Melochrome Stay A Little Longer Loose Thread By: Eric Greenwood This is not good. It's not that I hate slow music either- it's just that this music lacks any recommendable qualities, and the fact that it's predominantly slow is merely a coincidence. "Seasonlong" has a pretty opening riff. I'll give it that. Strummed slowly, it […]

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Cursive Burst And Bloom Saddle Creek By: Eric Greenwood Tim Kasher obviously takes himself way too seriously, but, wait, he's deconstructing himself in the first song. The title track of this EP is a disclaimer that eliminates any mystery between musician and fan. Kasher's tongue in cheek take on the self-proclaimed "marketing scheme" that is […]

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Hefner We Love The City Too Pure By: Eric Greenwood Somehow, over the course of three albums Hefner has managed to transform its awkward, bookish charm into a grating chore on the ears. We Love The City is both a heartfelt and cynical exploration of the band's love/hate relationship with giddy London, but despite Darren […]

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Saves The Day Stay What You Are Vagrant By: Eric Greenwood Congratulations, Saves The Day- you are going to be rich. It took five guys to create this ingratiating, starry-eyed mess. While clinging onto only the vaguest semblance of what can be construed as punk, Saves The Day serves up a batch of the most […]

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Pinehurst Kids Bleed It Dry Barbaric By: Eric Greenwood Pinehurst Kids express teen angst and common sentimentality in far less obnoxious ways than peers and emo darlings, the Get Up Kids, despite the similarly poppy punk formula. Songwriter Joe Davis has a lightly strained voice when he punches it, and he writes poignant guitar hooks […]

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Swell Everybody Wants To Know Beggars Banquet By: Eric Greenwood I seriously doubt that anyone still cares, but Swell has never been a band that paid much attention to the masses. As underrated and under-appreciated as Swell has been over the past decade, I continue to be amazed every few years or so when some […]

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Bonny Billy More Revery Temporary Residence By: Eric Greenwood When a lauded songwriter puts out a collection of covers it usually indicates a bad case of writer's block, but since this EP follows hot on the heels of the long-awaited full-length, Ease Down The Road, Will Oldham proves that he's merely paying homage as opposed […]

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