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Wednesday, May 21st, 2025  

Album Reviews

Sounds Like…

Florry
Sounds Like…

May 21, 2025 Web Exclusive

Someone forgot to tell the house band it was last call and lights out a few hours ago. And thankfully so. Each song on Florry’s latest, Sounds Like…, plays out bleary eyed and bled through.

Boys These Days

Sports Team
Boys These Days

May 20, 2025 Issue #74 - The Protest Issue with Kathleen Hanna and Bartees Strange

Expect the unexpected, as post-punk pranksters Sports Team return with their third record, Boys These Days, and it’s their most strange and subversive offering yet.

Caveman Wakes Up

Friendship
Caveman Wakes Up

May 16, 2025 Web Exclusive

The Dan Wriggins-fronted ensemble Friendship is back for their fifth album and second since signing with Merge.

Classic Interviews

16th Annual Artist Survey: Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip

16th Annual Artist Survey: Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip
Taylor on Kanye West, Childhood Birthday Parties and Vacations, His First Job, and the Stray Cat Who Broke His Heart

Mar 11, 2019 Alexis Taylor

For Under the Radar‘s 16th Annual Artist Survey we emailed some of our favorite artists a few questions relating to the last year, plus some fun personal questions. We asked them about their favorite albums of the year and their thoughts on various notable 2018 news stories involving either the music industry or world events, as well as some quirkier personal questions. Here are some answers from Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip.

Comic Book Reviews

Land of Mirrors

Land of Mirrors
Drawn & Quarterly

Mar 22, 2025 Web Exclusive

Land of Mirrors is full of music and poetry. It’s a psychedelic journey through endless ombre landscapes that explores difficult topics like loneliness, isolation, and sadness. All the while, it’s a sweet (and often humorous) meditation on friendship and growth.

Book Reviews

The Lost Voice

Greta Morgan
The Lost Voice

May 20, 2025

Greta Morgan, singer/songwriter of The Hush Sound, Gold Motel, and Springtime Carnivores, lost her voice after contracting COVID during the pandemic, diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia, a neurological disorder with no cure. The Lost Voice is her story.

Interviews

Director Laura Piani and Star Camille Rutherford on “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life”

Director Laura Piani and Star Camille Rutherford on “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life”

May 19, 2025 Web Exclusive

Director Laura Piani and star Camille Rutherford talk about the chemistry behind their new film, Jane Austen Wrecked My Life.

Supergrass on “I Should Coco”

Supergrass on “I Should Coco”

May 15, 2025 Issue #72 - The ‘90s Issue with The Cardigans and Thurston Moore

To paraphrase William Shakespeare “Some are born Britpop, some achieve Britpop, and others have Britpop thrust upon them.” Supergrass definitely belong in the “thrust” column.

Lists

Seven Music Documentary Films and Series From the Second Half of 2024 to Watch (and Three To Skip)

Jan 08, 2025

Halfway through 2024, we published a list of “Seven Music Documentary Films and Series From 2024 to Watch (and Three to Skip).” Another glut of music documentaries and series have been released since then including the superstar projects Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words (Prime Video), Luther: Never Too Much (CNN), Melissa Etheridge: I’m Not Broken (Paramount+), Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band (Hulu), Olivia Rodrigo: Guts World Tour (Netflix), Elton John: Never Too Late (Disney+) and Yoshiki: Under the Sky (On Demand). If there is one takeaway from the overabundance of the biographical documentaries, it is that it’s best if the subject is not involved. The micromanaging of their story leaves viewers with a manicured and surface-level experience of the artist.

Although, the artist’s complete removal from the process can make a documentary spin into tabloid territory. There’s a lot of scandal on tap. Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter (Max) is the traumatic story of mental illness and sexual assault. While the latter is horrifying, the litigation is still underway. Why are the survivors on film talking about their experiences? Speaking of survivors, IMPACT x Nightline: Diddy’s Downfall (Hulu) is equally horrific and a far more disgusting explanation of the recent uncovering of Sean Combs’ abusive, and illegal actions during his entire time in the spotlight. Secret Life of Diddy: A Special Edition of 20/20 (Hulu) covers the exact same ground with many of the same talking heads journalists and individuals. On the positive side of hip hop, Tale of the Tape (Tubi) explores the world of mixtapes, the skill involved in making them, their impact on the culture and the legends of that scene. While the homemade quality of this short but deep unpacking is charming, it only speaks to people in that space and doesn’t go far in educating the uninitiated.

A brave director with a strong grasp on storytelling can create a compelling product that draws you in, whether or not you are interested in the artist or topic. But it feels like there is a positive correlation between the number of music documentaries released and how many of them aren’t worth pressing play on. Here are seven from the second half of 2024 that are worth watching and three not so much.—By Lily Moayeri

Live reviews

Deafheaven @ Irving Plaza, New York, US, May 14, 2025

Deafheaven @ Irving Plaza, New York, US, May 14, 2025

May 21, 2025 By Matthew Berlyant

Deafheaven brought their “Lonely People With Power” tour to New York’s Irving Plaza earlier this month with support from Gatecreeper

Blog

Get 50% Off the Last Great Indie Music Print Magazine – Just $2.49 an Issue

Get 50% Off the Last Great Indie Music Print Magazine – Just $2.49 an Issue

May 05, 2025 By Mark Redfern

Under the Radar is the indie music print magazine that refuses to die. While many of our peers have shut down or gone digital-only, we’re still here—still in print, still 100% independent, and still without billionaire backing. Right now, print subscriptions are 50% off: in the U.S. just $9.99 for four issues, or $2.49 each (compared to our $7.99 newsstand price). Canadian and international four-issue subscriptions are also 50% off.