Freddy Jones BandTime Well WastedOut The Box Records By Eileen Tilson Although the name may be deceiving, Time Well Wasted, the first new release from the Freddy Jones Band in 10 years, shows the band’s eagerness to reclaim their title in the Two Name Band arena. Throughout the '90s The Freddy Jones Band built a […]

Gliss Devotion Implosion Cordless Recordings By Eileen Tilson Gliss is a Kate Moss biographical soundtrack; a beautiful mess caught between drugs and rock and roll; Gliss is the music you listen to in the wee hours of the morning after partying in the underbelly of a city, and are coming off a great high.

The HEAP Deluxe By Samantha A. Parvin Close your eyes and listen to the first track, “One of Those Days,” from The HEAP’s debut studio album, Deluxe. I can imagine bodies jammin’ out at a gig on the festival circuit on a hot yet windy March afternoon, noodling to the funky beats of this eight-man […]

The Coathangers Scramble Suicide Squeeze Records By Samantha A. Parvin The Atlanta all-female quartet, The Coathangers, presents their latest and second full-length album Scramble with great enthusiasm. Their style showcases several characteristics of African and early American roots music (and ultimately blues, rhythm and blues, pop, hip-hop and rap genres), such as call-and-response, syncopated rhythms, […]

PomegranatesEverybody Come OutsideLujo Records By Al Kaufman The Pomegranates, from Cincinnati, have that same indie-pop exuberance that caused the media to fawn all over Clap Your Hands Say Yeah a few years back. Much like Clap Your Hands, Pomegranates clearly draw heavily upon their early Talking Heads and New Order albums. Everybody, Come Outside! is […]

Dan DeaconBromstCarpark Records By Ben Grad It's hard to see Dan Deacon's newest album, Bromst, as anything more than a collection of excellent (but similar) songs. By track four of Bromst, “Snookered,” Dan Deacon has established the pattern he'll use throughout the album: about a minute of minimalist noise buildup (in “Snookered,” a jumble of […]

Alice PeacockLove RemainsRocket Science/Adrenaline By Al Kaufman After 2005's introspective and piano-laden Who I Am, Alice Peacock moved to Nashville from Chicago and reinvented herself as a country girl with rock tendencies. There's plenty of twang on Love Remains. And there's plenty of Peacock's vocals. Strong, sexy and soulful sum them up quite well, but […]

Chris KnightHeart of StoneDrifter's Church By Al Kaufman Chris Knight should be doing Chevy Truck commercials. He's that type of guy. He's one of those straight ahead Americana type of singers; a little too country for rock radio, and way too rock for country radio. He falls into the cracks where Steve Earle and James […]

Alligators Piggy & Cups Appplehouse Records By Julia Reidy Washington State quintet Alligators’ name might be misleading. While possessing musical chops as sharp as the namesake reptiles’ teeth, the sounds they create wholly lack the suggested spiny skin and claws. Their national debut, the puzzlingly named Piggy & Cups, is pop as immaculately clean as […]

Cage The ElephantCage The ElephantJIVE By Eileen Tilson What is it with dirty Southern musicians raised in churches, catching success in England? Is there something our U.K. buddies can hear before we all catch on? Kings of Leon, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, found their success across the ocean, before getting any love at home, and […]