Weezer S/T Geffen By: Eric Greenwood I had always hated Weezer until a friend of mine gave me a mix tape with "Pink Triangle" off Pinkerton on it. The band that I had once pegged as hammy and slick throwaway pop punk now sounded self-effacing and intelligent and catchy all at the same time. I […]

[Read more →]

Film School Brilliant Career Me Too! By: Eric Greenwood Film School is a self-proclaimed "project" with revolving members. Must be serious. It even has famous special guests. Well, not really. It's just another moody, sprawling, lo-fi rock album that guys from Fuck and Pavement play on. Krayg Burton is the only constant member of Film […]

[Read more →]

Saso Warmed Up Melted Snow By: Eric Greenwood Saso's Warmed Up EP looks like a piece of bubblegum with its light pink and baby blue artwork, but it sounds like a slowly shifting mass, comprised of warm analogue textures. The atmosphere is sparse with steady, unobtrusive percussion and stark guitars. Spoken word samples infiltrate "I'll […]

[Read more →]

Depeche Mode Exciter Mute / Reprise By: Eric Greenwood Depeche Mode flirted with irrelevancy with 1993's overly dramatic and grunge-tinged Songs Of Faith And Devotion, but like so many colossal 1980's holdover bands with too many obsessive fans Depeche Mode talked itself into carrying on, despite singer Dave Gahan's personal turmoil and the prospect of […]

[Read more →]

Modern English Life In The Gladhouse (1980-1984) 4ad By: Eric Greenwood After sitting through this Modern English retrospective in its entirety (comprised of the 4AD years only, thank you), I am utterly perplexed as to where the early 80’s bubble gum alternative hit “I Melt With You” came from. Not a single other song on […]

[Read more →]

Tortoise Standards Thrill Jockey By: Eric Greenwood On its fourth album, Tortoise seems content to buy into the hype that it is, in fact, the pioneering band that fawning critics purport it to be. On the band's last album, TNT, it used the old "studio as an instrument" trick to explain away the utter lifelessness […]

[Read more →]

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 […]

[Read more →]