading »

Saves the Day
Sound the Alarm
Vagrant Records

Three years removed from their last album, Saves the Day waste no time in getting their point across on their latest, Sound the Alarm. The record’s first track, Head for the Hills, is a scorching re-introduction to the band and a proud proclamation that ‘We’re back and we’re angry.’ With all that has happened recently it’s understandable why songwriter Chris Conley and band would be. After the disappointing reception to their major label debut, In Reverie, the band went through a hellacious period that saw the band literally fall from atop its perch and lose its up-and-coming status. Eventually Saves the Day were released from their major label contract and cast back into the wild, sparking internal conflict that led to the dismissal of long time bassist Eben D’Amico. Without label and bassist, the band was then met with the scary expectations of disgruntled fans who were split in two camps: those expecting a return to their sophomore album Through Being Cool and those wanting a continuation of Stay What You Are. The album that Conley and crew would eventually go on to record, however, would be neither. Continue Reading »

The Black Sheep Boy is back.  Will Sheff, frontman for folk rockers Okkervil River, has reportedly signed a deal with Virgin Records to re-release his 2004 album Black Sheep Boy over seas.  The record, which will be made available April 28th throughout all the UK and Europe, will be packaged as a double disc along with the band’s Black Sheep Boy Appendix EP.  To support the re-release Sheff and Okkervil River will be embarking on a month long European tour starting on April 29th.  Check the Jagjaguwar tour page for all the dates.

Black Sheep Boy was originally released in April 2005 and quickly became a hit with critics, receiving many end of the year honors including  the 22nd spot on Amazon.com’s Top 50 Albums of 2005 list.  A couple of months later in November the band released Black Sheep Boy Appendix, a 7 song companion EP.  In the event that you missed them the first time around, here is a pair of songs and a music video from both records.

 MP3:  Black (from Black Sheep Boy)
 MP3:  No Key, No Plan (from Black Sheep Boy Appendix)

 Music Video: For Real (from Black Sheep Boy)

Baby Teeth
For the Heathers
Lujo Records

When you’re in the mood for some electro/power pop-rock in the vein of Queen-meets-Scissor Sisters-meets Rocky, Baby Teeth is your band. Each song on their new EP is upbeat, catchy, and skillfully crafted down to the last flourish of backing vocals and melodic modulation; another one of this band’s many strengths is that each member is not only a talented musician, but a crafty songwriter. Continue Reading »

Ladyhawk awakens in a trash-filled, “morning after” apartment in East Vancouver, British Columbia. Duffy Driediger (vocals, guitar), Darcy Hancock (lead guitar, vocals), Sean Hawryluk (bass, vocals) and Ryan Peters (drums, vocals) arise, pick up their instruments and head out into the heathen city, singing songs about life and love. They are rockers and dreamers — still trapped in their apple country teenage minds, looking for girls and kicks, and mining their teenage quarries from the inside-out. Growing up together as the best of friends, Ladyhawk have stories that radiate with the presence of all four members. Their self-titled debut on Jagjaguwar is a stomping and sweaty ride through the Vancouver streets that they all know well, as viewed from the seats of a bruised and doorless Astro Van. In this ride, you can’t help but feel that you will fall out and you will fall down, and your joints will all be sore at the end of the trip. (Bio courtesy of Jagjaguwar.com)

 MP3: Ladyhawk – The Dugout