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The Violettes |
The Violettes |
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The Violettes Music |
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Sarah Khan channels Veruca Salt, Sleater
Kinney, and Papas Fritas, with occasional hints of Brit Pop like
Charlatans UK. Tracks 1-4 evoke the best indie rock has to offer this
fall, and only when Khan gets too mopey or the band gets a little
preoccupied with the sitar ("Check us out! We have a sitar!) will you
start losing interest. Expect good things to come. |
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Blue Hearted Fool |
Oct. 5th |
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Menomena |
I Am the Fun Blame Monster |
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FILM guerro |
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As we've said in this column before, there's
good weird and bad weird. Menomena is mostly of the good weird. You
won't drop 'em at your cocktail party, but behind closed doors they're
quirky and provocative. And they've got one of the coolest CD packages
in the business. Good stuff, just not for the feint of musical heart. |
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E. Is Stable |
Oct. 5th |
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The Hentchmen |
FormFollowsFunction |
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Times Beach |
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About as genuine rock & roll as you can get
without fabricating the band a la The Strokes (or older yet, the Firm).
Girls, cars, and jangling guitars, FormFollowsFunction proves that 10
years in the tour van can be just the right fermentation process.
Bottom line: buy this. |
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Love |
Nov. 17th |
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Pidgeon |
From Gutter w/Love |
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Absolutely Kosher |
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One listed vocalist and two listed
"screamers" in the liner notes... That should clue you in that Pidgeon
plans to hit you hard. Most of the tracks on From Gutter...
display eagle-like grace behind the shrill caws of vocalists Micah and
Stick, thanks in part to front-woman Valerie.
The force of the Pixies is
strong with this one. |
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Strelnikov |
Pick this up!
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July 2004 |
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Bishop Allen |
Charm School |
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Champagne School |
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The geeks broke into the instrument cabinet
at the sleepover camp on the last night of summer and in John Hughes
fashion became the coolest kids in their respective cabins. It's indie
rock you can dance to and runs the gamut from Modest Mouse to Wilco on
happy pills. We like. A lot. And if you're feeling snobby, keep in mind
this record was self-produced, self-recorded and self-promoted. It's as
real as it gets. |
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Charm School WMA |
Pick this up! |
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Army of Freshman |
Beg, Borrow, Steal |
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33rd St. Records |
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Congratulations to Army of Freshmen: They're
the first band to make us break from our rigid thumbs-up/thumbs-down
ranking tool. They're good enough not to be bad, but well, that's about
it. Bottom line: if you haven't quite tired of SoCal pop-punk and the
Blink 182 scene, you'll find enough to like on Beg, Borrow, Steal.
Just don't expect to find them touring with Local H anytime soon. |
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Get
Um Up WMA |
July 13th |
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The Bon Mots |
Le Main Drag |
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Parasol |
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The Bon Mots are the prototypical indie band
that's just one hook away from a hit. le main drag never offends
as Mike Coy and Eric Chial take turns leading an unassuming vocal parade
accented with Mod-inspired guitar and keyboards -- but until the disc's
9th track, the excellent "Vultures," the band does not epitomize
emotional urgency. "Vultures" and "Time Was" turn it up a notch though
and make us think this is a band to watch. With a slight pause, we
give 'em the nod. |
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Vultures
WMA |
Aug. 17th |
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June 2004 |
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Phosphorescent |
The Weight of Flight |
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WARM |
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Only one genre knows how to disappoint more
than country music, and that's folk. And while some folk finds a way to
be inspiring, most folk is just an outlet for shaggy-haired coffee-house
guys to get laid. Let's hope the guys in Phosphorescent are, cuz Bob
Dylan they ain't. |
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When We Fall WMA |
July 6th |
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Desoto Reds |
Hanglide Thru Yer Window |
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Floating Man Records |
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Hanglide Thru... is what you expect to hear pouring from the
windows of art school dorms when the kids are having a "manic" day.
The heavy organ melodies mixed with Alex Sterling's quirky vocal
stylings boost the serotonin levels, and that's a good thing. Not every
day can be a black-mascara day, boys. |
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Allowed
Loud WMA |
June 1st |
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Far |
Water & Solutions |
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Immortal |
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Unless you are a complete indie music nerd, you probably missed Far the
first time around when they released Water & Solutions in 1998.
Well, if at first you don't succeed...
But W&S is worth picking up if you're just getting into bands like
Sparta and Cursive; the influence is evident and with the re-release you
get a really cool DVD for free... |
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Mother
Mary WMA |
Available June 15th |
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The Elected |
Me First |
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Sub Pop |
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"If you see me down at the liquor store, please don't tell my dad--and
if you see my dad down at the liquor store, please don't tell me
anything at all..."
The lyrics from "Greetings in Braille" sum up the tragic-comic vibe of
Me First in a nutshell. Great morning-after chill music. |
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Greetings in Braille WMA |
Pick this up! |
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May 2004 |
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Gold Cash Gold |
Paradise Pawned Vol. 1 |
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Times Beach Records |
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Hints of Cracker,
The Deadstring Brothers, and vinyl pick-up truck seats on a warm
summer day, Detroit Rock City adds another solid act to its stable. Who
needs New York and LA? |
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Beautiful Stones
WMA |
Available April 24th |
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Le Concorde |
Le Concorde |
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Spade Kitty Records |
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John Ashton and Mars Williams leave their
Psych Furs fingerprints all over Stephen Becker's newest gathering. The
band promises a return to Aztec Camera and other 80s dream pop, and they
deliver... not the most exciting record of 2004, but strong enough for a
thumbs up. |
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It's
the Minor Chords that Kill You WMA |
Available May 11th |
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Freezepop |
Fancy Ultra Fresh |
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Archenemy Records |
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Three reasons to like Freezepop: 1) The lead
singer is sorta hot in that girl-in-a-band kinda way, and the two guys
backing her are probably gay... so you might have a shot. 2) If the two
guys aren't gay, they're some seriously whacked out breeders who look
like they put on a great live show and can get you good drugs. 3) Fancy
Ultra Fresh will remind you of that teenage summer afternoon when you
found a very old bottle of Southern Comfort in your best friend's
basement while his parents were at work. ...You forgot about that. |
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Stakeout
WMA |
Available May 25th |
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APRIL 2004 |
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I Am the World Trade Center
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The Cover Up
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Gammon Records |
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Minority Report beats thick as house foundation, a Jam cover, and more
danceable than the Postal Service. we like! |
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Future SIghtings
MP3 |
Available May 18th |
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Pinkeye D'Gekko |
Dry Clothes for the Drowning
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ForceMP |
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Ronnie Van Zant lives: Gekko don't try and sell you on "alt country"
genre or some other manufactured retro genre; they claim to deliver ole
fashion Southern-fried rock and do so - but we forgot the 70s for a
reason. |
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Girls of Arkansas
MP3 |
Not yet available. |
Lost Prophets
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Start Something
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Columbia |
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They're Welsh (yeah, Welsh) and play their guitars fast and loud - with
a sprinkle of Korn and Incubus flavoring. Not our bag, but they seem
pretty serviceable and uncontroversial as far as guitar-driven rockers
go. |
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Pick this up! |
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Bubble Gum to Sky |
Nothing Sadder than Lonely Queen
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Eenie Meenie |
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Considering the press photos make Mario Hernandez (sole Bubblegum
member) appear like a lonely lobsterboy circus freak, we expected the
worst. We were wrong. This poppy, quirky album is good entertainment,
even if it never challenges the Smiths or Cure for depth. |
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Some kind of Fantastic
MP3 |
Preorder this! |
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Iron & Wine |
Our Endless Numbered Days
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SubPop |
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Our Endless
isn't inherently bad for what it is -- chilled-out ,homespun folk -- but
it's one of those releases that will struggle to tow the weight of the
hype that precedes it. We can't help but feel Sam is a modern-day
Garfunkle looking for his Simon. |
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Naked As We Came
MP3 |
Pick this up! |
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