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 Grow Up
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 Goes Wild in 2016
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 Explore Darkness on ‘Not Here Not Gone’
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 Sees a World Gone Wrong
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 Takes Us Back In Time With New EP ‘Redux’
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, […]
Sleaford Mods Still Have Plenty To Be Angry About
‘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 Stay in the Picture
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 […]
Lipstick Killer and the Rise of Baddie Metalcore Energy
Lipstick Killer knows exactly how to set a tone. In a recent Instagram post, the Pittsburgh-born artist shared a short video of herself vibing to her latest release, “Darkness“. A glass in hand, platinum blonde […]
Dry Cleaning Dance Themselves Dirty
Dry Cleaning. (Credit: Guy Bolongaro) Dry Cleaning singer Florence Shaw likes to keep some distance between her vocals and the rest of the band. Shaw’s curious confidences, spoken-word confessions, and bemused monologues appear to have […]
Tyra: The Dark-Pop Force Rising From Real Life
Tyra is an artist who doesn’t just make music, she turns lived experience into sound. The Swiss singer-songwriter has built her creative world around honesty, contrast, and emotional depth. Her Instagram bio says it simply: […]
Melody’s Echo Chamber Ascends Heavenward On ‘Unclouded’
Melody Prochet (photo: Diane Sagnier). For more than a decade, Melody Prochet’s songs have drifted through dream logic — language dissolving into texture, emotion refracted through haze. Unclouded, her fourth album as Melody’s Echo Chamber […]