Lou Barlow Brace The Wave Joyful Noise Recordings [2015] Fire Note Says: Lou gives you plenty of acoustic intensity on his first solo LP in six years. Album Review: Having seen Lou Barlow last month with the very loud Dinosaur Jr., I was ready for some more alt rock from the veteran when I put … Read more
Destroyer Poison Season Merge Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Dan Bejar is back with the right-on-target Poison Season. Album Review: It’s easy to see why Dan Bejar is so embraced by music critics. He makes music that is unique and complex; distinctive yet accessible to the patient listener. Bejar is back under the Destroyer name … Read more
Royal Headache High What’s Your Rupture? Records [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: So many times bands really screw with their sound following up their debut record. Hence the sophomore slump is a real thing but a true life lesson is knowing that less is sometimes more. For Sydney’s Royal Headache – they get it. High … Read more
Albert Hammond Jr Momentary Masters Vagrant Records [2015] Fire Note Says: This confident new solo record from The Strokes guitarist is a pleasant surprise and continues his artistic rebirth! Album Review: The title of Albert Hammond Jr’s new solo album, Momentary Masters, was inspired by a quote from Carl Sagan of all people, in reference … Read more
The Fratellis Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied Cooking Vinyl [2015] Fire Note Says: The Fratellis perfect their formula. Album Review: Sometimes an album comes along that is so likable that it begs to be listened to. Some albums are creative, experimental, different, and noteworthy. We can recognize those albums as being “great” but it doesn’t mean … Read more
Blackheart Honeymoon Mountains Speak Self-Released [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: With a sound that goes back n forth between Band of Horses and New Pornographers, Seattle’s Blackheart Honeymoon hit a sonic sweet spot on their debut album Mountains Speak. From the more modern indie jangle found on “Bodies” and “Love It All” to the increased … Read more
Ash Kablammo! earMUSIC [2015] Fire Note Says: Irish rockers make a big return with their first new album in 8 years. Album Review: Be honest, how long has it been since you thought about Ash? It’s been quite some time for me as well, but when you think back, wow they had a really nice … Read more
Doubting Thomas Cruise Control Remember Me John Lydon Forever Fleeting Youth Records [2015] Fire Note Says: DTCC bring another flavor to the indie rock scene. Album Review: At some point, did you ever listen to a Pavement track and just think – what the hell were these guys thinking? It was a band that shouldn’t … Read more
POW! Fight Fire Castle Face Records [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: Yes, there is definitely something in the water in the San Francisco area that is causing most of the finest garage rock in the world to be produced there. POW! however, is not your typical San Francisco garage rock band, they spin it off … Read more
Mac DeMarco Another One Captured Tracks [2015] Fire Note Says: Grab a cup of coffee with Mac and enjoy his latest record! Album Review: It’s always a big deal around The Fire Note Headquarters when Mac DeMarco releases a new record, since the release of Rock and Roll Night Club back in 2012, we have … Read more
Wild Raccoon Mount Break Howlin’ Banana Records [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: One-man garage pop from France?! Yes, you heard me right. From across the seas comes Wild Raccoon and his reverb filled mayhem of a record that aims to please. If you are a fan of early Ty Segall or King Khan, Mount Break … Read more
Bully Feels Like StarTime Intl./Columbia Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Bully’s debut makes you wish the nineties never ended. Album Review: Alicia Bognanno has an itch to scratch. Although born the same year Nevermind was released, this particular itch seems to only be scratched effectively by emulating the music being made while still in elementary … Read more
Saint Motel My Type EP Elektra Records [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: From the opening sax on “My Type,” California’s Saint Motel hook you with the latest infectious song of the summer. Pretty good for a track that has been around since 2013 but Saint Motel are proof that sometimes it takes time for music … Read more
Rocky Votolato & Chuck Ragan Kindred Spirit SideOneDummy Records [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: Rocky Votolato and Chuck Ragan should be in your collection of singer/songwriters that you always find time for. Both have had previous success fronting bands; Votolato with Waxwing and Ragan with Hot Water Music. Both now have a much more rooted … Read more
La Luz Weirdo Shrine Hardly Art Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Weirdo Shrine is a wave you should ride all the way in! Album Review: Back in the mid to late 90’s there was a surge in “surf” music that not only found people really digging classics like Dick Dale and The Ventures but new … Read more
The Mynabirds Lovers Know Saddle Creek Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Mynabirds return with a dream-pop gem. Album Review: The current landscape in pop music is dominated by women; this is now extending to rock music as well. With acts like Speedy Ortiz, Sleater Kinney, Sharon Van Etten, and Jenny Lewis (to name a few), … Read more
Chris Staples Cheap Shades EP Barsuk Records [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: Offered as a free download to concertgoers who attend shows on his tour in support of the excellent American Soft, Chris Staples’ Cheap Shades EP is a strong and surprisingly unified release. The two new tracks (“Cheap Shades” and “Cindy, Diana, Janet and … Read more
Elvis Depressedly New Alhambra Run For Cover Records [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: Many times great indie rock lies on the fringes of the mainstream and most of the time it is discovered by accident. I feel that way about Elvis Depressedly, which is technically a side project of Mathew Lee Cothran’s Coma Cinema. With … Read more
Titus Andronicus The Most Lamentable Tragedy Merge Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Risking over-ambition and failure, The Most Lamentable Tragedy has it merits—just hope you’ve done your homework. Album Review: From a literary standpoint, Titus Andronicus could be considered William Shakespeare’s first tragedy, a gruesome tale of rape, violence, and revenge. While New Jersey’s Titus … Read more
Negative Scanner Negative Scanner Trouble In Mind Records [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: Ahh -28 minutes of post-punk bliss is what you get here with the debut from Chicago’s Negative Scanner. Lead vocalist Rebecca Valeriano-Flores has a PJ Harvey meets Sleater-Kinney sound as her pulsing energy pushes and shoves you through the record without ever … Read more
White Reaper White Reaper Does It Again Polyvinyl Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Exciting debut album from hot new Louisville band! Album Review: I’m always looking for good new bands to champion. If you want to catch my ear and hold it, you better have guitars, hooks, attitude, and tunes. White Reaper has all of … Read more
METZ II Sub Pop Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Sometimes more of the same is more than enough. Album Review: Toronto punk trio METZ exploded onto the scene with their blistering debut album in 2012 – the fact that they had honed their craft for almost half a decade before releasing that self-titled gem may … Read more
Nun Nun HoZac Records [2015] Fire Drill Album Review: Nun are from Australia, and as I am sure many of you know, there has never been a bad band from Australia. They are never not good…period. Think I’m kidding, go ahead try and name one. Add Nun to the roll call of great Australian bands, … Read more
Wilco Star Wars ANTI-/dBpm Records [2015] Fire Note Says: This is a free offering you should keep! Album Review: “Thank you and goodnight” is what you could hear after the opening track, “EKG,” on Wilco’s new surprise ninth record Star Wars. The disjointed instrumental affair is loose and free and would fit nicely into this … Read more
Jason Isbell Something More Than Free Southeastern Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Isbell hits his stride on confident follow-up to his classic LP Southeastern. Album Review: After years of flirting with gaining a wider audience, Jason Isbell finally broke big on his excellent fourth album, 2013’s Southeastern. While that album was his most intimate affair … Read more