Bonnie “Cursed Sleep” is the new single from Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s upcoming album The Letting Go, and it’s worth getting just to try to pronounce the names of his collaborators. Read more

Erasure - Union Street How could someone who was so good for so long go so very wrong? Vince Clarke was the Midas man of eighties pop, recording Speak and Spell with Depeche Mode, Upstairs at Eric’s with Yaz, and then a zillion hits with Erasure. That wasn’t exactly my thing back then, but you can’t say it wasn’t good – it was irresistible. Read more

The Ark - State of the ArkThe only thing now keeping total Scandanavian rock and roll domination in check is their tendency to seem a bit, oh, goofy. (How serious is a band with a song called “Hey Kwanongoma?”) The Ark - yet another glam-rock unit coming Straight Outta Ølmault, or Malmüüter, or some other place that will require extra keyboard tricks - are no exception. Read more

The Poles - As Above, So BelowThese guys are from Asheville, NC, and their record label’s website says they fucking rock, which I guess they do, in a sort of run-of-the-mill, Angry Young Men with Beards type of way. The Poles feature deep, theatrical growling for vocals, dark, heavy guitar work, and lots of bashing on the drums. You know - rock, man. Read more

Rainer Maria - Catastrophe Keeps Us TogetherRainer Maria’s records have always been like a Fourth of July sparkler: pretty, jovial but too quickly extinguished. The trio had a habit of releasing nine-song albums that fluttered in and out of the emo genre, and rarely clocked in over 30 minutes. Read more

Archie Bronson Outfit - Derdang DerdangWith up and coming acts like The Subways and Arctic Monkeys, the UK may be the grounds for the another indie rock revival, and Archie Bronson Outfit is more proof of this trend. Their angular guitar sound is complemented by the quick staccato tempo of Franz Ferdinand, gut-wrenching vocals, and a vast array of instrumentation. Read more



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