_Four or More 2013 (Page 3)

Beware of Darkness – “Orthodox”Bright Antenna-out May 74.5 / 5 The L.A. rock-and-rock-more trio is our first big album of the year. Finally. We were blown away for weeks by Howl off their EP of the same name, and now their debut has come. And it has come rocking. They’ve been compared to Led Zeppelin, and while they have one Zeppelin-esque riff, we think a better way to describe their sound is that it’s depressed by the 90s, like if Nirvana and Pearl Jam weren’t so heavy and distorted all the time, while infused with classic rock hooks and riffs. In fact, classic is keyRead More →

Dawes – “Stories Don’t End”HUB Records-out today4 / 5 It’s great that Dawes’ follow-up to their lukewarm 2011 “Nothing Is Wrong” has such memorable choruses and warm, tingly vocals, because we were getting a little worried for a bit. Stories Don’t End, the latest by the L.A. quartet, is at times rocking, at times retrospective and wistful, always heartfelt. What we didn’t get from him last time, deep, involved vocals, is what sells the act this time around: Taylor Goldsmith gives his performance enough oomph so as to not sink into what tends to be an un-groove for him, given the mid-tempo nature of theseRead More →

Charles Bradley – “Victim of Love”Daptone Records-out April 24 / 5 You probably spotted him right away on the cover: yes, you’re absolutely right. The fantastic Brooklyn-based soul singer indeed does take his cues from James Brown. A former cover singer of the songs of the famous “Hardest Working Man in Show Business,” Bradley officially started his career at 62, and on this, his second full-length album, you get it: all the grit, all the passion, all the wear and tear and heart. In fact, you get soul. And that’s not an easy thing to do. Daptone, also the home of the famous Sharon Jones,Read More →

Low – “The Invisible Way”Sub Pop-out March 194 / 5 The Duluth, MN trio has been around twenty years; and on this, their tenth album, it’s easy to assume some sort of dulling in their craft. How often does a band keep itself around for two decades and keep itself fresh? While we cannot speak the whole of Low’s discography, The Invisible Way, their latest release, is a slow, melancholy, mature album, aged like a glass of wine. It lets on like a funeral dirge with moments of bare sunlight shining through; it passes like a sad man on the streets, quiet and memorable. ItRead More →