As of today, Morgan Nagler’s Whispertown is on their fifth official release and third official name (They began as “Whispertown2000,” before going on to be “The Whispertown 2000” and now, simply “Whispertown.”)  Whispertown’s latest, Parallel, is out today on Acony Records and the seven-song EP has the band heading...

Although I often mock World Café Live (with love) for their upper-middle-class, white, suburban, NPR-listening demographic and their relatively sterile dinner-theatre setup, the University City venue has hosted some of the best concerts the city has seen this year, from Saul Williams’ awe-inspiring set last month to Jessie Baylin’s...

I was sad to find that the quite-anticipated double-header of Bowerbirds at Johnny Brenda’s and Grimes at block-away Kung Fu Necktie was recently squashed when Grimes promptly sold out KFN and had her show moved to the First Unitarian Church.  However, Grimes’ avant-garde indie pop, in my mind, must...

Sophia Somajo, aka Soso, is a somewhat avant-garde singer/songwriter from Sweden.  She wrote, recorded, and produced her entire debut album (That Time I Dug so Deep I Ended up in China, out 5/1) inside of her bedroom… She’s one of the few people I can think of that I...

Mindless self indulgence and morningwood would seem to be a natural pairing… So I guess it makes sense that the lead singers (and mainman and woman) of Mindless Self Indulgence (Jimmy Urine) and Morningwood (Chantal Claret) are an actual pair… or, couple… married, in fact.  And this Spring each...

Sophia Knapp is painfully charming.  “I wanna rock people’s socks off,” she tells me upon being asked what are her plans for 2012.  “My band is, like, pretty cool cats,” she tells me at another point.  Sophia Knapp isn’t your average platinum from Brooklyn… although she may be my...

This Wednesday, Feb. 29, the TLA will be hosting Philthy’s best bill of 2012 yet, with Company of Thieves and Girl in a Coma.  It is likely the best lineup the city has seen since… well, Girl in a Coma and The Coathangers hit up the North Star last...

There’s something very cinematic about the sounds of Dead Fingers.  At times it rings of the kind of vintage country that would be romanticized by Jim Jarmusch.  At times it’s reminiscent of the effortless, alcohol-addled, late-night folk jamming of Bob Dylan and friends captured by D.A. Pennebaker in Dont...

As far as electro noise pop princesses go, Philthy has Patty Crash and NYC has Ducky (Morgan Neiman).  Ducky’s been in the music game since she was 13.  By 16 she was spinning in San Francisco clubs and by 17 she was dropping out of high school and relocating...

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, Free Dominguez and Jimmy Gnecco are stripping down for the week… although not in a manner quite as “festive” as it sounds.  The Kidneythieves’ vocalist (Dominguez) and Ours’ frontman (Gnecco) have hit the road for a brief string of intimate, solo shows, which...

Poliça are a hard band to pin down… to put it mildly.  They are an off-shoot of GAYNGS… a side-project consisting of members of Bon Iver, The Rosebuds, Megafaun, Doomtree, Solid Gold, and Leisure Birds… among others.  At the core of Poliça are GAYNGS vocalist Channy Leaneagh and producer...

I’m guessing most of my readers look forward to February 15th nearly as much as they look forward to December 26th…  However, this year Philthy has an even better reason to celebrate that particular date… Sheffield duo Slow Club will be appearing at Johnny Brenda’s for what I’m anticipating...

No one actually likes Valentine’s Day.  Well, I mean, no one who is even slightly interesting likes Valentine’s Day.  And even less do they like holiday celebrations named for a play on words of said holiday.  And, alas, I will find myself at Voyeur this Friday, Feb. 10th, for...

Prinzhorn Dance School are often compared to Post-Punk groups… but I find them far more Postmodern than that.  It’s minimalistic, dark even in its most optimistic moments, and existentially cold.  It’s the kind of thing that soundtracks your imagination when you’re walking through back alleys on a rainy night. ...

Courtney Taylor-Taylor recently Tweeted “Wow I’ve bann swamped. Didn’t think I’d do a lot of interviews for a band that ended in ’78.”  The Dandy Warhols frontman recently “resurrected” the work of One Model Nation, a band that existed between the years 1969 and 1977… or really more like...

Johnny Brenda’s has had a pretty impressive string of shows early in 2012… like really impressive… Amanda Jo Williams… Madi Diaz… Twin Sister and, this Tuesday (1/24), He’s My Brother She’s My Sister, for what will likely be the most “performative” of the performances.  Echo Park’s He’s My Brother...

Philthy readers have likely come across Twin Sister at least a time or two in the past couple of years.  The quite-hard-to-pin-down Long Island indie outfit has been more or less perpetually on the road since 2010 and they recorded their latest in the City of Brotherly Love and...

The last time I talked to Alyssa Graham, she had just gotten back from walking her dog and told me she’d heard that Radiohead was about to do a free concert for a Wall Street protest… That was September 30th… I’m pretty sure neither of us had the sense...

So about once every five years I am impressed by a band that I catch in concert that I’m not expecting to be impressed by.  For the past five years, that band has been YACHT.  I saw them for the first time about two years ago.  I was my...

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds recently made their US debut at Philthy’s own Academy of Music.  The one half of the core of Oasis serenaded the country’s oldest operating opera house with a handful of the band’s classics, along with his slightly-more-psychedelic recent output.  However, Noel wasn’t the only...

For years now I’ve been heralding San Antonio’s Girl in a Coma as “The only band worthy of their Smiths-inspired moniker” and they still haven’t put it on a T-shirt… That’s okay though, I still love them.  The trio, known for their Southern Fried take on Power Pop, released...

I’m not a big fan of holiday festivities (to put it mildly), however, I must admit that I did enjoy spending this Halloween with Rasputina… well, the first ten or fifteen minutes of this Halloween.  Their 10/30 gig at Johnny Brenda’s spilled slightly past midnight.  The world’s greatest cello...

So hopefully my (and Philthy’s) loyal readers have familiarized themselves with my new weekly column, “Do It for the Kids,” which outlines the city’s best all ages shows for the coming week.  In lieu of my traditional format, considering that there is really only one worthwhile all ages show...

While I will find myself at Union Transfer for Butch Walker tonight, that’s certainly not the evening’s only worthwhile show.  Over at the Electric Factory, Sleeper Agent will be supporting local heroes Circa Survive.  Sleeper Agent are a group of half a dozen youthful power-poppers from Bowling Green, Kentucky. ...

All of my loyal readers, friends, and lovers are well-aware that Elizabeth & the Catapult is my favorite musical project of the past several years (and those especially close know that, in recent years, Elizabeth and I have gotten to be buddies of sorts).  However, Philthy has only gotten...