(Kemado, 2006) Okay, yeah. Lansing-Dreiden is an anonymous art collective that doesn’t just make music, they sculpt, write, paint, and do anything else that can be construed as art. That’s been beaten to the death all over the internet in discussion about the band and their latest record, The Dividing Island. But […]

(Necessary/Atlantic, 2006) As it does with most albums, NME named Hard-Fi’s Stars of CCTV “album of the year” when it was first released in England last year. The album went on to get a Mercury nomination, among other accolades. Stars of CCTV finally dropped in the US in March of this year, and […]

(Kemado, 2006) Based in Austin, TX, The Sword sound like they came from an experimental mental hopital where they were treated exclusively with psychedelic drugs, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Black Sabbath. The band is one of several this year to hit the scene sporting a vintage retro-metal style, but The Sword […]

(Indica, 2005) If Priestess are trying to put their best foot forward, they must think their best foot is sheer volume and velocity, because “I Am The Night, Colour Me Black” doesn’t waste any time in presenting an aggressive four-man attack. Things lighten up a bit on “Lay Down”, and it’s here that we […]

(New Line, 2006) Swedish rock band The Sounds are certainly not subtle about their love for ’80s American pop music. Virtually every song on their sophomore album, Dying To Say This To You, features an immediately familiar sing-song chorus, catchy synthesizer line, and patently ’80s aesthetic. The most obvious point of comparison for […]

(Kemado, 2005) Diamond Nights’ first full length for Kemado Records just about reaches the limit of excellence one can expect from a debut record. It’s got a full stockpile of classic rock a-bombs to drop on any stereo that dares to attempt to capture the vigor and enthusiasm Diamond Nights brings to the table […]