Pulp We Love Life Rough Trade/sanctuary By: Eric Greenwood After the dark, hedonistic downer that was 1998’s This Is Hardcore, Pulp returns with the most optimistic and, well, pleasant album of its career. We Love Life is so laid back and serene that it blends into the background, forcing repeated listenings just to absorb its […]

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Ben Kweller Sha Sha Ato By: Eric Greenwood Now that he's old enough to have something substantive to say, Ben Kweller reinvents himself, somewhat deceptively, as a sarcastic slacker songwriter in the tradition of Stephen Malkmus and Rivers Cuomo. Kweller spent the late 1990's as the child prodigy star of the Texas trio, Radish, which, […]

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Future Bible Heroes Eternal Youth Instinct By: Eric Greenwood Even genius songwriters with buckets of talent to spare have their weak moments, and Future Bible Heroes has long been Stephin Merritt's flimsiest endeavor. I think it's because of his lack of control over the proceedings. Merritt shares the songwriting with his old pal Christopher Ewen […]

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Interpol Turn On The Bright Lights Matador By: Eric Greenwood From the first notes of Turn On The Bright Lights I knew that all of my preconceived notions about Interpol were wrong. I imagined a fey, new wave throwback similar to The Faint based on photographs of these guys in conjunction with all the heavy-handed […]

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Superdrag Last Call For Vitriol Arena Rock By: Eric Greenwood I saw Superdrag on Conan O'Brien the other night, and I couldn't believe how much they rocked. It was sweet relief witnessing such a raucous performance after having to listen to Al Franken wax unfunny with a bored Conan about the Bush administration's Iraq quandary. […]

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Mull Historical Society Loss Blanco Y Negro/xl/baggars Banquet By: Eric Greenwood Flirting with that ever-so-English world of whimsical pop, the Mull Historical Society dresses itself in a cloak of many colors, each one representing a different musical flavor. Like its Welsh counterpart, Super Furry Animals, Mull Historical Society relishes its offbeat fancy with an arsenal […]

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Enon High Society Touch And Go By: Eric Greenwood I found out that I'd been pronouncing Enon incorrectly when John Schmersal introduced his band at a live show recently. "Hi, we're 'E-nun'", he said- emphasis on the long 'e' with no attention paid to the second syllable whatsoever. I found his pronunciation puny and submissive. […]

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