And now, dropping by from another planet…Ghost Mountain’s Siamese Sailboats. Okay, maybe not, but that’s sure what it feels like to listen to the trio’s seemingly acid-fueled mashup of Spiritualized psychedelia, nerdcore-style rapping…
The Austin quintet Diagonals are Steve Garcia, Ryan Camarillo, Wiley Wiggins, Ben Prentice, and Todd Larson, and plenty has been said about the 13th Floor Elevators influence on the their latest album, Valley of the Cyclops…
It’s lead guitarist Jason Willis’s awesomely meandering — yet still relentlessly driving — and somehow downhome riff that does it, honestly. This review almost feels like a cheat, on my part, because Buxton’s been playing A-side “Feathers” live for a little while now…
If you’re the type to use CDs as drink coasters, hang them from your car’s rearview mirror to watch them glisten in the sun, or maybe just for junk/experimental artwork, then I’ll give you this album for nothing. Just think: you could make a CD Art Car for next year’s parade!…
Want some punk for the masses? Blasphemy! Go buy some Green Day if your stomach can’t handle real punk. If you get tired of all the hate and madness, however, Double Dagger’s More is much easily digestible. What you get, instead of the routine “I hate George Bush,” “government oppression”…
The Human Zoo is the first full-length album from Austin’s Death is not a Joyride. Recorded by John Congleton of the Polyphonic Spree, it sounds like the dark mirror of that beacon of shiny happiness. The approach on The Human Zoo is highly experimental…
A bit over the line, I know — got some new stuff up this AM, just in time for tonight… As I raved about earlier on, both Paris Falls and The Small Sounds are playing here in town tonight, and so we’ve got reviews up of both the brand-new Paris Falls disc, Volume III (which […]
You know when some bands will release an album and have tracks that are just a few seconds long, or maybe a minute long, of just instrumental music? Well, I normally really hate that and just delete them from my iTunes library…
The Heartless Bastards’ third album, The Mountain, is a return of sorts for Erika Wennerstrom, the leader of the band. After breaking up with the bass player, the previous lineup dissolved, and she replaced them with the people that performed on the Bastards’ original demo…
Honestly, the greatest thing about the Small Sounds’ self-titled debut has nothing to do with the guitars, the melodies, or even the words. It’s just that the album possesses this amazing, gentle warmth — listening to those jangly guitars swing and sway…
The Riverboat Gamblers’ latest release for the Volcom label, Underneath the Owl, does well at providing die-hard fans with torrential vocals over quick, slappy guitars, but feels like a shallow push towards marketability — although I doubt that was the Gamblers’ intention…
I think Volume III works best when viewed as part of a bigger whole, right alongside Paris Falls’ previous efforts, Vol. 1 and Vol. II. Going by the band’s choice of titles for the three albums so far, it sure seems like they intended there to be some kind of progression…
What’s most exciting, and most maddening, about Eleni Mandell is that just when you think you’ve got her figured out, she spins off in a new direction. And yet, whether cranking out a roots-pop tour de force like 2004’s Afternoon…
Like Bells is a violin-led, mostly instrumental trio from Antioch, Ohio. The music on their self-titled debut is sort of a cross between Dirty Three and Mono, embracing quieter lyrical moments as well as some louder rock. They borrow more from Mono than anybody else…
You can’t force yourself to like somebody; anybody who’s been through middle school knows that sad little truth. Even if you’re talking with somebody who’s got all the same interests as you, somebody who’s got the same background, somebody who likes the same things, there’s no magic button you can press…
The Ax make a lot more noise than you’d expect a two-piece band to make. On their first album, Our Queen of Dirt, they use a lot of overdubs to flesh out the sound. Their sound is different — it’s a combination of Unwound or Shellac, crossed with a Sonic Youth vibe…
I desperately need to talk about what all’s going down this weekend, but I’ve got to first mention, though, that we’ve got a bunch of new reviews up, most notably for the recent full-length from Deleted Scenes, who’ll be playing up at Mango’s with Young Mammals, News on the March, & Flowers to Hide tonight. […]
There are only a handful of bands (if that) that have more deluxe, post-career reissue albums than they do actual LPs — and the Vaselines are one of them. The fact acts, if nothing else, as a testament to the true awesomeness and brevity of this kinky Scottish duo…
I love a good lyricist. Poets impress, but much of the time I find myself working at it to get a feeling or image from the words. Call me a simpleton, but that’s why when I first read of The Traditionist, which advertises influences the likes of Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel…
Star Fucking Hipsters are a classic punk band. Their songs rarely clock in over two minutes. Their live shows often involve a couple bottles of Jameson’s and a ton of aggression. Their lyrics are politically charged, awakening calls for nonconformity and awareness…
Okay, so I do like Kylesa’s Static Tensions, but I have to ask: what the hell does it add to your sound, really, to have two drummers? Especially if they’re playing the same damn thing (or minute variations thereof)?…
Invention is from Seattle. Do “electronica” music, apparently. Beyond that, we know nothing about them — nothing really online, no bios, nothing. In crafting their spacey, midrange-y music, Invention use compressed bass and guitar to create very synth-like sounds…
As the first raw, lava-lamp guitar chords of “Laywayed” rolled forth from my headphones, my first thought was that if this CD was about twice as long, it would be great to listen to it on acid. It wasn’t long, however, before I was forced to reconsider…
I’m conflicted on The Intellect of Apes, the four-song debut EP from Hollywood Black bassist/vocalist Ben Ellis’s Framework solo deal. And yeah, what it boils down to…
When “Promised Land State Park,” the first track on Kill For Sport, kicks in, with its fey keys, understated guitars, and brisk drumming, the album seems to be headed straight for Teenage Fanclub…
Two excellent-sounding shows going on tonight, plus one a few days out, and while all three (er, four, technically) are of the “one guy and a guitar” variety, they really couldn’t be more different… The first is a little further afield than usual — it’s a house show at the i.am.we. house down in Richmond […]
Busy, busy, busy-ass Thursday night, so I wanted to post a bit about what all’s going on. First things first: just got a few new things up on the site, like two surprisingly-timely live reviews by hardworking writers Quinn & Teri Sue, who ably covered the recent shows here in town by Nico Vega & […]
Do a little research into this band, and you’ll find that they’re quite popular with high school crowd, particularly girls. Will features in CosmoGirl and MTV2.com lead to the inevitable appearance on The Hills…
Where the hell do I start? Just to get ’em out of the way, let’s hit the negatives (such as they are) with Benjamin Wesley’s debut EP, Geschichte, first. For one, the disc sadly can’t compare to seeing the guy live…
The prospect of another concept album from Queensryche will most assuredly cause many a headbanger to roll their eyes. American Soldier, however, is a truly unique album…
So I pick up the case for Palomino; Noush (pronounced New-shh) Skaugen’s first release, and on the front cover is a cute, naked girl posing with a guitar covering her goods…
I can’t think of a decent way to skirt around it, so I’m just going to say it: on their new full-length, Neon Creeps, art-punks O Pioneers!!! truly, seriously remind me of Braid…
It’d be beyond easy to keep referring to listenlisten as “old-timey” in terms of their sound, but the more I hear, the more of a disservice that too-easy tag seems to me to be to this band.
Post-rock quartet Guns Are For Kids may hail from Sydney, the sunny-side Harbour City of the Land Down Under, but the music on the band’s latest release, the P.E.-ref-ing…
Euphoria is an apt title for the sophomore release from Swedish group Dead Man, and proof positive that the resourceful Swedes don’t exist in camps of polar opposites…
With Down The Pacific, City Light have something of a surprise-attack thing going on. When I first put it in the car stereo, nothing really clicked for me in a major way…
New week (er, two weeks), so new stuff up on the site, in typical oh-so-timely SCR fashion. First up, San Franciscans City Light will be opening for the also-excellent Her Space Holiday (see Wes B.’s review of the last time HSH came through town here) tonight up at Walter’s on Washington, along with the utterly […]
Treading heavily on the previous footprints of late turn-of-the-century groups such as The Postal Service and contemporary Passion Pit, The Christmas Lights have released their debut record, Walk Like a Human…
The Soldier Thread may hail from Austin, but the music they make is far, far chillier than any warm Hill Country night could ever be. Rather, they’re distant and detached, like stars in a Northern sky…
Well, thanks to fucking Blogger fucking not fucking posting the damn posts it’s supposed to, the past 24 hours or so were blown clean out of the water. Argh. I swear, things will be changing on that front, and hopefully soon… At any rate, we got a bunch of new stuff up on the site […]
