Fine Points Hover Dine Alone Records[2015] Fire Note Says: Sleepy Sun side project deliver a sunny debut. Album Review: The dreaded side project. Often the product of ego (“My songs keep getting voted down”) or worse (“I always wanted to do a rap album”) they seldom come close to the quality of the music produced … Read more
Vetiver Complete Strangers Easy Sound Recording Co. [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: Complete Strangers is an apt title for Vetiver’s sixth album, as it finds the band (led by songwriter Andy Cabic) moving away from their folk-rock roots. The album opens with “Stranger Still,” a mellow track that features bubbling keyboards, quiet sax additions, trip-hop … Read more
Shana Cleveland & The Sandcastles Oh Man, Cover The Ground Suicide Squeeze Records [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: Shana Cleveland has been performing with a rotating batch of musicians tagged as The Sandcastles for over six years, and now, Oh Man, Cover The Ground is her first proper album. It is a much different record … Read more
Sharon Van Etten I Don’t Want To Let You Down EP Jagjaguwar [2015] Album Review: Sharon Van Etten’s new 5-track EP, I Don’t Want To Let You Down, feels like a coda to last year’s standout LP Are We There. However, this release is lacking some of the humor and fire that had Are We … Read more
Veruca Salt Ghost NotesEl Camino Media [2015] Having reunited with their original lineup in 2013, Veruca Salt have returned with their new LP, Ghost Notes. This album marks the first collaboration between Louise Post and Nina Gordon since 1997’s Eight Arms to Hold You. From a reviewer’s perspective, one might expect a lukewarm response to … Read more
Yonatan Gat Director Joyful Noise Recordings [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: The follow-up to the Israeli-born guitarist’s promising 2014 record Iberian Passage, Yonatan Gat’s Director is largely more of the same—not that that’s a bad thing. Relying heavily on free improvisation and drawing influence from a variety of 60s and 70s acts (think Jimi Hendrix … Read more
Tame Impala Currents Interscope Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Frontman Kevin Parker returns from the void as Tame Impala sweeps us up in his Currents. Album Review: This could be one of the toughest reviews I’ve ever written. Tame Impala’s new album Currents makes it hard not to write Kevin Parker off as a traitor. … Read more
Max Gowan Big People Self-Released [2015] Fire Note Says: Big People is a friendly, catchy blend of bedroom rock and pop hooks. Album Review: Despite the number of bands and artists who make it look easy, putting together a homemade record on your own is a harder task than it looks on the surface. Being … Read more
Dave Segedy Schrodego Old Flame/Jurassic Pop Records [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: Dave Segedy, who just so happens to be a member of Bloomington, IN band Sleeping Bag, jumps out on his own with the ultra-catchy Schrodego. If Tony Molina’s Dissed and Dismissed pushed all of the right pleasure buttons for you, well then you … Read more
Failure The Heart Is A Monster Self-Released [2015] Fire Note Says: Failure return after 19 years with a sonic beast! Album Review: When you talk about the multitude of bands getting back together for a new album. there is none more exciting than Failure. With The Heart Is A Monster, their first new LP in … Read more
Male Gaze Gale Maze Castle Face Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Ripping through space and time, Male Gaze burns with their debut. Album Review: One of the most exciting labels today has to be John Dwyer‘s Castle Face Records. Scooping up artists from the underground and piping them into our ear holes, Dwyer‘s newest discovery … Read more
The National A Lot Of Sorrow (Box Set) 4AD Records [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: “Sorrow found me when I was young / Sorrow waited, sorrow won. / Sorrow that put me on the pills / It’s in my honey it’s in my milk / Don’t leave my hyper heart below.” Now repeat! That is … Read more
Rhett Miller The Traveler ATO Records [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: I have always been a fan of the Old 97’s so it typically is not that hard to enjoy frontman Rhett Miller’s solo work either. The Traveler is his seventh outing with just his name on the spine and I must say – it … Read more
Sweet John Bloom Weird Player Tiny Engines [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: Cambridge, MA’s Sweet John Bloom play quick and fast post-punk rock that will keep your feet tapping. Clocking 15 songs in 35 minutes is harder to do than you might think, especially when they cram all of their high energy guitar and lyrics … Read more
Crocodiles Boys Zoo Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Crocodiles have a strong bite on Boys. Album Review: San Diego’s Crocodiles is a power pop band with a dark twist. Their previous work has been filled with themes of the sinister and the vapid; these themes are ever present on their newest album, Boys. Band members … Read more
Rose Windows Rose Windows Sub Pop Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Rose Windows return for their sophomore and final album. Album Review: For a band that will only put out two albums, the Rose Windows will always have a special place in my heart. Not only was their debut album, The Sun Dogs, one hell … Read more
Heartless Bastards Restless Ones Partisan Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Erika Wennerstrom’s power surged vocals are hard to resist. Album Review: The Cincinnati now Austin based Heartless Bastards return with their fifth full length album, Restless Ones, that will once again dazzle fans with its soulful approach. The band has always been centrally driven from … Read more
Jamie xx In Colour XL Recordings [2015] Fire Note Says: A relaxed build to some truly devastating xx moments, but nothing here rivals the snap of We’re New Here, which feels like a missed opportunity. Album Review: The xx are fun to watch live. Oliver’s big, stage-chewing gait, Romy’s stony confidence. In lesser hands, their … Read more
The Vaccines English Graffiti Columbia Records [2015] Fire Note Says: The Vaccines’ third album has highs and lows. Album Review: The Vaccines are of a proud lineage – the next great rock band from the UK that never quite has the world-beating success that seemed predestined when it hit the scene. The Vaccines have toured … Read more
Brandon Flowers The Desired Effect Island Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Brandon Flowers’ second album is for the masses. Album Review: The voice of the commoner has been taken on by Brandon Flowers. This was hinted at in the The Killers’ (Flowers is the lead singer of the band) previous album, the coming-of-age Battle Born, … Read more
Jack Name Weird Moons Castle Face Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Jack Name returns with an ever-eccentric brand of far-out space pop. Album Review: The first time that I heard Jack Name’s debut album, Light Show, it was easy to place him in the hall of pop eccentrics. Name wasn’t afraid to add concept to … Read more
The Helio Sequence The Helio Sequence Sub Pop Records [2015] Fire Note Says: The Helio Sequence’s latest is long on atmosphere but short on surprises. Album Review: Over the course of five LP’s since forming in 1996, Brandon Summers and Benjamin Weikel have carved out a little niche in the Indie Rock scene by combining … Read more
Swiftumz Everybody Loves Chris Melters [2015] Fire Note Says: Swiftumz offers up a diverse record that will surprise you with each turn. Album Review: There is something to be said for doing your own thing. Chris McVicker, a.k.a. Swiftumz, has been doing just that since his 2011 debut full length Don’t Trip. After releasing a … Read more
Passion Pit Kindred Columbia Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Passion Pit’s most commercially viable album. Album Review: Upon listening to Passion Pit’s new album Kindred, something felt off. As a big fan of the band’s first two albums, I had hefty expectations for this new one. The usual electronic pop was there, a little more … Read more
Faith No More Sol Invictus Reclamation Recordings [2015] Fire Note Says: Faith No More remind you of their relevance. Album Review: Do you know the definition of relevant? Relevant means to bear upon or connect with the matter at hand; pertinent. This one word always surfaces when a band like Faith No More reappear on … Read more