Year: 2014
Review: Pow! – Hi-Tech Boom
This record buzzes like a Brookstone orgasm chair, especially the track “Switchboard Scientist,” which swoons like a Funkadelic groove minus the big-band instruments, with added Prozac and guitar dirge. It’s no downer, though. … read more
Review: Picastro – You
This album embodies everything I love about experimental music. You communicates what I like to call “black folk.” … read more
Review: Pink Mountaintops – Get Back
Vancouver indie post-punk (for lack of a better term) band Pink Mountaintops’ past members include members of everything from experimental bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor to psych troupes The Warlocks to the heavy purveyors Black Mountain. … read more
Review: Plateau Below – Still Paradise
“Eris” opens this album with the driving mantras and quiet anxiety you heard from Modest Mouse on the Lonesome and Crowded West, though Plateau keeps it rounded with an almost Syd Barrett-esque psychedelic flourish. … read more
Review: Protomartyr – Under Color of Official Right
The intro to Under Color of Official Right might trick you into thinking you’re listening to neo-beach music on par with The Drums. Although the surf-reverberated guitar continues through the first track, the lyrics—sounding as if they’re sung through inflamed vocal chords—shatter the expectations of the surf rock genre. … read more
Review: PUP – Self-Titled
With an even blend of punk, indie and garage rock, PUP have created a sound all to themselves with their self-titled debut. An overall enticing album, it employs heavy distortion contrasting with lighter, cleaner vocals playing both fast and slow when appropriate. … read more
Review: Pixies – Indie Cindy
Well, it’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for: a new Pixies album. … read more
Review: Prong – Ruining Lives
One might imagine following 2012’s Carved Into Stone—Prong’s most acclaimed and commercially successful album since the landmark 1994 record Cleansing—would put some pressure on the band. … read more
Review: Polar Bear Club – Death Chorus
While initial damage-control over the album focused on the less-harsh style Jimmy Stadt now uses due to throat wear after the last few albums, it’s not the vocal delivery that leaves this album weak and wilting. … read more
Review: Polock – Rising Up
It’s June, ladies and gentlemen, and that means summer indie pop releases. Returning after their debut album, Getting Down From Trees, is Polock, the quintet from Valencia, Spain. … read more