Whoo's. Sha la la's. Chiming guitars. Songs about drive-ins, walking girls to school, and being 13 years old — written by fully grown men. Welcome to the innocent, fresh-faced, optimistic and forlorn world of power pop. If Charlie Brown could be a rock band, he would be one of these bands: adult and childlike at the same time, reminding you of some perfect summer day you never actually lived. It's hard to define, you… more »
Though his music is a swirl of garish saxophones, slap bass, syrupy synths and the kind of sung-rap samples that last saw radio airplay in '83, Adam Bainbridge, who records as Kindness, isn't being ironic. He's just firmly committed to the idea that these elements make for the best-sounding dance music. The fizzy pleasures of "SEOD" and "That's Alright" from his debut album World, You Need a Change of Mind make it difficult to argue. Aside… more »
It used to be easier to pretend that an album was its own perfectly self-contained artifact. The great records certainly feel that way. But albums are more permeable than solid, their motivations, executions and inspirations informed by, and often stolen from, their peers and forbearers. It all sounds awfully formal, but it's not. It's the very nature of music — of art, even. The Six Degrees features examine the relationships between classic records and five… more »
The album art for Tenacious D's latest is disgustingly appropriate — a veiny penis in the shape of a phoenix. So the theme here is that the Jack Black and Kyle Gass will rise from the ashes and do so with too many dick jokes. And that's what you should expect from a Tenacious D album — dick jokes, meta jokes about the band's career to date ("When The Pick of Destiny was released, it was a bomb/ and all the critics said that the D was done"), Dave Grohl on the drums, and of course, lots of acoustic metal. So while the content should be expected for a joke band's third album, for Tenacious D fans, this thing is… more »
The album art for Tenacious D's latest is disgustingly appropriate — a veiny penis in the shape of a phoenix. So the theme here is that the Jack Black and Kyle Gass will rise from the ashes and do so with too many dick jokes. And that's what you should expect from a Tenacious D album — dick jokes, meta jokes about the band's career to date ("When The Pick of Destiny was released, it was a bomb/ and all the critics said that the D was done"), Dave Grohl on the drums, and of course, lots of acoustic metal. So while the content should be expected for a joke band's third album, for Tenacious D fans, this thing is… more »
In the run-up to 2009's big-time breakthrough Ignore the Ignorant, The Cribs became the envy of every indie rock band on Earth by recruiting the Smiths' Johnny Marr as their guitarist. When Marr amicably departed after the ensuing tours, you had to wonder: What's next for the band's core trio, the three Jarman brothers?
The excellent news is that this follow-up returns them to their roots in garagey art-punk and strikes out in experimental new directions. In the Belly of the Brazen Bull, whose title hints at ambivalence towards their mass popularity, packs all the spiky, rowdy joy of their early albums while also introducing some more expansive and whimsical moods.
"Glitters Like Gold," written and sung by Gary, showcases the polished,… more »
On their debut record, the L.A. duo Electric Guest tap into the sort of glossy retro soul that Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse re-popularized and Adele, Janelle Monaé and others helped spread across the land. With the help of omnipresent collaborator-for-hire Danger Mouse, though, they render what has threatened to become a wearyingly ubiquitous sound with a clean and handsome touch.
"Waves" and single "The Head I Hold" are such archetypal examples of the form that they could pass for unreleased Gnarls Barkley tunes, but singer Asa Taccone nimbly distinguishes himself with a girlish, Southern-accented delivery to nimble effect, which Danger Mouse graces with an evocative touch of period-detail static. Midtempo versions of the same neo-Motown sound crop up in "The… more »
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