Gem Club In Roses Hardly Art Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Take a serene walk through the park with Gem Club. Album Review: Gem Club is a chamber pop trio that hails from Somerville, Massachusetts. The group is comprised of Christopher Barnes (piano and vocals), Kristen Drymala (cello), and Ieva Berberian (vocals). They released their … Read more
Doug Tuttle Doug Tuttle Trouble In Mind Records[2014] Fire Note Says: Former MMOSS guitarist takes off on a solo trip back to the psychedelic sixties. Album Review: New Hampshire band MMOSS put out two albums and called it quits. About that same time Tuttle and girlfriend (and fellow MMOSS member) Rachel Neveu also broke up. … Read more
The Autumn Defense Fifth Yep Roc Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Wilco members offer up immaculately-produced 60s-style pop-rock. Album Review: A collaboration between Wilco bassist John Stirratt and Wilco multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone, The Autumn Defense started releasing albums around the same time as Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (though Sansone didn’t join Wilco until 2003). Now … Read more
Holy Wave Relax The Reverberation Appreciation Society [2014] Fire Note Says: With Relax, Holy Wave heed their own advice. Album Review: Holy Wave’s last outing, Evil Hits, struck me as a great surprise. Labeled by yours truly as “a water slide of groove driven wonder,” the wide open song structures, authenticity, and fantastic psychedelic momentum … Read more
Farewell Dear Ghost We Colour The Night Minty Fresh Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Farewell Dear Ghost provide plenty of melodic indie rock that sticks. Album Review: Let me tell you about this melodic new album from Austria’s Farewell Dear Ghost. It is a record that I have been sitting on since December but consistently … Read more
Quilt Held In Splendor Mexican Summer Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Boston psych folk trio offer up a breezy, groovy winner. Album Review: Quilt’s self-titled first album was recorded piecemeal across three years and numerous home studios – and it sounded like it. Not that it was terrible or anything, quite the contrary. It was … Read more
Drowners Drowners Frenchkiss Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Drowners show off their attitude and tunes on their debut album, could they be the next big thing? Album Review: Sometimes a new band comes along and fills a gap for me that has been vacated by a band either breaking up, or completely growing out of … Read more
The Rifles None The Wiser Cooking Vinyl [2014] Fire Note Says: The Rifles return to their more rocking sound with triumphant results! Album Review: The original quartet of The Rifles recorded two of my favorite records of the past 10 years with their debut album No Love Lost, and its follow-up Great Escape. Following Great … Read more
The New Mendicants Into The Lime Ashmont Records [2014] Fire Note Says: The Pernice Brothers + Teenage Fanclub = Creamy Pop Heaven Album Review: When Joe Pernice and Norman Blake make a record together, you don’t ask many questions, you just listen to it. When that record, Into The Lime, completely lives up to your … Read more
The Pack A.D. Do Not Engage Nettwerk Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Don’t be afraid to engage with Do Not Engage – it will not disappoint. Album Review: When The Pack A.D. first crossed my radar I was already prepared to approach with a dismissive attitude. But first impressions can be deceiving, because when this … Read more
The Lawrence Arms Metropole Epitaph Records [2014] Fire Note Says: The Lawrence Arms return with a record of hooks, punk, and regret. Album Review: If I were to list some of the great pop-punk records of the early 2000’s, Chicago’s Lawrence Arms Apathy and Exhaustion (2002) would be right there near the top of the … Read more
Hospitality Trouble Merge Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Hospitality’s Trouble happily doesn’t live up to its title. Album Review: I’ve listened to Hospitality’s sophomore LP Trouble many times and it is still difficult to get a feel for this album. At times psychedelic, at others poppy, and yet at others rocking, Trouble doesn’t lend itself … 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
The Gaslight Anthem The B-Sides SideOneDummy Records [2014] Fire Note Says: The Gaslight Anthem fails to hit the mark with The B-Sides. Album Review: When a band releases a b-sides album you always hope that a forgotten or overlooked gem gets to shine. There are tons of examples of this – the one that always … Read more
Sleepy Sun Maui Tears Dine Alone Records [2014] Fire Note Says: San Francisco psych stalwarts return with an energetic and trippy fourth album. Album Review: Okay, so there’s this five piece band out of San Francisco named Sleepy Sun. Quick: guess what they sound like! Yup. They sound exactly like that. And then some. There’s … Read more