Album Reviews

The Jesus Rehab: The Highest Highs And The Lowest Lows [Album Review]

Ron Trembath
August 23, 2010August 23, 2010

Once you move past their name which comes a close third in brilliant hilarity behind the likes of Test Icicles and The Dead Kenny G’s, The Jesus Rehab are beyond what you would expect. With a name like that, you might expect a sassy post punk explosion of anger and atheism. But, you couldn’t be more wrong. Instead, The Highest Highs and Lowest Lows comes out softly, proclaiming beautiful indie pop with a hint of acoustic glee that measures up nicely to The Modern Skirts, or Belle & Sebastian on a Benzedrine trip. Read More »The Jesus Rehab: The Highest Highs And The Lowest Lows [Album Review]

Menomena: Mines [Album Review]

Andy Fenstermaker
August 20, 2010August 19, 2010

It’s hard to think of Menomena topping Friend And Foe. After all, that album made #3 on my Retrospective Top Albums of 2007. But they make a fair attempt with Mines. There’s plenty of solidity here, from opener “Queen Black Acid” to the final track, “Intil”. I guess only time will tell. Read More »Menomena: Mines [Album Review]

A Fine Day For Sailing: Sand Box [Album Review]

Ron Trembath
August 19, 2010August 18, 2010

What sort of group puts out two full length albums in less than a year? Well, how about a damn good one? And A Fine Day For Sailing is most definitely so. Fresh (extremely, in fact) off their last pop wonder, My Baby Loves Pop Music, the happy-go-lucky band of English excitement junkies are back with Sand Box. And to say they have improved would be to dumb down the greatness of My Baby, but I’ll be damned if these cats didn’t create something entirely original, using the format that worked wonderfully a few months ago. Read More »A Fine Day For Sailing: Sand Box [Album Review]

Transient Songs: Cave Syndrome [Album Review]

Ron Trembath
August 18, 2010August 17, 2010

Are you tired of your father’s versions of psychedelic rock? It can be granted that the 70â€™s were the age for some of the finest LSD-related music and mishaps history will ever know. But, surely it becomes tiresome to constantly hear about Rush’s supposed futuristic nonsense, or Roger Water’s boring obsession with the sky, and not having anything of your own time for a real comparison. Well, degenerate hipsters and demon-friendly youth-mongers, you are in luck. Introducing: John Frum a.k.a. Transient Songs. Stick it to your old man you gentle monsters! Read More »Transient Songs: Cave Syndrome [Album Review]

Jen Wood: Finds You In Love [Album Review]

Andy Fenstermaker
August 17, 2010April 19, 2023

Jen Wood is perhaps best known for her role as the female vocalist accompanying Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello on that Postal Service album for a few years back. Listening to her new solo album, Finds You In Love, it’s instantly apparent that this work is about as far away as you can get from that well-known piece of pop art. So get your expectations in order. Her melodies are just as simple and just as catchy, but this is pure folk-pop; simple, beloved and true.

Andy Fenstermaker
August 16, 2010August 15, 2010

Were Grizzly Bear to don summer wear and instead create lo-fi acoustic beach pop, they might sound like London’s Family.… Read More »Family: Family [Album Review]

Roman Ruins: Pastor/Al

Andy Fenstermaker
August 13, 2010August 12, 2010

From the drummer that accompanies, in my humble opinion, two of the greatest current bands in existence today, Papercuts and Beach House, comes Roman Ruins whose 7″ single Pastor/Al is now out on Gold Robot Records. Like the two greats, Roman Ruins creates surreal pop music with a dreamy edge that is inherently cool. Read More »Roman Ruins: Pastor/Al

Neil Nathan: The Distance Calls [Album Review]

Ron Trembath
August 11, 2010August 10, 2010

Damn the struggles of being inevitably just too late on some things. The Ripple Effect already said it best about Neil Nathan when they said he was a “perfect balance of rock and soul”. In the simplest form, that is exactly what this cool cat and his debut album The Distance Calls really is. A splendid array of old school highway rock mixed with a decent batch of new age love ballads that are smoother than the cooking process of Hamburger Helper. Read More »Neil Nathan: The Distance Calls [Album Review]

Candy Claws: Hidden Lands [Album Review]

Andy Fenstermaker
August 10, 2010February 11, 2022

Last year Candy Claws debuted with In The Dream Of The Sea Life, which was ultimately a very descriptive title for the music they made. It was dreamy and had this static-like liquidy electronic undertone. Hidden Lands is a bit of a departure from that album, which had traces of psychedelic electro-noise. Instead, their follow-up takes it down a notch. Gone is the noise, the psychedelic elements, but they’ve heightened the dreamy, atmospheric nature of their songs infinitely.

Andy Fenstermaker
August 9, 2010August 6, 2010

Hypnotic is not a term one often associates with punk, but Athens-based trio Bambara fit both molds. At times ethereal and dreamy, at others ferocious and noisy, Bambara mixes elements of the post-punk revival with modern shoegaze and psychedelic noise. Dog Ear Days is a bit of a mystery as its mere existence possesses something strangely magical. Read More »Bambara: Dog Ear Days [Album Review]

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