Pissed Jeans Shallow Sub Pop Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Shallow shows where the wallow rock all started. Album Review: Sub Pop Records has had two important reissues this year with the releases of the Sleater Kinney box set Start Together and the pre-Shins band Flake Music’s When You Land Here, It’s Time To Return. … Read more
The Flaming Lips With A Little Help From My Fwends Warner Bros. Records [2014] Fire Note Says: The Flaming Lips and fwends are at it again, adding their special flavor of space bombast to a timeless classic. Album Review: “It’s in the realm of the gods,” says bandleader Wayne Coyne, in an interview with Arun … Read more
October is almost gone which means that it is time for The Fire Note’s monthly Bandcamp feature! Here are 10 artists that should be on your trick-or-treat playlists. In this edition you will find upbeat sad songs from New York, a calm and cool release from Los Angeles, psychedelic neo soul from Canada and a … Read more
Thom Yorke Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes Self-Released [2014] Fire Note Says: Thom Yorke surprises all with his second, new solo outing. Album Review: The word ‘surprises’ is often a part of the phrase ‘surprises and delights’. Why not here, you may ask? Well, if you consider yourself a fan of Thom Yorke then Tomorrows Modern Boxes … Read more
King Tuff Black Moon Spell Sub Pop Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Kyle Thomas returns to cast his Black Moon Spell. Album Review: In my opinion, it could be argued that King Tuff’s Was Dead was one of Burger Records’ most important reissues. Not to demean his self-titled Sub Pop debut follow up but I … Read more
A Shoreline Dream The Silent Sunrise Latenight Weeknight Records [2014] Fire Note Says: A Shoreline Dream return to sweep you away with The Silent Sunrise. Album Review: What I enjoyed most about A Shoreline Dream‘s last project, the 333 EP collection was the influence behind the compiling. The first one released, Three, was influenced by … Read more
Lonesome Shack More Primitive Alive Naturalsound Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Lonesome Shack’s More Primitive hits that blues sweet spot. Album Review: When first hearing Lonesome Shack’s More Primitive it’s easy to be reminded of albums such as The Big Come Up, Keep On Your Mean Side, The White Stripes, Every Hour is a Dollar … Read more
Wand Ganglion Reef GOD?/Drag City Records [2014] Fire Note Says: With one wave of Wand, originality and individuality immediately become apparent. Album Review: We live in a world where many artists try to reshape psychedelic music, and a lot of those who try fail. When trying to capturing lightning in a bottle for that crucial … Read more
The Fire Note’s August Bandcamp feature is closing out the summer with another batch of new artists to put an ear on. In this edition you can find some elegantly-wasted country from LA, harder edged music from Germany, folk and brass from Greensboro and good old indie rock from Bloomington. Make sure you Discover, Support … Read more
Stardeath And The White Dwarfs Wastoid Federal Prism [2014] Fire Note Says: For their sophomore release Stardeath and the White Dwarfs tap a sound never heard before. Album Review: When starting a psych rock band a lot of factors could come into play for stardom. Oklahoma’s Stardeath and the White Dwarfs initially had one key … Read more
Band Of Skulls Himalayan Electric Blues Recordings [2014] Fire Note Says: With chops and moxie, Band of Skulls soldier on with fun, danceable tunes. Album Review: It’s funny, but a music lover of my prowess should really know more about Band of Skulls. Having come from a background of riffing blues, The Dead Weather, The … Read more
The Fire Note’s July Bandcamp feature keeps summer going with another batch of new artists for you to check out. In this edition you can find some gems from Dayton, Ohio, hypnotics from Paris, a Spanish lyric driven record from LA, a duo from D.C. and some indie pop from Buffalo. As always – Discover, … Read more
Zig Zags Zig Zags In The Red Recordings [2014] Fire Note Says: Zig Zags’ fire and fury bubble the bong water on their self-titled debut. Album Review: When talking about LA’s Zig Zags a few things need to be mentioned: Ty Segall, Sweat Lodge, Bong-water colored vinyl, Monster Magnet, Fu Manchu, weird early Metallica thrash, … Read more
Mastodon Once More ‘Round The Sun Warner Bros. Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Mastodon ditch their space-time distortion with one of their most straight forward yet. Album Review: It‘s a heady question to ask, but how does one innovate in the metal genre today? Do you drop tuning deeper, play slower, or maybe even faster? … Read more
Heavens To Betsy Calculated Kill Rock Stars [2014] Fire Note Says: Heavens To Betsy‘s anger couldn‘t be more captivating on Calculated. Album Review: When people hear the name Corin Tucker they should get excited—if they don’t, shame on them. A prominent figure in music from the 90’s through today, Corin Tucker has made her waves … Read more
Jack White Lazaretto Third Man/Columbia Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Does Jack White‘s Blunderbuss follow up deserve the same praise? Album Review: If you know anything about The Fire Note, it’s that most of us here are Jack White fans. Whether it’s subscribing to his record vault, traveling to his home base Third Man Record … Read more
Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires Dereconstructed Sub Pop Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires sing it proud and rock it loud on Dereconstructed. Album Review: When I first heard Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires it was on the excellent Alive at The Deep Blues Fest. … Read more
Motorpsycho Behind The Sun Rune Grammofon [2014] Fire Note Says: Built to lofty heights, Behind The Sun might collapse under its own weight—but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Album Review: What do you think of when I say Motorpsycho? An opener for Five Finger Death Punch? A character from the new Mad Max film? … Read more
Tame Impala Live Versions Modular Recordings [2014] Fire Note Says: Tame Impala‘s Live Versions offers small twists on some old favorites. Album Review: It‘s a real challenge for bands to become important in their genre. For Australia’s Tame Impala that seems to be no problem. It‘s also an impressive feat because your could consider Tame … Read more
tUnE-yArDs Nikki Nack 4AD Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Merrill Garbus finally returns with the music revolution Nikki Nack. Album Review: There are many things that could be said about Merrill Garbus: I’ve heard her described both as annoying and having fantastic pipes; for my money, w h o k i l l especially is … Read more
Thee Oh Sees Drop Castle Face Records [2014] Fire Note Says: Dwyer loads Thee Oh Sees back into the garage—and there’s a bit of time travel going on. Album Review: To go over John Dwyer‘s catalogue it quite a task: Yikes! And the Hospitals, some Pink and Brown LP‘s, many Coachwhips LP’s, solo recordings under … Read more
Margot & The Nuclear So & So’s Sling Shot To Heaven Mariel Recording Company [2014] Fire Note Says: Adjust your expectations accordingly, Margot’s cyclical warmth has an embrace for you. Album Review: There‘s a reason that I‘m going to see Margot & The Nuclear So and So‘s twice in the same tour. They’re one of … Read more
It’s finally time for Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s to grace us with their new album Sling Shot to Heaven. I have to admit upon first listen some concessions and adjustments had to be made, though not necessarily in a bad way—you might say that Richards and Co. might be a whole new … Read more
Secret Colours Positive Distractions Part I & II Self-Released [2014] Fire Note Says: Secret Colours remain consistent on their two EP split. Album Review: Secret Colours revel in being the bastard seed of the ’60s psychedelia and ’90s Britpop bloodlines. That’s the description given by their Facebook page, and almost a year ago I described … Read more
Skating Polly Fuzz Steilacoom Chap Stereo [2014] Fire Note Says: Skating Polly‘s Fuzz Steilacoom suffers from a pleasant multiple personality disorder. Album Review: Having just finished my review of the bubbly Tweens album, it seems appropriate to get a bit more down and dirty. Oklahoma City‘s Skating Polly seems to handle that role quite easily. … Read more