Vancouver’s Rococode are pretty much everything I like in a band: boy/girl vocals, a reasonable grasp on cinema history… and a debut album called Guns, Sex & Glory… Rococode are a four-piece who seem to grasp the brightest and darkest forms of beauty to be found in postmodern music…...

New York singer/songwriter Laura Stevenson has recently begun referring to herself as an, “unfunny Woody Allen.”  The designation comes from the popular existential musings that would seem to be the biggest inspiration behind the brand of whimsically woodsy indie folk pop found on her upcoming release, Wheel (out April...

The lovely Lucy Rose has been a darling of London’s indie-folk scene for a while now… But, more recently, she’s been winning over the Yanks as well.  Her 5-song Middle of the Bed EP was released stateside earlier this year (Her debut LP, Like I Used To, dropped in...

Perth, Australia’s Emperors’ are certainly not concerned with being liked by “the cool kids” of the music industry… In fact, even their popularity has come in the form of a bit of a throwback… They’ve been garnering a reputation on US college radio… along the lines of how legends...

Jason Novak is best known as one of the masterminds behind Industrial legends Acumen Nation… However, he’s spent recent years putting a bit of distance between himself and the rivetheads… with varying degrees of success.  For the past half decade Jason’s been handling guitar, vocals, and bass for a...

Despite the name… Brighton’s Blood Red Shoes generally look to be endearingly quirky… However, their riffy, noisey, garagey, stonery, ‘90sy take on punk is actually quite abrasive and even a bit scary… but in the best way possible.  The band, comprised of Laura-Mary Carter on vocals and guitar and...

Yesterday I had the pleasure of chatting with possibly Philadelphia’s coolest and loveliest singer/songwriter, Jennifer Logue.  Jennifer’s a local girl, but a local girl who’s been away for about a decade, which she spent in NYC. “I just moved back to Philly.  I spent the last ten years living...

I’m terribly jealous of Toronto’s Moon King.  They’ve spent the better part of the year on the road, sharing stages with the likes of BRAIDS, HAERTS, and Ava Luna.  They’re currently on an extensive jaunt with Born Ruffians and are making a stop at Johnny Brenda’s this 4/20, which,...

I find it hard to characterize Cloud Cult as a “band.”  Cloud Cult are eight really cool environmentalists from Minnesota who travel the country in a solar-powered van, putting on multi-media indie rock spectacles.  Cloud Cult also hold a special place in my heart, as a preview to their...

The first time Philthy encountered Johanna Cranitch was nearly two years ago, when she was known as Johanna and the Dusty Floor, which I described as “delightfully audacious for a… singer/songwriter,” going on to characterize her music as, “Often incorporating epic moodiness, more reminiscent of elegantly angsty 80s teens...

If Philthy readers hadn’t noticed, I’m a long way from getting tired of postmodernly lovely chanteuses of the synth pop variety. So it should be no surprised that I’m currently digging (and, admittedly, crushing on) NYC’s Computer Magic (moniker of Danielle Johnson, or Danz).  Computer Magic/Danz/Danielle has been a part of...

NYC’s Dead Leaf Echo don’t exactly sound of their time… not that that’s a bad thing… They sound more like they should be sandwiched between Ride and The Jesus & Mary Chain on the soundtrack to one of Gregg Araki’s Teenage Apocalypse films… They are an amalgamation of the...

Beach Day are sort of like a musical episode of Three’s Company produced by Phil Spector.  Beach Day are a trio hailing from “Hollyweird,” Florida… a retro-vibing town whose quirk would seem to be the band’s biggest influence (It’s been described as resembling an R. Crumb drawing.)  Kimmy, Natalie,...

Earlier this week I got a chance to hang out with (recently “featured” band) Blessed Feathers, who told me all about the Wisconsin music scene… something they have recently departed from, currently dedicating themselves to an ongoing life on the road.  However they remain quite fond of the scene,...

Even though she’s seemingly “all growed up,” Rachel Trachtenburg, of the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, is still Supercute!  Well… she’s in Supercute!  Supercute! is Trachtenburg’s latest musical project, a brilliantly juvenile, tongue-in-cheek, tie-dyed take on a girl group, which Trachtenburg has described as “psychedelic-indie-bubblegum.”  This June sees the release...

This Thursday sees the first in a brilliant string of weekend shows at our very own Johnny Brenda’s: Little Green Cars on Thursday (the 21st), San Cisco and Chaos Chaos on Friday (the 22nd), Sky Ferreira on Saturday (the 23rd), and Kate Nash and Supercute! on Sunday (the 24th)...

My favorite album of 2013 is, without a doubt, Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside’s Untamed Beast (on Partisan Records).  The band’s sophomore effort is a blend of classically great musical movements almost too brilliant to even fathom its existence… okay, so maybe it’s not quite as revolutionary as The...

“There are loads of really cool sister bands at the moment – Haim and First Aid Kit – there’s something to be said for blood harmonies,” Emily Staveley-Taylor tells me.  Emily is one-third of English sister trio The Staves (along with Jessica and Camilla).  I had just asked her...

Blessed Feathers are definitely my kind of people… The duo share a 10-year-old cell phone and have to make a trip to the nearest library if they want internet access (Okay, so I’m told that management forced them to get a new cell phone for SXSW… but they still...

“At night, 6th street kind of feels like the Apocalypse, like there are no rules, anything can happen.  It’s madness.”  Katrina Jones is musing about her inaugural trip to SXSW.  Katrina is the pianist, backing-vocalist, and one-fifth of Vancouver’s The Belle Game, an indie pop outfit that manages to...

“I’m a synth singer/songwriter… whatever that entails,” says Ariana DiLorenzo, mastermind behind Ariana & the Rose, who was recently kind enough to take some time out of her day to discuss her debut album with me.  Ariana and the Rose’s 6-song, debut EP, Love Me, Love Me Not, will...

The tale of Tristan Prettyman that occurred in the half a decade between her last LP, Hello, and her third, and latest, Cedar + Gold (released last October) sounds like a thing of blockbuster cinema and New York Times bestsellers.  A bit bored with the life of a successful...

Disregarding the Elvis Presley musical…“Blue Hawaii” would seem to reference some utopia/dystopia… That, combined with the fact that the band’s upcoming, sophomore effort, is titled Untogether, should make them a musical wet dream for existentialists and social scientists.  Montreal male/female duo Raph (whom you may know as a member...

Is it just me, or has a recent wave of child-star-turned-cool-adults made the designation of “child star” at least slightly less lame?  Alexz Johnson is currently best known for writing brilliant pop tunes with a soul that resembles, in equal parts, that of the Motor City and Nashville… (She...

There was an excellent double billing at Milkboy Philadelphia on 1100 Chestnut St. last Thursday night, February 21. The headliner was Broken Anchor, an atmospheric retro influenced indie rock band from Los Angeles debuted along with Stone Cold Fox, a dreamy folk inspired band from Brooklyn. Broken Anchor has recorded music on...

“I’m challenging myself to be myself as much as possible,” Kacey Johansing tells me.  The San Francisco musician is describing for me her current approach to performing live.  However, the sentiment would also seem to ring true to her sophomore LP, Grand Ghosts, which she is self-releasing next Tuesday,...

Like so many great electro-pop duos, Sally Shapiro first came together while singing Christmas carols… Okay, so maybe their backstory isn’t so common… But neither are their methods.  Sally Shapiro is one lovely and anonymous blonde chanteuse (who prefers to just go by Sally Shapiro) and producer Johan Agebjörn,...

Calling to interview a musician and being told that they’re currently looking at your site is a bit like calling a potential date and being told that they’re currently checking out your sex tape… Okay, so that may be a little melodramatic, but it certainly adds pressure.  However, Kendall...

Marriages began about a year and a half ago, with Emma Ruth Rundle, Greg Burns, and Dave Clifford of post-rock outfit Red Sparowes.  Their debut EP, Kitsune, produced by Toshi Kasai, was released last May on Sargent House.  While the band has seemed to most regularly find themselves sharing...

My Gold Mask are many of my favorite things: cold, dark, quite sexy, but, conventionally speaking, also quite scary.  My Gold Mask is vocalist Gretta Rochelle and guitarist Jack Armondo. Their Leave Me Midnight comes out next Tuesday, February 19th.  The album is hauntingly dripping with eroticism.  It bolsters...

“I love Heart.  Heart is like the ultimate sister babes… This new band, Bleach.  I’m a huge fan of theirs… The Staves.  They’re awesome… The Jackson 5.  Oh my god, the Jackson 5 are the shit,” proclaims Alana Haim.  I have just asked her to reflect on her own,...

Anna Nelson has recently left behind her singer/songwriter roots for a musical world of fantastical whimsy.  In 2012 Nelson teamed up with writer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Andy Toy for Moxi, a band that makes songs that often resemble postmodern, electronic fairy tales.  With the help of producer Bobby Hartry,...

“Philly… I like Philly a lot.  I don’t know Philadelphia that well… I know Philly cheesesteaks… They are quite good,” James Iha tells me.  I’m more than a little jaded when it comes to being a music critic and getting to regularly talk with musicians I find to be...

The story of Lady Lamb the Beekeeper began about five years ago at a DVD rental shop in Brunswick, Maine (That does sound a bit like the opening line of a postmodern fairy tale, doesn’t it?)  Lady Lamb the Beekeeper is Aly Spaltro, who recently re-located to Brooklyn to...

“It is awesome!” proclaims MorganEve Swain when I ask her how to characterize Brown Bird’s upcoming album.  The album is called Fits of Reason and it’s set to be released April 2nd on Supply & Demand Music.  Brown Bird is a duo comprised of Swain and her partner, David...

I think Madison may be my biggest musical crush of 2013.  Madison is a NYC, platinum blonde, electro pop princess, who I’m kind of surprised doesn’t have the entire music world wrapped around her pinky finger.  However, she has received praise from the likes of NME, Interview Magazine, and...

The sound of Twosomeness, the sophomore effort from Pascal Pinon  (comprised of Icelandic twin sisters Jófrídur and Ásthildur) could best be described as, “woodsy and wise.”  The album is out this Tuesday, February 5th, on Morr Music.  The indie “folk” duo are quite whimsical and organic, but there is...