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While so many of today’s most interesting artists are harkening back to the sound of the ‘90s in a big way, That Girl With Dark Eyes shows guts by exploring her love of synth-filled ‘80s dance pop. That Girl With Dark Eyes is the musical moniker of Tiffany Garrett...
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To anyone who regularly reads our little publication, it’s obvious that we’re quite sonically smitten with Tobacco, Ryan Graveface, Graveface Records, and pretty much the entire Black Moth Super Rainbow extended family (Haley Bonar, The Casket Girls, Dott, Whirr). However, perhaps none more than The Stargazer Lilies (Okay, I...
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I first met The Paper Kites last November, when they were wrapping up their first US tour. Well, just eight months on and they’re back on their second run of the states. The Melbourne-based indie folk outfit have a short string of dates that will have them playing upstairs at...
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I first discovered Danielle Oliver, a Montana-(of all places)- based singer/songwriter a few months ago, with the release of her first-ever music video. The video is for “Advice,” a track off of her Sun For Snow EP. The quirky clip, which is both literally and sentimentally sunny, depicts a...
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Chris Carrabba is a pretty exceptional guy, both exceptionally cool and exceptionally interesting. (And, to be honest, he’s not someone I ever thought I would be speaking to, as a fan of his music.) Carrabba’s been in a few of the bigger alt. rock (which I’ll just use as...
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Worriers are a Brooklyn band I came across somewhere (I don’t actually remember where.) They’ve been together since 2008 and they kick out fun punk rock jams inspired by pretty lofty queer theory. They’re very charming in the most intellectually cool way imaginable. They’re playing a show this Thursday,...
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Avers are a band I once described as sounding like, “if Dischord Records did psych rock.” The group is still very young and hailing from Richmond, VA, but they’ve already established a solid fanbase in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection. They’ve already played three shows here...
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For myself and all other nerdy cinephiles; obsessed with The New Wave, Art House cinema, Midnight Movies, and “The New Extremism”; the year’s biggest excitement in film… or just in general, has been generated by Lars von Trier’s Nymph()maniac. The two-volume, more-than-four-hour film, tells the life story of Joe,...
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My first thoughts upon getting off the phone with Katie Kate are, “Oh my god, I think I’m in love with a white rapper.” Seattle’s Katie Kate would seem to be the world’s most alluring amalgam of polarities. She has a degree in classical piano, yet is best known...
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Jon Crary’s Weekly Sound Off 7/1-7/7: 1. Sometime “I Will Run” – Synth-pop dreams are fulfilled with these pulsating electronic drum rhythms and ethereal female vocals so stark, hazy and dreamy. Great tune from this band from Iceland. It’s my pick of the week! [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/152743347″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″...
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If one word were to be used to sum up Alison May’s sophomore effort, it should be “unafraid.” The perfectly titled Loved/Dark has the Oakland-based, Texas-born songwriter exploring her vulnerabilities and passions in equal measures. The album’s aesthetic does reside in the darkness more often than not, but it...
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Swedish trio NONONO manage to pack more genres into three people than any other band currently in existence… rendering them essentially genre-less… which is what they’re going for. They’re both moody and danceable to hypnotic degrees, reflecting traditions of some of music history’s most uplifting and morose figures. Their...
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Like PHILTHY MAG friends and favorites Sweet Soubrette and Kotorino, LA’s Jail Weddings are quite a large outfit. They’re currently a nine-piece. However, unlike the aforementioned bands, who blend jazz and indie pop, the blend of Jail Weddings is more indebted to girl-groups, ‘60s psychedelics, and crooner-driven post-punk… which...
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The Burning of Rome are one of those bands… One of those bands that has been compared to Abba and the Misfits… and Oingo Boingo… and Mike Patton… but that’s not a bad thing… The So-Cal outfit’s sophomore effort, Year of the Ox, hit shelves this May. The album...
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Rodrigo Amarante, of Los Hermanos, Orquestra Imperial, and Little Joy is currently on a US tour and will be playing a very intimate gig this Tuesday, July 1st, upstairs at World Café Live. However, it’s opening act Jenny O., that I’m most excited about. The indie pop singer/songwriter churns...
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Jon Crary’s Weekly Sound Off 6/23-6/29: 1. Gold & Youth – “Time to Kill” (Arts & Crafts) – Vancouver, Canada indie electronic band turns up the dance able melancholy with an ode to New Order in this tune. Pick of the week! 2. The New Pornographers “Brill Bruisers”...
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Of all the summer’s tours, I suspect that which true music snobs have been most excited about are the two exceptionally short strings of dates at exceptionally intimate venues that will have Everything But The Girl’s Ben Watt accompanied by original Suede guitarist and producer extraordinaire Bernard Butler. After...
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Nikki Lane is yet another lovely installment in PHILTHY’s obsession with Nashville musicians… an obsession that has come at a time when the city seems to be more on the cultural map than ever, but which has little-to-nothing to do with said map of the masses. Nikki Lane, who...
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Off the top of my head, I can’t think of a cooler or more credible artist to gain the majority of their critical acclaim from cover tunes than Kawehi (She also pens her own songs, which are even better.) Kawehi hails from Honolulu, but is currently located in Lawrence,...
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Woodstock, NY-based indie folk duo Trummors have gone through some substantial changes recently, both in terms of their sounds, instrumentation, and even their interpersonal relationship (well, at least in a “technical” sense”). Trummors are Anne Cunningham and David Lerner, who are about to release their sophomore LP, Moorish Highway,...
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I have a bigger crush on Potty Mouth than any other band in 2014… by a lot. They are an amalgam of all of the catchiest trends of subversion to come out of ‘90s alt rock. They’re all about the fight to re-write the genders of our society. And...
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Jon Crary’s Weekly Sound Off 6/12-6/19: 1. Katie Frank and the Pheromones- “Tunnel Vision” (BITBY Music) – Katie Frank is from Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. With her band the Pheromones, they play the tastiest, dreamiest roots rock today. It rocks with huge hooks and melodies and excellent instrumentation. Their beautiful new album is out:...
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Jon Crary’s Weekly Sound Off 6/2-6/8: 1. Merchandise “Little Killer” (4AD) – Wow, this is such a great song by this Tampa, Florida based band. I’ve always been a fan. This one is hook filled, dreamy and ethereal yet has a bit of Bowie-glam to it and reminds me a...
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Streets of Laredo are an indie-folk outfit, yet they rock and rollick just enough to gain the attention of more indie pop audiences than those who reside in dinner theatre venues. They’ve released two EPs and are currently on tour, with an upcoming stop at Boot & Saddle on...
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Sydney’s The Jezabels are an incredibly hard band to put into words. Their tastes would seem to be an amalgam of the headiest pop, classical, Americana, and a bit of hardcore… However, they come out sounding like the glossiest kind of post-punk act… as they transition into new wave…...
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I first met Brooklyn trio Old Monk last year. They intrigued me because they have a very aggressive and slightly abrasive take on pop music… They’re not exactly a punk band… but they’re not exactly a pop band either… They’re like if a punk band decided to do a...
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I remember ten years ago going to The Black Cat in Washington DC to see the remaining members of Detroit proto-punks the MC5 reunited for their first tour in more than three decades. I was wearing a chopped-up-and-safety-pinned-together Alice Cooper T-shirt. The MC5’s tour manager told me that she...
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Last year, upon meeting Swedish avant-garde pop musician Anna von Hausswolff, I said of her second album, “It rings of the soundtrack to a text exploring the sacred and profane… to put it mildly.” Well, less than a year later and she seems to be continuing in that very...
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Jon Crary’s Weekly Sound Off 5/26-5/31: 1. Rush Midnight “Fix Me Up” (Last Gang Records)– This is one of the most exciting releases of the year so far for me. It’s Russ Manning, former bass player for Twin Shadow. His new LP release is Tuesday, May 27. This single “Fix Me...
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I first became smitten with Unicycle Loves You upon the release of their sophomore LP, 2010’s Mirror, Mirror, a fuzzy and glammy take on indie pop. However, I must admit that I became over the moon about the trio earlier this month, with the unveiling of their latest music...
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Emily Ritz and Kacey Johansing have recently returned to nature… Okay, that might be a little melodramatic, but the two Bay Area musicians and best friends have relocated from San Francisco and Oakland to beach towns north of the city, which is currently the home of their latest, shared,...
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The Lovely Eggs are an amalgam of all the best things I remember about being a youth in the 1990s. They have a knack for writing wonderfully sloppy and sunshiney power pop anthems, but they also appropriate the rambunctiousness of riot grrrl and the sugar-coated fuzz of lo-fi indie...
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Belgium’s Melanie De Biasio’s aesthetic is at a very bizarre intersection that has her drawing comparisons to jazz vocal legends, trip hop pioneers, and even the hyper-moody dream pop of This Mortal Coil. The singer/flautist’s sophomore effort, No Deal, has already gone gold in Belgium and silver in France,...
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Jon Crary’s Weekly Sound Off May 19-May 24: Chromeo “Jealous (I Ain’t With It)” (Atlantic) – I can’t stop listening to this cool and funky/ danceable track from this neo-funk duo from Montreal. This album “White Woman” is catchy and an 80’s vibe going on. This song is tasty...
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There are a lot of great Americana acts out there in 2014, but North Carolina’s Mandolin Orange write tunes that strike me as especially existentially profound. The indie country duo seem to be honor students at the Townes Van Zandt school of balladry, and even when they veer toward...
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This past Tuesday English electropoppers Metronomy showed an unfortunately sparsely-packed Union Transfer the meaning of a “show.” However, it was openers, Cloud Control, who proved to be the evening’s highlight. PHILTHY MAG first met the Aussie indie rockers last summer, when we discussed their sophomore effort, Dream Cave, which...
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Like our recently profiled Haley Bonar, Jolie Holland recently side stepped slightly from the Americana she’s best known for. Jolie Holland’s latest, at times, puts a rambunctious, aggressively punk spin on country and the blues, and at others, a delectably primal and raw spin on soul. But it can...
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Haley Bonar is best known for her moody/atmospheric take on the Americana singer/songwriter genre, but her brand would seem to be more inspired by post-punk and shoegaze than the kind of artists who haunt dinner theater venues (When discussing the year’s best new music, she’s certainly kosher to mention...
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Amy Lynn & the Gunshow are a seven-piece neo-soul outfit, based out of NYC, led by Amy Lynn Hamlin, a chanteuse classically (and thoroughly) trained in sass. Last month saw the release of their debut LP, the brilliantly titled, Don’t Trip on the Glitter. I recently got a chance...
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1. The Horrors “So Now You Know” (XL) – Expansive, full, atmospheric, lots of chiming guitar and synths. What is not to like about this new song from The Horrors from their brand new album “Luminous”! It has a danceable spacey quality a full and satisfied feeling! This is...
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“I’ve always been an explorer, which translate to always leaving,” says Mirah. The indie pop singer/songwriter (best known for her work on K Records) is referring to one of the reasons for the five year gap in-between her fourth studio LP, 2009’s (a)spera, and her fifth, Changing Light, which...
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Philthy has seen a lot of noisy sonic revolutionaries in recent months, from the hardcore of Perfect Pussy to the avant-garde acid punk of Bo Ningen, but arguably the most prolific “sonic revolutionaries” of the twenty first century, Swans, are coming back next week with their new album, To...
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Built to Spill, indie guitar rock pioneers from Boise, Idaho, pour into The World Cafe Live at the Queen in Wilmington, Delaware on Friday, May 16, 2014. This promises to be one of the hottest indie rock concerts coming to Wilmington this quarter. They will be with opening band, The Warm...
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I identify with Brighton’s Fear of Men to a degree that borders on both comedy and tragedy. They began as the art school film project of guitarist Daniel Falvey and vocalist/guitarist Jessica Weiss (I moved to The City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection eleven years ago to attend...
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Rarely are the coolest bands to listen to the same as the most fun bands to listen to… However, Norway’s Highasakite manage to float gracefully down to that intersection. I first formally encountered the band, led by vocalist and songwriter Ingrid Helene Havik, a year ago, when I wrote...
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Jon Crary’s Weekly Sound Off May 5-May 12: 1. Hercules & Love Affair – “ I Try To Talk to You”- One of my favorite albums of the last quarter century was Hercules & Love Affair’s eponymous self-titled 2008 classic, and now, here is a new single which is no...
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Howls are an LA-based duo that write subversive, synth-heavy pop songs… but less in an ‘80s, Depeche-Mode-driven-realm, and more of a style that would find its way onto the soundtrack of The Crow or to a spot supporting Garbage in 1996… I could also picture them sharing a stage...
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Nashville’s Suzie Brown is a name you’re most likely at least a bit familiar with. She’s a singer, songwriter, Harvard-educated cardiologist, mother, and, until recently, a fellow-215er… I think she also fights crime at night… actually, I don’t think I’m supposed to mention that… In just over half a...
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Indie folk songstress (perhaps this generation’s quintessential indie folk songstress) Priscilla Ahn recently took a trip to the desert all on her lonesome. The result of this trip is This is Where We Are, her latest LP, released in the US this February. Priscilla was drawn to this journey...
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So the majority of PHILTHY’s recent live highlights have been a bit (maybe more than a bit) on the abrasive and subversive side, from the post-riot Grrrl of The Coathaners; Dennis Lyxzen’s new, new wave outfit for spouting highly-danceable radical leftist propaganda; or hardcore critical darlings’ Perfect Pussy’s 15-minutes...
While so many of today’s most interesting artists are harkening back to the sound of the ‘90s in a big way, That Girl With Dark Eyes shows guts by exploring her love of synth-filled ‘80s dance pop. That Girl With Dark Eyes is the musical moniker of Tiffany Garrett...
To anyone who regularly reads our little publication, it’s obvious that we’re quite sonically smitten with Tobacco, Ryan Graveface, Graveface Records, and pretty much the entire Black Moth Super Rainbow extended family (Haley Bonar, The Casket Girls, Dott, Whirr). However, perhaps none more than The Stargazer Lilies (Okay, I...
