Kristin

Try Me Bicycle's Voicings is a dreamy and delicate offering, even when it tends towards the brooding and melancholy. Such a balance is difficult to strike - in less capable hands, the elements can threaten to weigh themselves down - but the Phoenix-based quartet unquestionably achieves it. Andrew Naylor (vocals/guitar) Jay Novak (bass), Jacob Koller (piano) and Laraine Kaizer (violin) … Read more

Denver-based quartet Fiancé has put forth a pretty catchy follow-up to 2007's, The Girl From the Ivory Coast. With 2008's Please, Ambitious, Please, Patrick Maguire (vocals, piano), Michael James (guitar), Tyler Reschke (bass) and Chris Sturniolo (drums) have produced a compelling little offering. The instrumentation is beautiful and quirky, and ultimately provides a satisfying listen. At times the lyrics are … Read more

Sold; I'll take two, please. From start to finish, this five-track EP from California's The Dalloways is a gem. Dirty Money and Filthy Love, with its dry easy wit and lush pop sensibilities, is delightful in all the right ways. From the outset, it's instantly reminiscent of Belle and Sebastian, and vocalist/lyricist Gerhard Enns delivers breathy pop vocals that seem … Read more

I have this vaguely unpleasant sensation lately when listening to The Stand Ins that Okkervil River's Will Sheff (guitar and vocals) is peering in the windows at me. I'm probably not alone in this, though. Throughout The Stand Ins, universal themes are rendered in careful fragments, and anchored with lyrical details so seemingly specific that they're almost biographical. Sure, Okkervil … Read more