Recent Articles
Joy Division (2007): DVD/Screening Review
This review is not about a rockumentary or film, or a fade-in caught on celluloid. These words, instead, are about a t-shirt that should have never existed. The film starts with collaged montages of Manchester and a voice over that declares (roughly): “This film is not about a band or a group of people, but a city that once created the greatest revolution of Western society, then came back and created a bigger revolution…”
Bloody Social at Pianos, NYC 7.03.08
By chance, I found myself walking behind Jamie Burke, singer of Bloody Social, while I was en route to his gig, so I followed him along 2nd St. and then down to Pianos. Before the show, he walks off, fast. Girls are heard murmuring, “He’s the lead singer of…,” before we turn off down Ludlow St. Back at the venue, Burke is wearing a leather hoodie. Clothing as props, gimmicks of expression. Nice. Boxer stance. Symbolism is important in performance delivery. Freedom and branding fight for the same human bandwidth.
The Fratellis at Webster Hall, NYC, 6.13.08
The Fratellis came on like Scottish bats out of hell with the Les Paul guitar and power drums fury of new hit “My Friend John” rousing the crowd to near insanity. Though a few songs in, frontman Jon Fratelli apologizes for his supposed fatigue, saying he “felt like shite for the first five songs,” I [...]
Now Hear This: Sarandon: No Cardigans Please, Twee is Simply Awful
The UK’s Sarandon like to call themselves a pop band with a short attention span. The name of their latest album, Kill Twee Pop, (released in the U.S. on Slumberland Records), seems to say it all: this is no cutsie neo-folk act, but rather, a spastic, twitching garage punk act that delights both in mashing [...]
The Futureheads at Pianos, NYC, 6.18.08
The Futureheads played an “intimate” gig to a packed and sweaty Piano’s crowd the night after their one-off Bowery Ballroom show. Instead of what would have been a private and possibly emptier gig a few years ago, this was quite the must-see event: the room was overflowing and proved that no gigs are secret [...]
Loene Carmen - ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Tears’
If this is rock and roll, then the end times are nigh. Not that Loene Carmen can’t rock, of course. And what actually is rock these days? Carmen attempts to answer the question. And when artists attempt an answer, it either works wonderfully (see Primal Scream’s Screamadelica) or comes off as almost perverse (Primal Scream’s [...]
The Kiss-Off - ‘Brace’
Imagine Wire and Echo & The Bunnymen collaborating on an album circa 1981. That’s pretty much what can be found on the Kiss-Off’s EP Brace. Whereas many a New York act have fallen into the creative trap of churning out formulaic post-punk, The Kiss-Off have managed to fuse two disparate styles together in an intriguing [...]
The War On Drugs - ‘Wagonwheel Blues’
For a band with so many experimental pop influences, The War On Drugs’ Wagonwheel Blues continues the recent thematic trend of Springsteen nostalgia, while also hinting at the intrepid Americana explorations of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Is this necessarily a bad thing? Not in the case of this release, which manages to infuse the [...]
Coldplay – ‘Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends’
The ancient churches of Barcelona that played host to the marvel Coldplay’s first record in three years would become offered no shortage of blessings. To be certain, the communion between producers Brian Eno and Markus Dravs and the band could not have come at a better time. For all of Chris Martin’s bleating over the [...]
Tilly and The Wall - ‘O’
An evanescent experience that combines emotionally charged lyrics and physically stimulating instruments, Tilly and The Wall’s newest album, O, is a reincarnation of everything that initially captivated their audience. The 11-song album is a thrilling cacophony of youthful exuberance – a young-hearted anthem that propels the mind to that of an inspired young idea proffering [...]
"if the world does come to an end i will be dancing through it…..@ a SYH show!!"
brilliant. I second that. 
great review 
Who is this reviewer? He's a joke. I saw this band twice when they came through New York about a ...
I really like the new album. Remember that each of the members have gone in many ways in their music ...
I love matt costa. Ever since mitch played my favorite song "behind the moon" and when I saw him live ...
