Dec 12, 2017
By Matt Conner
Issue #62 - Julien Baker
On his new album, Prince of Tears, Baxter Dury takes on a persona named Miami, and the results aren’t pretty. “Miami,” the four-and-a-half minute album opener, finds the British avant garde rocker (and son of the late, iconic 1970s/1980s singer/songwriter Ian Dury, of Ian Dury and the Blockheads fame) cursing, insulting, and grandstanding to no end against a nameless antagonist, sounding like id unbound, all over infectious, dancefloor ready beats and synths crafted by him and co-producer Ash Workman. More
Dec 11, 2017
By Laura Studarus
Issue #62 - Julien Baker
Since 1996, Dan Bejar has released a large number of albums, both with his solo project Destroyer and as part of The New Pornographers and Swan Lake. Still, the Vancouver-based singer/songwriter doesn’t see his extensive output as some kind of superlative accomplishment, his matter of fact descriptions of the process implying that making music is hard-baked into his daily life. More
Dec 08, 2017
By Matt Fink
Courtney Barnett
A strange sort of math seems to underlie the chemistry of creativity. Any time two great artists are added to each other in equal measures, the product of their union almost always yields something less than what either of them could create on their own. More
Dec 07, 2017
By Ed McMenamin
Issue #62 - Julien Baker
A sophomore slump can be a self-fulfilling prophesy, or deliberate subterfuge by a band looking to reframe expectations, or often just a lazy way for rock critics to build narrative around a band’s second release. The idea is so engrained that following up a well-received debut can understandably cause jitters. More
Dec 05, 2017
By Matt Fink
Deerhoof
The fall of 2016 was the best of times and the worst of times for the members of Deerhoof. Devastated by the election of Donald Trump, they simultaneously were experiencing the elation of doing their first tour of South America. More
