Broken Bells After The Disco Columbia Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Broken Bells’ second LP could use a bit more energy. Album Review: James Mercer and Danger Mouse (Brian Burton), the two principals of Broken Bells, have collaborated again on recent release After The Disco. Being a big fan of The Shins and a lot … Read more
Juan Wauters N.A.P. North American Poetry Captured Tracks [2014] Fire Note Says: The Beets frontman, Juan Wauters, goes acoustic on solo debut. Album Review: N.A.P. North American Poetry is Juan Wauters debut record but as a founding member and vocalist of fun garage rockers The Beets, he is no stranger to being front and center … Read more
The Chambermaids Whatever Happened Tomorrow Guilt Ridden Pop/Old Blackberry Way [2013] Fire Note Says: Minneapolis brother/sister act hit all the right notes with an all-too-short third album. Album Review: The Chambermaids are an on-again/off-again dream pop outfit headed by siblings Neil and Martha Weir. Formed in 2003 as The Shut-In’s, their tendency to go on … Read more
Mode Moderne Occult Delight Light Organ Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Mode Moderne’s Occult Delight is dark and catchy. Album Review: Mode Moderne is a neo-New Wave band based out of Vancouver. When I think of Vancouver I think of the Pacific Northwest – a little dark and rainy but also progressive. This description fits … Read more
Dum Dum Girls Too True Sub Pop Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Too True features a throwback 80s sound that is hard to root against. Album Review: It seems to me like Dee Dee Penny is searching for her own sound. The first Dum Dum Girls album, I Will Be, was a wonderful collection of … Read more
Rebuilder Rebuilder EP Refuse Rethink Rebuild Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Rebuilder brings the energy with their eponymous debut EP. Album Review: Rebuilder is a punk band from Boston that formed in January 2013 and then put out their first EP (Rebuilder) in July of the same year. Band members include Sal Ellington (guitar and … Read more
Acid Fast Rabid Moon Protagonist Music/Stupid Bag Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Acid Fast conjure up images of a time long, long ago: the glorious post-hardcore nineties. Album Review: Some records hew just a little too close to their influences while others thread the needle by infusing enough personality to make all the rehashing bearable. … Read more
Grass Is Green Vacation Vinny Exploding In Sound Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Grass Is Green make a post-punk record you can have fun with. Album Review: Boston band Grass Is Green take a Fugazi meets Pavement approach on their new record Vacation Vinny which has an instant appeal right from the opening track “Sammy … Read more
Warpaint Warpaint Rough Trade Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Warpaint provide a technically and musically sound sophomore record. Album Review: It took some time with Warpaint’s debut record, The Fool (2010), to really absorb their sound but after repeat listens their smooth but somewhat cold delivery won you over. On the band’s self-titled sophomore return … Read more
AFI Burials Republic Records [2013] Fire Note Says: AFI pleases fans with its 9th album Burials. Album Review: AFI is someone’s favorite band. That person got excited when they heard that AFI was in the studio again to release their ninth studio album in 18 years. (Take a second to let that fact sink in.) … Read more
Terry Malts Nobody Realizes This Is Nowhere Slumberland Records [2013] Fire Note Says: San Francisco scuzz-punks return with a short reminder of why punk still matters. Album Review: With the demise of Brit-pop sound-a-likes Magic Bullets (from which all three members of Terry Malts sprang) vocalist Phil Benson, guitarist Corey Cunningham and drummer Nathan Sweatt … Read more
Sun Stone Revolvers Spaceship X Optical Sounds [2013] Fire Note Says: Sun Stone Revolvers keep things surprising with the space-soaked grower Spaceship X Album Review: It seems there are a couple of places that Sun Stone Revolvers would like to be welcomed: a vampire rave á la the movie Blade, somewhere nicely hidden in a … Read more
Upset She’s Gone Don Giovanni Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Upset play pop-punk like it should be – tight and catchy! Album Review: Here is a record I sat on stupidly last year. It can be a little overwhelming at times around Fire Note headquarters as releases roll in and sometimes we miss one that … Read more
The Paper Kites States Nettwerk Records [2013] Fire Note Says: The Paper Kites build on the success of their Young North EP. Album Review: When I reviewed The Paper Kites previous release, the Young North EP (TFN Review), I noted that the band seemed poised for greatness. The warm, shuffling folky atmosphere of the EP … Read more
Crooks On Tape Fingerprint Misra Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Crooks On Tape continue the charm of members previous bands. Album Review: If you are similar to me then you always follow artists you like to their next project. In the case of Crooks On Tape that would be John Schmersal with a resume that … Read more
FUZZ Live In San Francisco Castle Face Records [2013] Fire Note Says: The Live In San Francisco series keeps cooking with the ever burly FUZZ. Album Review: I‘m a huge FUZZ fiend. Not only was their debut s/t album something to get excited for (TFN Review), but the collection of 45s leading up to its … Read more
Younger Lovers Sugar In My Pocket Southpaw Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Super catchy lo fi indie pop with high replay value. Album Review: Sugar in My Pocket, the new album from Younger Lovers is exactly the kind of record I enjoy discovering. Its 12 songs fly by in just about 22 minutes, so It … Read more
Black Books Black Books Self-Released [2013] Fire Note Says: This may be Black Books’ first album, but they’ve clearly done their homework. Album Review: The biographical blurb on Black Books’ BandCamp page notes that the band has been “playing music together since forever.” It shows. Their debut album is by no means a classic, but … Read more
Jeffrey Novak Lemon Kid Trouble In Mind Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Lemon Kid puts a different twist on that familiar Garage Rock sound. Album Review: The music of Tennessee native, Jeffrey Novak, calls to mind another Tennessean, Jay Reatard. Novak doesn’t particularly sound like Reatard, but he does share a unique ability to pull … Read more
Jorma Whittaker Jorma Joyful Noise Recordings [2013] Fire Note Says: Singer/songwriter Jorma Whittaker will fill your winter indie blahs. Album Review: Do you ever like to sit alone, put on some headphones and just let a singer/songwriter take over your brain? If that is the case then the new solo disc from Marmoset frontman, Jorma … Read more
Autistic Youth Nonage Dirtnap Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Autistic Youth bring the punk on their junior LP Nonage. Album Review: Punk rock has been in a weird place for a while now but that does not mean there has not been several quality records released. In fact, it just means there are plenty of … Read more
Black Flag What The… SST Records [2013] Fire Note Says: First New Black Flag studio album in 26 years is better than you have heard. Album Review: It’s been 26 years since Black Flag last roared out of SoCal with a new album. 26 years, that’s hard to believe isn’t it? On their new album, … Read more
Epicycle You’re Not Gonna Get It HoZac Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Chicago area powerpop/punk band get the anthology treatment. Album Review: File under: could have been big. Or three years of bratty suburban mayhem distilled into one really cool record. During their original incarnation Epicycle put out one LP and a handful of 7″ … Read more
Shearwater Fellow Travelers Sub Pop Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Jonathan Meiburg’s latest re-works the songs of tourmates past and present. Album Review: Ah…the dreaded covers album. From David Bowie to Nick Cave, The Ramones to Ozzy, Tori Amos to Nada Surf, it seems sooner or later every artist gets the itch to record an … Read more
Thee Oh Sees Singles Collection Volume 3 Castle Face Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Thee Oh Sees brandish their catalogue rarities/gems’ with the same familiar fun and intensity. Album Review: I‘m a huge Thee Oh Sees fan as Floating Coffin (TFN Review), for me, is a top fifteen of the year. But this isn’t going … Read more