Pop Spotlight

(photo: Jason Zucco) Across 30-plus years of existence, the four-headed plasma ball of Converge have continuously elevated the metalcore genre to altitude-sickness levels. It’s important to acknowledge that the band has never betrayed their audience. […]

Beverly Glenn-Copeland Finds Joy in Sadness on New Album Laughter in Summer is a whisper of an album. It feels like the embrace of a warm summer day, a wispy dalliance with joy. However, the […]

(photo: Sanja Marusic) Staffed by Turkish, Indonesian and Dutch members, Altın Gün have always favored tunings and tonalities exotic to Anglo-American ears. Utilizing a saz (a long-necked lute played in Eastern Europe, the Levant and […]

Ragger. (Credit: Doug Kaplan) “Many found the music offensive, the dancing objectionable, and the popularity of both with young people verging on a mental health crisis.” So writes music historian Susan C. Cook about ragtime, […]

Ratboys. (Credit: Z Marciniak) One of the delights of the prior Ratboys album, 2023’s The Window, is that I could recommend it to almost any indie rock fan. You like beautiful Americana? Ratboys. Fuzzy alternative […]

Ty Segall & The Muggers. (Credit: Denee Segall) Last May, Ty Segall released Possession, a sophisticated set of psychedelic bubblegum that featured a string section, saxophone, and surprisingly sweet melodies. “Live” “at” “the” “BBC,” taped […]

Blackwater Holylight. (Credit: Candice Lawler) A move to a warmer climate didn’t push the gloom away for Blackwater Holylight. The former Portland, Oregon band may have decamped to Los Angeles in 2021 after releasing their […]

Lucinda Williams performs with Buick 6 at the Stone Fox on September 17, 2015, in Nashville, Tennessee. (Credit: Erika Goldring/Getty Images for Americana Music) Lucinda Williams has made a career out of listening to other […]

Cat Power. (Credit: Inez & Vinoodh) It looks like Chan Marshall gets the last laugh. Pitchfork’s oft-dismissive review of her 2006 album The Greatest doesn’t even talk about the music until its third paragraph. Instead, […]

‘The Demise of Planet X’ It only takes 33 seconds for Jason Williamson to drop an F-bomb on “The Good Life,” the first track from The Demise of Planet X, Sleaford Mods’ first record in […]

The Sha La Das’ new album, ‘Your Picture.’ When the Sha La Das released their 2018 debut, Love in the Wind, it was a bit like the discovery of an animal long thought extinct. A […]