Month: December 2013
Review: PEP – My Baby and Me
Not sure if this is parody or homage, as My Baby and Me is clearly indebted to girl pop groups like The Ronettes and The Shangri-Las, but it brings absolutely nothing new or modern to add anything fresh to what those groups started. … read more
Review: Mt. Royal – Self-Titled
“More” has a certain Peter Bjorn and John feel and is a little more upbeat, though vocals stay in the shadows. “Yes Your Majesty” has great bass that travels over casual synth backings and lazy slide guitar. “Mockingbird” has nice acoustic strums over snappy, quick-paced drums—it reminds me of closing credits for a 007 movie. … read more
Review: Nausea – Condemned to the System
It’s a given that January is going to start with a lot of nausea, but this Nausea is a different kind. It’s the band of grindcore (not the crust punk band) legend Oscar Garcia, who did the vocals on Terrorizer’s World Downfall album. … read more
Review: New Model Army – Between Dog And Wolf
This would be perfect for the road trip to Burning Man, or for any fire performance, as it is packed with tribal drum beats, grungy guitar riffs and a pinch of spaghetti Western twang. The lyrics carry you away and make you think. … read more
Review: MGMT – MGMT
It’s hard to take music that sounds so wonky seriously, like a few tracks on this record, but when it’s catchy and bizarre, you know there’s some magic in it. MGMT are clearly having fun with this album and it makes for one of the most interesting releases of the year. … read more
Review: Mick Turner – Don’t Tell The Driver
Don’t Tell The Driver would be the perfect album to ease a panic attack. The instrumentation felt loaded with a Southwestern vibe, making it feel as though I was traveling alone by horseback across the desert landscape, especially in “The Navigator.” … read more
Review: Mount Eerie – Pre-Human Ideas
Phil Elverum voices everything on the album, his voice ranging from very deep to melodically high-pitched. Though on the surface it may seem simple, Pre-Human Ideas sets out to prove that the electronic can, in fact, be quite natural, and that recomposition doesn’t have to be familiar. … read more
Review: Melt-Banana – Fetch
Fetch will have you scrambling after their lightning-paced rhythms and the frenetic phrasings of vocalist Yasuko Onuki, and Ichirou Agata’s guitar explorations—which are all over the place in terms of the fretboard and effects—that range from video game noises to natural sounds. … read more
Review: Moon Honey – Hand-Painted Dream Photographs
Baton Rouge, La. combo Moon Honey might lay to rest comparisons of that city with colorful New Orleans. Indie bands have dabbled with orchestral instruments before, but this product is psych rock with the theatricality of ’70s glam. … read more
Review: Mode Moderne – Occult Delight
For their third LP, Vancouver outfit Mode Moderne have embraced their goth pop style wholeheartedly and created their most confident album to date. … read more