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Superhuman Happiness are one of those entities’ whose profound beauty and/or genius is matched by how maddeningly difficult it is to characterize them as an entity in the first place. The project, led by writer/arranger/player Stuart Bogie – known for his work with the likes of Arcade Fire, David...
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Gwenno’s Y Dydd Olaf might be my favorite album of the century that I don’t understand a word of. The album is the debut full-length of Gwenno Mererid Saunders, former vocalist and keyboardist of The Pipettes. The album, which is entirely in Welsh (well, one song is in Cornish),...
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Like recently profiled Absinthe Rose, Sentinel are a band that I really wish I had been familiar with quite a bit sooner… although the two equally impressive bands differ in nearly every other way… Sentinel are a Bay Area dream pop trio, inspired by post-punk, ethereal wave, and shoegaze,...
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Boston’s Absinthe Rose are one of those bands that I desperately wish I had been turned on to well before their fourth full-length, Black Earth… which was released this past Friday, September 4th, via Screech Owl Records. The band is the brainchild of Kimbo Rose, who originally began as...
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Holly Miranda has been recording and releasing music for more than a decade now and has been writing music for closer to two, both on her own and with her now-defunct band The Jealous Girlfriends. However, it had been quite a few years since we’d gotten a proper full-length...
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There have been a lot of “’90s” acts of the alt rock persuasion — who seem to have been a primary influence on pretty much every contemporary band worth listening to — reuniting recently, but few have proven to be as profoundly significant as hyper-noisy Oxford, England rockers Ride. ...
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Earlier this week twin sisters Elektra Kilbey-Jansson and Miranda Kilbey-Jansson, better known as Say Lou Lou, released their latest single, “Hard for a Man,” a soulful, R&B-tinged slice of dream pop. The sisters, the offspring of The Church’s Steve Kilbey and Karin Jansson, have obviously spent their lives within...
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The last time I saw Jenny Hval she nearly blew Swans off the stage at Union Transfer… which is no easy feat… So I’m quite excited for her headlining gig here at Boot & Saddle next Tuesday, September 8th. However, I think I’m even more excited for the opening...
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Although in the second half of my 30-year life my tastes have leaned heavily toward the likes of post-punk and indie pop, when it comes to concert movies and double live albums, the classic arena rockers whose sounds and images filled my childhood bedroom really do seem to have...
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Monique Mizrahi, aka Honeybird, may get the award for “most changed” (but not at all in a negative way) artist since the last time I spoke to her… That was a year and a half ago, when she was the leader of Honeybird & the Birdies, a tropical, alt...
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Singer/songwriter/multi-media artist Tamaryn has always dabbled in the most beautiful and subversive pop (especially of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s), however, recently there’s been a slight shift in those particular subversions… While her first two records (2010’s The Waves and 2012’s Tender New Signs, which were both collaborations...
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The last we spoke to Nicki Bluhm was three years ago. The San Francisco-based singer/songstress was currently starring in a GAP campaign and touring her band, Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers (which features her husband Tim Bluhm, her self-professed favorite singer/songwriter of her generation, as player and musical director)...
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Although The Jet Age’s Eric Tischler (songwriter, guitarist, vocalist) is a proud father and husband (and dog owner… he was actually taking his pooch for a walk during our recent phone chat. “It seems like my house is the biggest hotspot for not getting reception ” he jokes with...
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Static Daydream are an enigma… no, really… there’s like no info available on them… anywhere… Pretty much the most the internet knows thus far is that the duo is comprised of partners (musical and otherwise) Paul Baker and Jamie Casey. That and that they make hyper-fuzzy pop music reminiscent...
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The last time I spoke to one-time Philadelphia singer/songwriter Suzie Brown she had recently relocated to Nashville (for a gig as a cardiologist at Vanderbilt University, of all things). She had also (even more recently) become a first-time mother. And, at the time, she was still considered a solo...
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It’s starting to seem like PHILTHY’s love affair with Nashville music will never end (Nikki Lane, Those Darlins, Lindi Ortega, Heavy Cream, Tristen, Caitlin Rose…), but they just seem to be churning out more beautifully dusty and twangy rockers than anywhere else in the world… And while Honey Ryder...
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I’m quite embarrassed to admit that I hadn’t seen La Grande Bouffe until a few weeks ago… Which is very surprising, if you know anything about me, my tastes, or my politics. A brand new restoration of Marco Ferreri’s 1973 highly-controversial, heady trash masterpiece (or, trashterpiece); which tackles the...
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It’s slightly sad that Cascao & Lady Maru’s sophomore LP doesn’t hit shelves until September 18th because it’s the best summertime punk record since YACHT’s Shangri-La (of which it definitely shares some sonic sensibilities). The album, which boasts songs reminiscent of the most intellectual dance rock and synthpop of...
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When I was first asked to cover Betty Moon, it was the most excited I’ve been about an artist in a while… A Tura Satana-looking vixen of the most badass persuasion, who makes sassily menacing tunes reminiscent of many of the most profoundly enticing sirens of Lollapalooza’s original run…...
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Lael Neale is one of my favorite people I’ve met in 2015 and I’m guessing that in the near future that statement will be a pretty big deal… as I kind of suspect she will be a pretty big deal in the near future. The classically beautiful blonde songstress...
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Sometimes, especially within the realm of “indie culture,” the coolest entities are those that make absolutely no effort to be “cool.” I think this might be true of Seattle quartet The Hoot Hoots (I mean, see, it’s kind of even in the name.) Unapologetically inspired by (and obsessed with)...
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With the whole sunny SoCal folk pop sound of the late 60’s and early 70’s making a comeback in a pretty major way, it’s a bit surprising, if not shocking, that Cardiff, Wales duo Zervas & Pepper are not yet a household name on this side of the pond…...
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There are few sounds that I’m confident I’ll never tire of… And the morbid pissiness of post-punk, the hazy hipness of shoegaze, and sunshiney abandon of ’90 alt rock all fall into that category… They also all seem to fall into the competencies of UK trio Presents for Sally…...
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At this point America’s only about 20 minutes into their first date with Soldier’s Heart… but it’s going well so far… very well, in fact… The Belgian band has been at it since 2012 and released their self-titled debut EP this June. The four-song collection is most easily (and...
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I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that the most punk rock (and likely best, in general) performance Philadelphia is going to see all year is going to take place at The Mann, a venue best known for housing The Philadelphia Orchestra performing the soundtrack to...
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In the age of MP3s, streaming, and digital-only EPs (Yuck…), it’s especially nice when an artist will take their time working on a full-length… especially when they’re not yet the kind of wealthy, super-established marquee name that could really stop working forever and be better off than 99% of...
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Oh Mercy’s latest album, When We Talk About Love (which dropped this June), is not only an exceptionally great record, reminiscent of when the best of the Brit Poppers channeled Americana balladry for existential tales that could bring down an arena, but its story is also particularly engaging in...
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Puerto Rico’s Los Manglers are actually familiar with the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection… However, the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection is likely unfamiliar with them… Friday, July 10th, the quartet made an appearance at The Fire, which was attended… well, characteristically to performances at...
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Insect Ark’s debut LP sounds a bit like the soundtrack to one of history’s greatest films that was never made. The album, Portal/Well, was released this June. The release, an instrumental, displays a sonic narrative battle between the folk and the postmodern and also the natural and unnatural (not...
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I must admit that I was very anxious to catch up with Nicole Turley about the latest Swahili Blonde release, as the last time we talked turned out to be one of my favorite interviews I’ve ever done. At the time, early in 2014, we were discussing Kimono Kult ,...
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Like most of our favorite contemporary indie acts, NYC’s Gladshot embrace a lovely nostalgic aesthetic that seems to harken back to the ‘90s, the golden age of “alt rock.” However, the sounds of Gladshot ring a little bit differently than the most frequently embraced inspirations of the Lollapalooza era...
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COIN are at the intersection of two of our favorite things in the world of music right now: they’re based out of Nashville and they share a distinct and keen appreciation for ‘90s alt rock. However, they’re not churning out the gritty punky country or country punk of so...
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Laura Carbone is my favorite artist I’ve encountered this year that I had absolutely no prior knowledge of. The German singer/songwriter was in Deine Jugend, an electro-punk band who earned a following in Europe, but whose sounds never really made it to the states, and she released her solo...
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2013 saw the release of The Lonely Wild’s debut LP, The Sun as it Comes, a beautiful 12-song collection of morbid, yet rollicking and uplifting, indie folk tunes that got the band accolades courtesy of the likes of American Songwriter and Consequence of Sound, in addition to gigs supporting...
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Echodrone are one of those bands that I want to be horribly embarrassed to have not been aware of ‘til their fifth album and tenth year… Although, apparently many of the band members are yet to even meet each other… So I’m inclined to be slightly less embarrassed… This...
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Du Blonde is still a relative newborn… It is the new moniker and project of Newcastle (but often LA-based) singer/songwriter Beth Jeans Houghton. In 2012 Houghton released Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose, which critics mostly liked, but which had many comparing her to a plethora of the most obvious contemporary...
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Danish duo Darkness Falls not only seamlessly blend musical movements, but musical eras and genres. They’re clearly influenced by ‘80s goth rock, new wave, and dream pop; ‘90s shoegaze; and the most ethereal and spiritually profound avant-pop of this century. The band, comprised of vocalist/keyboardist Josephine Philip and bassist/guitarist...
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Brooklyn’s Friend Roulette are not only really fucking good, but they’re also really fucking charming…They’ve been described by Kodi McKinney as “Bambi having a god damned acid nightmare,” and they, themselves, describe the genre that they fit into as “Good Music.” The band, whose members are regularly fluctuating and...
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Last week I met a lovely kindred spirit, a former punk, who is now primarily focused on roots, or Americana, music… Well, except she actually plays the music and I remain simply an admiring listener of the two beautiful, working-class genres. That individual is Kendl Winter,...
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It can sometimes feel cool to talk to “stars” on the record… Although it tends to be less satisfying than meeting an actually interesting person, with good taste and a working understanding of the world in which we live… But rarely do the two sentiments overlap (And even when...
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Philadelphia is hosting a plethora of music history’s most amazing comebacks in 2015, from Morrissey’s first non-cancelled regional dates in six years, to Sleater-Kinney’s first local date in nearly ten years, and The Juliana Hatfield Three, Refused, L7, Ride, and Babes in Toyland’s first 215 dates in right around...
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Although Hemming’s connection to ‘90s alt rock might not be quite so glaring as many of the best indie artists of recent years, there’s certainly still a pretty profound connection to that golden age of “alternative.” The singer/songwriter’s solo career actually began on VH1’s Make or Break: The Linda...
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Toronto’s The Weather Station are a band that don’t like to rush themselves… although I’m not sure that any of their fans mind… Forming in 2006, their third LP just dropped this May. That LP is Loyalty and The Weather Station is Tamara Lindeman (whom you may also know...
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Although the UK’s BLiNDNESS technically formed in 2008, their debut full-length, WRAPPED iN PLASTiC, isn’t set to hit shelves until July 24th… although the album is well worth the wait… BLiNDNESS is comprised of Beth Rettig, Emma Quick, and Debbie Smith (of Curve, Echobelly, and Snowpony fame), a trio...
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Like recently profiled (and brilliant) Dear Rouge (who Philly unfortunately didn’t really turn up for when they played an amazing show at MilkBoy a week and a half ago), Bora York are a husband/wife duo that deal in all things funky, dancey, and synthy… However, unlike Dear Rouge, who recently...
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It’s been a while since we have heard from Heather Woods Broderick… or at least under her own name (She has played in Efterklang, Horse Feathers, and Loch Lomond, in addition to backing Laura Gibson, Sharon Van Etten, and Alela Diane). Her sophomore LP, Glider, is set to be released on...
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Although rightfully entitled “Norway’s queen of electronic pop,” Sandra Kolstad is, sadly, a relatively unknown name in the states. The classically trained pianist, who is currently better characterized as “postmodern singer/songstress,” has released three full-lengths since 2011 and made a name for herself throughout Europe for live spectacles that...
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Motobunny are a brand spanking new Rock’N’Roll (and I mean that in the truest sense of the phrase) band comprised of members of The Wooly Bandits, The Love Me Nots, and Zero Zero and who have, at one point or another, shared stages with the unlikely diverse likes of...
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This past Saturday Philly was engulfed in yet another Apocalyptic storm, of whose recent regularity can’t help but make one wonder if something is attempting to tell us something… Yet South Philly indie rock hot spot Boot & Saddle was nearly full for Torres’ most recent area appearance, which...
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Call me “old fashioned” (or just a “dork”), but I’m a sucker for an actual “tour” with an actual name… Nowadays it seems as though artists do short sprints of dates at their convenience (And really, I can’t blame them, as I’m a “starving artist” myself), but it’s become...
Superhuman Happiness are one of those entities’ whose profound beauty and/or genius is matched by how maddeningly difficult it is to characterize them as an entity in the first place. The project, led by writer/arranger/player Stuart Bogie – known for his work with the likes of Arcade Fire, David...
Gwenno’s Y Dydd Olaf might be my favorite album of the century that I don’t understand a word of. The album is the debut full-length of Gwenno Mererid Saunders, former vocalist and keyboardist of The Pipettes. The album, which is entirely in Welsh (well, one song is in Cornish),...
