Duster Contemporary Movement Up By: Eric G. This is the last band you’d expect a former member of Mohinder to be in. Or, maybe, this is the next logical step. Relentless noise has its limitations, but melody is expansive. Duster explores rock through drifting textures and lazy, laid back vocals. The guitar fuzz hangs overhead […]

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Elastica The Menace Atlantic By: Eric G. Let's face it, the bag of tricks was pretty small to begin with- Justine Frischmann had a sexy haircut, good taste in music, and a famous boyfriend. Now she looks like Chrissie Hynde, has the same taste in music she did five years ago, and Damon Albarn has […]

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The Queers Beyond The Valley… of The Assfuckers Hopeless By: Eric G. No matter how wimpy and sensitive punk continues to grow, there will always be bands like The Queers, who, despite being older than your dad, will churn out silly, numbskull pop punk until their guitars are buried with them in punk rock hell. […]

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Spring The Last Goodbye March By: Eric G. Spring is part of that retro-French-pop contingent, where fashion and taste are almost as important as the music itself. There are throngs of imitators trying to capture this mishmash of light, dreamy pop, sixties art, and ultra-modern lifestyle, but they pale in comparison to bands like Spring, […]

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Six By Seven The Closer You Get Mantra / Beggars Banquet By: Eric G. Everybody knows that a bass guitar should never be played through a wah-wah pedal. Six By Seven breaks this rule by the third song on its second album, The Closer You Get. It’s a forgivable mistake, though, and Six By Seven […]

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Fantastic! Sun: What A Wonderful Word! Aquatic / Riviera By: Eric G. Twee French pop is something of a cliche these days because of all the American indie rock imitators, so it’s kind of strange to hear the real thing (or what purports to be the real thing). Fantastic! is another French pop band obsessed […]

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Tracker Ames Film Guerrero By: Eric G. Tracker plays country-tinged indie rock for those with a little blues in their blood, but the blues here doesn’t always sound quite real. You can sniff out everything from Neil Young to Slint on this Portland, Oregon quartet’s debut album, which is a mix of indie country, post-rock, […]

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