The Plurals are a heavy indie rock band from Lansing, Michigan. Their latest album, Swish, was released on GTG Records, a record label the band created when they started putting out music in 2007. The trio’s passion for the Lansing rock scene and DIY aesthetic is compelling, and this piece in the Lansing City Pulse about the band and label’s … Read more
The other week a friend and I went to a jazz club - the Lilypad in Cambridge, MA. We didn’t know who was playing there that night - we were mostly looking for a way to kill time after stuffing ourselves with Indian food - but it turned out to be pianist Burton Greene. I hadn’t heard of Greene - … Read more
The Menzingers are a four-piece punk band from Scranton, PA, sharing the same hometown as band sibling Tigers Jaw. Although not musically the same, The Menzingers have a similar lyrical purpose to The Smiths: to tell detailed, emotional narratives about everyday people. Except, instead of about middle-aged well-read women and ambiguously gay recluses, it’s about 20-somethings sporting tattoos of high … Read more
All Them Witches is a rock band with a psychedelic blues tinge that reflects their southern-but-also-hip hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. Although All Them Witches can really deal in those druggy, heavy-hitting riffs that make you want to knock back a six pack in the desert, they also have a real musicianship that’s too often lacking in the dime-a-dozen bands that … Read more
On January 21 I saw Bash & Pop with the So So Glos at the Great Scott in Boston, MA, a small-bar venue with a sound system that’s just shitty enough to be charming. I’d seen the So So Glos before and loved them - they’re a fun, snarky NYC … Read more
Titus Andronicus Brighton Music Hall, Boston, MA October 15, 2015 Like any show I’m excited about, I was really scared of disappointment while driving to this Boston Titus Andronicus (hereafter +@) concert. Since The Monitor, +@ has been one of my favorite bands. They combine dynamic, epic rock songs with … Read more
Algiers Brighton Music Hall Boston, MA September 17, 2015 Photos by Lindsay Corry; more photos here Algiers self-titled debut this year blew me away with its raw, layered sound and politically poignant lyrics, but for the same reasons I had low expectations for the live show. The Georgia band has … Read more
The So So Glos, Desaparecidos Paradise Rock Club Boston, MA August 4, 2015 I went for Desaparecidos - Conor Oberst’s (of Bright Eyes fame) hardcore band - who put out the great political punk album Payola this year, 13 years after their first album Read Music/Speak Spanish. I gotta say, … Read more
21-year-old Memphis singer-songwriter Julien Baker just released a new 7" for her song "Funeral Pyre" and B-side "Distant Solar Systems." In case the title doesn't give it away, "Funeral Pyre" continues Baker's relentless-but-gentle depictions of depression and suffering. This is her first release since signing with Matador Records. Matador Records … Read more
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