On her second release for Nonesuch Records, Laura Veirs again offers up a batch of literate, smart singer/songwriter oriented pop music backed by her band the Tortured Souls. One of the many strengths of Year of Metoers is the production, which avoids a cluttered sound in favor of subtlty, highlighting Veirs’ sweet voice and […]

On their fourth full-length (and first for Kill Rock Stars) indie rock band Numbers have seriously scaled back the dance tendencies of their Tigerbeat6 efforts in favor of slow, deliberate, boring rock music. There are still a few experimental jabs mixed in with the otherwise generic songs, but these bouts of noise aren’t enough […]

Fountains of Wayne have been around for 10 years now, so even if they only have three proper albums, it’s about time for the compilations to start drifting in. This one consists of 26 B-sides and rarities, plus two newly recorded tracks to lure FoW completists. The songs are mostly originals, but there […]

Super Love Attack features a couple ex-members of the Polyphonic Spree, and they’ve stuck to what they know best – anthemic vocals and choruses that sound kind of like children are singing them. They do switch the sound up a bit, adding some more rock and the occasional My Bloody Valentine-style noise to the […]

Jay Farrar has reunited Son Volt – sort of. For the band’s first release of new material in seven years, Farrar has assembled a crack team of alt. country sidemen, including ex-Whiskeytown guitarist Brad Rice, but none of the original Son Volt members. That said, the band was always Farrar’s baby anyway, so […]

Garage a Trois are back with thir third album, Outre Mer, the soundtrack to the film of the same name. The album isn’t much of a departure for the quartet, although Skerik sticks to saxophones this time out, leaving out the synths and electronics of past work. Otherwise, this is more of the […]