Ghost Wave Ages Flying Nun Records [2013] Fire Note Says: New Zealand band explores the origins of Kiwi-pop – and a whole lot more. Album Review: The flood of garage psych bands to come from New Zealand has baffled music critics for years. Since the early eighties it has been one great little band after … Read more
Raccoon Fighter ZIL Papercup Music [2013] Fire Note Says: Raccoon Fighter keeps the T-Rex flame burning bright on debut album. Album Review: Brooklyn has been home base for so many bands and so many different genres that it is a little surprising that gritty, hipster blues-rock hasn’t really been heard emanating from the Borough of … Read more
Sebadoh Defend Yourself Joyful Noise Recordings [2013] Fire Note Says: Lo-fi pioneers Sebadoh return with a brutish and unpolished gem. Album Review: With all the nineties acts resurfacing to reclaim past glories, it’s hard to separate the new Sebadoh album from say, Dinosaur Jr. and Guided By Voices’ recent releases. Comparisons are inevitable and, as … Read more
The Gardenheads Growing Season Wee Rock Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Midwest rockers split the difference between power pop and classic rock on sophomore album. Album Review: I don’t know anything about Springfield, Missouri except that it is home to the great Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin and Missouri State University. I Googled it … Read more
Holograms Forever Captured Tracks Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Swedish post-punk band proudly fly the Factory Records flag on solid second album. Album Review: Stockholm is usually perceived as a peaceful, almost Utopian, place. That image was shattered after ten days of intense rioting in May of this year as immigrant youth took to the … Read more
Adam Franklin & Bolts Of Melody Black Horses Goodnight Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Ex-Swervedriver front man consistently delivers and Black Horses may be his best solo work yet. Album Review: For those of us who still worship at the altar of Oxford shoe gazers Swervedriver the mere fact that Adam Franklin is still active … Read more
Soft Metals Lenses Captured Tracks Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Soft Metals’ sophomore release is nocturnal EDM for lovers and people who dislike dance music. Album Review: Having met at a party, Patricia Hall and Ian Hicks did what all Portland hipsters do instead of marrying – they started a band. Since their eponymous 2011 … Read more
Weekend Jinx Slumberland Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Brooklyn via San Francisco band add some New Wave flavor to their second album. Album Review: Weekend’s 2010 debut, Sports, was a loud, distorted and uncompromising affair. It was also almost unlistenable. Even front man Shaun Durkan has admitted to having difficulty sitting through it in its … Read more
Medicine To The Happy Few Captured Tracks Records [2013] Fire Note Says: After an 18 year hiatus, the original line-up conjures up a dose of psychedelic excellence. Album Review: There have been reunions aplenty of late. From our beloved Guided By Voices to Archers Of Loaf, Dinosaur Jr. and The Dismemberment Plan, but none are … Read more
Hospital Ships Destruction In Yr Soul Graveface Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Hospital Ships third album aims for the back seats at an arena near you. Album Review: Call me a sentimentalist or an old fuddy-duddy, I don’t care. The thought of The Dismemberment Plan, Sebadoh and Superchunk all with albums on the horizon makes … Read more
Beach Day Trip Trap Attack Kanine Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Beach Day’s debut sounds exactly as you would expect – only much better. Album Review: Hollywood, Florida is about the last place I would look if searching for a really cool indie band. Home to a mass a retirees and French-Canadian “snowbirds” (yes, your … Read more
Cloakroom Infinity Run For Cover Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Indiana’s Cloakroom plays it slow and steady on an impressive debut. Album Review: Having done a little bit of research before listening to Cloakroom’s debut EP/LP (it clocks in at around 29 minutes, so I’m not sure what this is!) I fully expected a pop-punk … Read more
Speedwell Start To Finish Coolidge Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Posthumous release from unheralded DC band covers their entire recorded history. Album Review: Formed in 1996 by Meredith Bragg, Troy Farmer and Jonathan Roth (and later joined by Brian Minter), Speedwell was destined to be a band no one ever heard. Despite touring with Engine … Read more
Speedy Ortiz Major Arcana Carpark Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Massachusetts band release an album of surprising depth despite their early nineties indie rock obsession. Album Review: Speedy Ortiz lead singer and songwriter Sadie Dupuis hails from Northampton, MA – a stone’s throw from Amherst, hometown of J. Mascis. The geographic proximity is bested, however, … Read more
Lust For Youth Perfect View Sacred Bones Records [2013] Fire Note Says: Hannes Norrvide’s second album as Lust For Youth is a monolithic slab of smooth 80’s synth pop. Album Review: Sweden is a cold place. Winters there are not a great deal of fun (or so I’m told.) So here we are in the … Read more
Heliotropes A Constant Sea Manimal Vinyl [2013] Fire Note Says: All girl Brooklyn four piece drop a very satisfying sludge-filled, psych-pop debut. Album Review: Every day, it seems, there comes down the pike another new band brandishing remnants and half-remembered pieces of yesteryear’s sound. From 60’s girl group to 70’s stoner rock and 80’s new … Read more
Gauntlet Hair Stills Dead Oceans Records [2013] Fire Note Says: With their second album the electro-noise duo move closer to the mainstream – but only a little. Album Review: On their 2011 self-titled debut, Denver-via-Chicago duo Gauntlet Hair appeared to be one of many like-minded acts operating with a clear and obvious debt to Animal … Read more
Blood Ceremony The Eldritch Dark Rise Above Records [2013] Fire Note Says: If Black Sabbath and Jethro Tull had a love child – this would be it. Album Review: The occult rock phenomenon that has taken hold of the metal world had a beginning and it was Canada’s Blood Ceremony. The blueprint had been there … Read more
Pedaljets What’s In Between Electric Moth Records [2013] Fire Note Says: The Pedaljets return after a twenty-three year break with a solid, if unremarkable, album. Album Review: Back in the late eighties Lawrence, Kansas four-piece, Pedaljets, released two strong LP’s (1988’s Today Today and a self-titled follow-up in 1989) to some acclaim – mostly critical. … Read more
Future Bible Heroes Partygoing Merge Records [2013] Fire Note Says: After an eleven year hiatus Stephin Merritt revives the Future Bible Heroes brand. And it was worth the wait. Album Review: Stephin Merritt is a titan. The Mount Rushmore of indie is almost certainly carved with his face on it (along with Pollard, Malkmus and … Read more
Deafheaven Sunbather Deathwish Inc. [2013] Fire Note Says: The most hyped metal album in years lives up to its over-sized ambition. Album Review: From Stereogum’s Album Of The Week designation to Pitchfork’s Best New Music tag, Deafheaven’s sophomore album, Sunbather, has certainly been getting a lot of attention in the indie music blogosphere. Some have … Read more
The Builders And The Butchers Western Medicine Badman Recording Co. [2013] Fire Note Says: More High Plains drama from Portland via Alaska desert folk rockers. Album Review: Soaked in the soil and dusty from the desert, head Builder/Butcher Ryan Sollee is an intense singer and truly an acquired taste. His strange relationship with pitch and … Read more
The Mantles Long Enough To Leave Slumberland Records [2013] Fire Note Says: The Mantles wear their influences on their sleeves but don’t call this a revival. Album Review: The San Francisco garage scene is alive and well. Yes indeed. With The Fresh & Onlys, Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, White Fence, etc. there seems to … Read more
Duquette Johnston Rabbit Runs A Destiny Communicating Vessels [2013] Fire Note Says: Birmingham, Alabama singer/songwriter finally releases an album worthy if his considerable talent. Album Review: Since forming 90’s alt-rock band Verbena (with A. A. Bondy) Johnston has kept a relatively low profile. He quit the band prior to their signing to Capitol Records and … Read more
The Lonelyhearts Years In The Great Interior Maximum Ames Records [2013] Fire Note Says: There’s a lot more going on with The Lonelyhearts than a first listen might suggest. Album Review: The practice of writing good and interesting lyrics is somewhat of a lost art. Folk singers were the true torch carriers throughout much of … Read more