My Morning Jacket The Waterfall Capitol Records [2015] Fire Note Says: My Morning Jacket shocks and awes on The Waterfall. Album Review: My Morning Jacket has returned from a four-year studio hiatus with their seventh studio album, The Waterfall. The new album serves to strengthen the band’s identity as an eclectic rock band with a … Read more
The Splits II Dirtnap Records [2015] Fire Note Says: The Splits take no prisoners on sophomore album II. Album Review: Helsinki’s Splits have just arrived on the US shore with their sophomore album, II. The record is a care free 70’s punk ride with a complete in your face attitude that never lets up for … Read more
Built To Spill Untethered Moon Warner Bros. Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Long live the Pacific Northwest sound: Built To Spill is back. Album Review: Although they never really went away, it seemed like we’d never hear from Doug Martsch and his band of merry men again – or at least nothing approaching the brilliance … Read more
Calexico Edge Of The Sun ANTI- [2015] Fire Note Says: Calexico continue to conjure cinematic visions of the southwest with their latest album. Album Review: Calexico is always good. Seriously, even when they are just ok, they are still really good comparatively speaking. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Spiritoso live album, but I … Read more
Van Dale Van Dale Fleeting Youth Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Van Dale screams 90′s indie rock with its unkempt vibe but that is the appealing part. Album Review: Columbus, Ohio’s Van Dale have a very indie back-to-basics sound and that is exactly why you won’t want to put the record down. The band’s self-titled … Read more
Speedy Ortiz Foil Deer Carpark Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Sometimes a band actually lives up to the hype. Album Review: Massachusetts quartet Speedy Ortiz began life as a solo project for poetry professor Sadie Dupuis and her decidedly nineties take on indie rock. Her lyrics came at you fast and furiously and she released … Read more
José González Vestiges & Claws Mute Records [2015] Fire Note Says: José González’s third album shows why he gives indie singer-songwriters a good name. Album Review: José González has always been on the periphery of my music radar—”recommended if you like” lists, collaborations or tours with artists I’m more familiar with, or just word of … Read more
Toro y Moi What For? Carpark Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Toro y Moi refreshes his sound on What For? Album Review: Toro y Moi (aka Chaz Bundick) has taken a leap forward on his new album, What For? Previously Bundick’s music has been much more relaxed and streamlined, heavy on the synthesizer. Bundick forsakes … Read more
Godspeed You! Black Emperor Asunder, Sweet And Other Distresses Constellation Records [2015] Fire Note Says: The noisy Canadians are back. Better run for the hills. Album Review: If ever there was a band in a perpetual bad mood it would have to be these Montreal freaks. Although their targets are mostly well-worn demons: Capitalism, Globalization, … Read more
Iron & Wine Archive Series Vol. No. 1 Black Cricket Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Archival recordings take listeners back to Iron & Wine’s whispery homespun origins. Album Review: Sam Beam has come a long way since his 2002 Sub Pop debut The Creek Drank the Cradle: since those earliest days, Iron & Wine has … Read more
of Montreal Aureate Gloom Polyvinyl Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Kevin Barnes version of the break-up record is as schizo as you’d imagine. Album Review: After eleven years Kevin Barnes and wife Nina Grottland called it quits and we, the indie music consumer, are the ultimate beneficiaries. All the typical Of Montreal signifiers are there … Read more
Victor Villarreal Sleep Talk Joyful Noise Recordings [2015] Fire Note Says: Sleep Talk is the perfect record for a late night of socializing with spirits or just putting on the headphones and drifting off. Album Review: Victor Villarreal has quietly become one of the most respected guitarists on the indie rock scene with his work … Read more
Frankie And The Witch Fingers Frankie And The Witch Fingers Permanent Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Frankie and the Witch Fingers will hit your 60’s garage rock nerve! Album Review: Frankie and the Witch Fingers are a garage rock group originally from Bloomington, Indiana that are currently making the big move to Los Angeles. Their … Read more
Torche Restarter Relapse Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Torche aim to rock you under their heavy groove. Album Review: You can classify Torche into any type of “rock” box you want, be it metal, alternative, radio friendly, sludge or maybe even pop but their fourth album, Restarter, is somewhat of a game changer for the … Read more
Sonny & The Sunsets Talent Night At The Ashram Polyvinyl Records [2015] Fire Note Says: A delightfully weird psychedelic pop album from Sonny & The Sunsets. Album Review: When we last heard from Sonny Smith and his shapeshifting Sunsets on 2013’s Antenna to the Afterworld, he was busy dealing with aliens, death, lost love, affairs, … Read more
The Sidekicks Runners In The Nerved World Epitaph Records [2015] Fire Note Says: The Sidekicks fourth album is pop-tinged punk confection. Album Review: The Sidekicks are a punk outfit from Cleveland, OH. Runners In The Nerved World is the band’s fourth studio release and my first exposure to the band. The Sidekicks sound like a … Read more
Small Houses Still Talk; Second City The Cottage Recording Co. [2015] Fire Note Says: Small Houses releases a record from the core. Album Review: If you have read the Fire Note long enough, most people know that I have this solid place in my music library reserved for the honest singer/songwriter. Right next to my … Read more
Quarterbacks Quarterbacks Team Love Records [2015] Fire Note Says: Quarterbacks expand on fun self-titled full length. Album Review: Quarterbacks has yet another short and sweet release. Their self-titled album is the longest yet, with 19 tracks. The album only runs 22 minutes but somehow they manage to make every song jam-packed with memories, people, and … Read more
Mourn Mourn Captured Tracks [2015] Fire Note Says: Don’t let the age of Mourn fool you. Album Review: What if I asked you to tell my why you like new music? What would you say? Does a record need to meet a certain critic criteria to be liked such as Pitchfork’s Best New Music or … Read more
Dave Kerzner New World (Deluxe Edition) eSoundz [2015] Fire Note Says: Dave Kezner’s rolodex is way better than yours and he proves it! Album Review: I became aware of Dave Kerzner through his association with Phil Collins’ son, Simon, and their short-lived band Sound Of Contact. That band released one terrific album, Dimensionaut, and then … Read more
Ty Segall Band Live In San Francisco Castle Face Records [2015] Fire Note Says: The Ty Segall Band take no prisoners on the excellent Live in San Francisco. Album Review: Every so often an artist comes around where you don’t even need to think about it, you just buy the records. Ty Segall is unquestionably … Read more
Beardfish +4626-Comfortzone Inside Out Music [2015] Fire Note Says: Eclectic Swedes take listeners on a strange and diverse journey. Album Review: Beardfish is, as their name might imply, one strange band. Through eight albums since their formation in 2001 they have never locked into one sound nor have they become beholden to any particular set … Read more
Pond Man It Feels Like Space Again Modular Recordings [2015] Fire Note Says: Tame Impala offshoot Pond returns only to blast back into space. Album Review: It’s interesting to think that 2013’s Hobo Rocket was recorded before Pond’s current release Man It Feels Like Space Again. While reviewing Hobo Rocket I said the album “speaks … Read more
Ricked Wicky I Sell The Circus Guided By Voices Inc. [2015] Fire Note Says: You want rock? Pollard’s Ricked Wicky has you covered! Album Review: If you have been a fan of the Guided By Voices reunion output then I am sure you are still feeling the punch in the gut that came back in … Read more
Benjamin Booker Benjamin Booker ATO Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Benjamin Booker’s debut LP is ambitious and fun. Album Review: Benjamin Booker might have put out the best blues-rock album in 2014. In a year in which such high-profile acts like The Black Keys, Jack White, and Black Pistol Fire put out new albums, this … Read more