Mogwai Rock Action Matador By: Eric Greenwood With media culture catering to shorter and shorter attention spans, it's difficult for bands to justify songs that run triple the time of what is universally acceptable in the context of rock music; Mogwai not only thumbs its nose at such absurd notions but runs in the opposite […]

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The Mother Hips Green Hills Of Earth Future Farmer By: Eric Greenwood How many different ways can you announce that you're a hippie? Well, you could have the word "mother" in your band name. Or you could mention both "green" and "earth" in your album title. Or, better yet, you could record for a label […]

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Guyana Punch Line Irritainment Prank By: Eric Greenwood Guyana Punch Line's last seven-inch hinted only slightly as to the direction of the full-length to come. Irritainment is this Columbia, South Carolina quartet's tour de force, melding what are now hard core cliches with a brutal new beat. Where the band's debut, Maximum Smashism, relied heavily […]

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Appendix Out The Night Is Advancing Drag City By: Eric Greenwood Appendix Out still wallows in the beauty of its own rustic musings on its third album, but this time there's a hint of aggression beneath the fragile discontent. Ali Roberts' voice is the centerpiece of this dark, sparsely arranged neo-folk. His Glaswegian drawl luring […]

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The Sisterhood Of Convoluted Thinkers Ume Sour Darla By: Eric Greenwood To say that The Sisterhood Of Convoluted Thinkers' music is unconventional doesn't even begin to cover it. Underneath all the weirdness you can hear Rob Christiansen's indie rock roots. He played with Mark Robinson and Jenny Toomey in Grenadine and was the trombone player […]

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The Revolutionary Hydra The Swiss Admiral EP Burnout By: Eric Greenwood The Revolutionary Hydra follows up its quirky, idiosyncratic if not longwinded opus, The Antiphony, with this slightly more straightforward and ear-catching EP. Catchy pop rarely comes cloaked in this much dissonance and nonchalance; but then again Pavement made a career out of such anti-pop-is-pop […]

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Kristin Hersh Sunny Border Blue 4ad By: Eric Greenwood "I wanted you to sleep with her and hate yourself instead of me/I wanted you untrue, hating yourself like me" ("Spain"). Kristin Hersh has never been one to mince words, but Sunny Border Blue finds her in a much darker place than usual, and if you're […]

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