Kim GordonThe CollectiveMatador Records [2024] Album Overview: The Collective is Kim Gordon’s follow-up to her 2019 solo debut album, No Home Record. Produced by Justin Raisen (Lil Yachty, John Cale, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Charli XCX) and featuring additional production from Anthony Paul Lopez, the album explores themes of communication, commercialism, and sensory overload. It diverges … Read more
Out May 3, ‘Funeral for Justice’ is the new album by Mdou Moctar. Recorded at the close of two years spent touring the globe following the release of 2021 breakout Afrique Victime, it captures the Nigerien quartet in ferocious form. The music is louder, faster, and more wild. The guitar solos are feedback-scorched and the … Read more
Musician and visual artist Kim Gordon returns with her second solo album, The Collective, which will be released March 8th on Matador. Its lead track, “Bye Bye,” is out now, driven by a snaking bassline which guides us through a haunting packing list. Gordon will also play six live shows around The Collective’s arrival, beginning March 21 in Burlington, Vt. (full list … Read more
Car Seat HeadrestFaces From The MasqueradeMatador Records [2023] I remember seeing Will Toledo and Car Seat Headrest early on back in 2016, soon after Teens Of Denial was released. I recall them being very timid on stage. Fast forward to 2023, and Faces From The Masquerade showcases Car Seat Headrest playing three consecutive sold-out nights … Read more
Marking the release of Crowd Can Talk / Dressed in Trenches today, a composite of two EPs, rising Chicago trio Lifeguard have released a video performing lead single “17-18 Lovesong” live at Electrical Audio studio in Chicago. The performance is culled from an 8-song session recorded by Steve Albini that will premier Thursday, July 13, … Read more
Queens Of The Stone AgeIn Times New Roman…Matador Records [2023] To say that Josh Homme has been an influential presence in rock music since the mid-’80s is an undeniable truth. Placed somewhere between a V8 Hemi and the undead Elvis, Homme has stumbled, fuzzed, buzzed, strutted, and grooved through all of his endeavors, gaining notoriety … Read more
Water From Your EyesEveryone’s CrushedMatador Records [2023] Water From Your Eyes, the Brooklyn-based duo comprised of Nate Amos and Rachel Brown, has returned with Everyone’s Crushed, an album that defies easy categorization, blending elements of indie rock, experimental pop, post-punk, and electronica. Drawing influences from bands like Animal Collective, Björk, and Radiohead, the duo has … Read more
Water From Your Eyes have released a new single and video “14,” the latest preview from their forthcoming album and Matador debut Everyone’s Crushed, out this Friday May 26th. A crescendo of swelling strings, pizzicato and electronic drone moving around a cyclical vocal refrain of “How many is 14?,” the band describe the song as … Read more
That’s the sentiment that animates Water From Your Eyes on their new album, and first for Matador, Everyone’s Crushed, out May 26. On the follow-up to the Brooklyn duo’s 2021 breakthrough, Structure, Rachel Brown (they/them) and Nate Amos (he/him) find silliness and fatalism dancing in a frantic lockstep, using heart palpitating rhythms and absurdist, deadpan … Read more
Yo La TengoThis Stupid WorldMatador Records [2023] This Hoboken, N.J., indie-rock trio have been faithfully plugging along for nearly 40 years, with a new release every few years offering their assessment of what was going on in the world around us. For instance, in 2020 as the pandemic was kicking all of our asses, Yo … Read more
Belle And SebastianLate DevelopersMatador Records [2023] When novelist Nick Hornsby wrote that “Sentimental music has this great way of taking you back somewhere at the same time that it takes you forward, so you feel nostalgic and hopeful at the same time,” he tapped into a vibe that runs close to the surface in the … Read more
SpoonLucifer On The MoonMatador Records [2022] In just a few weeks, The Fire Note will publish its writers’ favorites and picks for the best releases of the year, and it’ll be no surprise to find Spoon’s Lucifer on the Sofa near the top of my list. The “Headphone Approved” release has been nominated for a … Read more
InterpolThe Other Side Of Make-BelieveMatador Records [2022] On the easy-going final track of NYC-band Interpol’s 7th studio album, The Other Side of Make-Believe, vocalist Paul Banks sings, “I keep pushing it forward/all these obstacles in my way,” so perhaps the best advice given all of life’s challenges and disappointments is to “Go Easy.” In the … Read more
HorsegirlVersions Of Modern PerformanceMatador Records [2022] Chicago’s Horsegirl is a fantastic throwback nod to some indie guitar greats of the past that include Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine and Gang Of Four. The trio of Penelope Lowenstein (guitar, vocals), Nora Cheng (guitar, vocals), and Gigi Reece (drums) represent a fresh face of artists that have … Read more
Chicago band Horsegirl – Nora Cheng (guitar, vocals), Penelope Lowenstein (guitar, vocals), and Gigi Reece (drums) – unveil a new single/video, “Dirtbag Transformation (Still Dirty),” from their debut album, Versions of Modern Performance, out June 3rd on Matador. In-step with a string of incredibly well-received singles, “Dirtbag Transformation (Still Dirty)” is a scuffed up, guitar-driven piece of garage-pop. The tracks’ lyrics brim with alliteration and slanted rhymes, … Read more
Here is a brand-new video for the Pavement B-side “Harness Your Hopes,” directed by Alex Ross Perry (Her Smell) and starring Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets). The song is drawn from the Spit on a Stranger EP, which Matador will reissue as a 12” on April 8th alongside the release of Terror Twilight: Farewell Horizontal. A bit … Read more
Chicago trio Horsegirl have announced their debut record, Versions of Modern Performance, out June 3rd on Matador, a summer tour, and present charged lead single/video, “Anti-glory.” Penelope Lowenstein (guitar, vocals), Nora Cheng (guitar, vocals), and Gigi Reece (drums) – the best friends comprising Horsegirl – do everything collectively, from songwriting to trading vocal duties and … Read more
SpoonLucifer On The SofaMatador Records [2022] With the release of Everything Hits At Once: The Best of Spoon and a summer tour opening for “The Night Running” amphitheater tour, with co-bill headliners Beck and Cage the Elephant, it felt like Spoon was poised in 2019 to step up to the next level. A new single, … Read more
Spoon have shared “My Babe,” the third and final advance listen of their forthcoming album Lucifer on the Sofa which is out February 11th via (Matador Records). “My Babe” is a song of contrast. What begins as a sentimental ballad with a heartbreaking piano melody yields to an exuberant chorus with a proclamation of sheer … Read more
Snail MailValentineMatador Records [2021] As the “best of year” lists – here at The Fire Note, and everywhere music fans and music critics connect – 2021 may have been a rough year due to the pandemic, but it was a great year for new music. At year’s end we saw a flurry of new releases, … Read more
Spoon’s tenth album, Lucifer on the Sofa, is the band’s purest rock ’n roll record to date. Texas-made, it is the first set of songs that the quintet has put to tape in its hometown of Austin in more than a decade. Lucifer on the Sofa bottles the physical thrill of a band tearing up … Read more
Steve GunnOther YouMatador Records [2021] Steve Gunn may have started out as a go-to sideman who worked with Kurt Vile, desirable for his estimable guitar chops, here on his sixth solo album the singer/songwriter has created a potent collection that allow all his musical gifts and influences to coalesce. Recorded on the left coast, the … Read more
Lucy Dacus continues her support of new album, Home Video, released just over two months ago via Matador. When the album’s third single, “Brando,” was released, a contest was announced inviting fans to send in a video of themselves dancing, skateboarding, ice skating, etc. to the song. Now and over 100 submissions later, the “Brando” … Read more
Lucy DacusHome VideoMatador Records [2021] Lucy Dacus returns with her third album, Home Video, and it arrives at a perfect time as her profile on the indie scene has only increased since her excellent 2018 sophomore record Historian. With the skyrocket success of her collaborative partner Phoebe Bridgers and their side project boygenius with Julien … Read more
Other You is the sixth studio album by American singer Steve Gunn that will be released August 27th on Matador. Recorded during two visits to Los Angeles in late 2020 and early 2021, the album was made with veteran producer Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith, Cass McCombs, Kurt Vile) at his Mant Studios alongside musician … Read more