In 2004, after the O.C.-abetted success of their 2003 album Transatlanticism, Death Cab For Cutie left the small independent record label Barsuk and signed to Atlantic, a major label. They’ve remained with Atlantic ever since, releasing six albums for the label, most recently 2022’s quite strong Asphalt Meadows. With that release, their contract with the label was finally completed. Today, …

Holder are from Western Massachusetts, and they’re part of the scene of extremely young bands who are into reviving the thundering metalcore sounds of the ’00s in extremely sincere and epic ways. Holder combine that stuff with first-generation screamo, and they’ve got a feral immediacy that I find really powerful. They released an extremely cool… The post Holder – “Inconsolable” …

The recent trashy-fun hit Netflix miniseries His & Hers takes place in the small Georgia town of Dahlonega, which means I kept getting Ashley McBryde stuck in my head when I watched it. This was a good thing. “A Little Dive Bar In Dahlonega” is the kind of song that you want to have stuck… The post Ashley McBryde – …

Franz Ferdinand released their most recent album The Human Fear about a year ago, and they’ve used the intervening time to remind us that they can make anything sound like a Franz Ferdinand song. Recently, they’ve covered Chappell Roan, Britney Spears, and the Smiths (with Johnny Marr). More recently, they visited Australia and paid tribute to their host country with …

Three years ago, a Barcelona band called Belgrado released an album called Intra Apogeum on the international DIY punk label La Vida Es Un Mus, and we thought it was cool as hell. Despite their label affiliation, Belgrado weren’t making punk. Instead, their sound and aesthetic was straight out of time, a well-observed and specific… The post Belgrado Announce New …

Roc Marciano makes the same album over and over again, and this is a good thing. Marci was already a veteran who’d been through the music-business wringer when he released his 2010 solo debut Marcberg, the album that basically invented a whole new strain of underground rap. On that record, Marci muttered free-associate fly shit… The post Roc Marciano Releases …

John Craigie’s been around. Next month’s I Swam Here will be the Portland-based singer-songwriter’s 10th full-length album. That means those of us popping in now are catching him in seasoned form. I hear echoes of fellow travelers like M. Ward and the late Justin Townes Earle in Craigie’s folk-rock, and the man himself makes the… The post John Craigie – …

The young UK retro-soul singer became a big international pop star with her 2023 debut album My 21st Century Blues, and she has kept her momentum up since then. Her recent single “Where Is My Husband!” is now her biggest-ever US hit, and she’ll open a bunch of dates on Bruno Mars’ upcoming stadium tour. Now, the time has come …

Last year, Montreal’s Common Holly released her latest record Anything glass. Now Brigitte Naggar is back with the announcement of a new EP evocatively called They Will Draw Halos Around Our Heads. “Dyson” is out today. “Listening back I have the sense that I must have been listening to Jonathan Richman the day I wrote… The post Common Holly Announces …

A month ago, news came out that multi-instrumentalist and co-producer Steven Drozd was no longer in the Flaming Lips after a 33-year tenure with the band that saw him evolve into a crucial creative partner for founder and frontman Wayne Coyne. Since then, the Lips have posted multiple statements defending the split. First, the band’s current drummer Matthew Duckworth Kirksey …