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Shearwater – “The Golden Archipelago”Matador Records-out now4.5 / 5 Starting with a tender opening, to the final notes that fall, we have one thing to say about this epic concept album: wow. The sixth full-length from the Austin, Texas band, “Golden Archipelago” is one of those rare albums that do not benefit from distracted car-driving, nor from sweaty, gym-pumping; in fact, the best way to take in the first listen, we’ve found, is simply to kick back and let it spin. Delicate melodies pervade throughout (“Hidden Lakes” carefully unfolds) and the instrumentals here are not merely “played” or “performed,” but orchestrated; the vocals, which alternateRead More →

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Gentle Friendly – “Ride Slow”Upset the Rhythm-out now3.5 / 5 This debut album from South London’s Gentle Friendly utilizes a thick, woven mesh of electronica (keyboard, dense guitars) to form a dizzying fog of sound that has drawn comparison to Animal Collective. While Gentle Friendly doesn’t have ACs’ harmonies, nor do they match the intricacy of AC’s sonic mayhem, they do have “Lovers Rock,” a song with a cool drone/sway and cyclical instrumentals akin to older Yo La Tengo. Sonically, it is from this latter band that these songs derive, and fans of such will find themselves in familiar, but fresh territory. Where Gentle FriendlyRead More →

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Motion Turns it On – Kaleidoscopic EquinoxChocolate Lab Records-out now2.5 / 5 Guitars ablaze comes punk shredders Motion Turns it On from the grand state of Texas. Akin to White Denim stylistically, though with two times the drive, “Kaleidoscopic Equinox” is some of the most furious, manic ra-tah-tattah to grace our fair site. The vocals are spare and brief, meant only to dress the long and winding guitar shreds, and while those shreds are impressive on their own, there comes a point where enough is enough. To bring it back to White Denim, Motion Turns it On is all thunder and bluster, lacking the former’sRead More →

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Joe Pug – “Messenger”Lightning Rod Records– out Feb. 163 / 5 Chicago-based folk singer Joe Pug has been stirring the pot with his old-school Dylan-esque brand of one-man folk. And we might as well come out and say it: here at the blog, we love his EPs “Nation of Heat” and “In the Meantime,” which he’d been giving away for free. But somehow, the magic hasn’t translated as well on his first full-length, and here’s why: all the gritty emotional content, the incalculable lyricism has been replaced with the addition of drums and bass. To put this in terms of Dylan, it’s as if PugRead More →