Self-deprecation at its coolest and most self-deprecating. “This is how losers feel/ I am a loser/ And you're here to remind me” sings Jenn Ghetto (producing not at all ghetto music), originally a member of Carissa's Weird, a Seattle-based band. She departed from...
Lo-fi punk rock garage romance. Anticipate what you will of an album that opens with “I remember the first time I saw you/ I knew you'd be important” but ends with “you find something you like/ and then you move on with your life.” Coming out of North Carolina to...
Music for listening to while you ride your horse through the desert into the sunset. Northern Arms' self-titled debut plays like a soundtrack to a western blockbuster with an indie-rock twist. The album opens up with “Warm Springs Georgia” and “Ninety and NineÛ,...
Notable new indie-rock. Shy is the opposite of Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg, the 23-year-old lead vocals and guitar of southern California's Avi Buffalo. The lyrics are quirky and verge on uncomfortable, about winning over girls and sneaking into camp sites. But the...
“Vast spaces yet a sense of isolation.Û The Raveonettes allowed all of their creative experimentation to surface in their newest release, Pe'ahi. In many cases simplicity becomes preferable, but in this album the use of more in-depth instrumentation has enabled...
A love crusade worth going on. “When I was 27 I crushed a lot. I wasn’t sure I’d ever fall in love again. These songs were written and recorded in private around this time.” Karen O has been known for her loud and vibrant persona in the Yeah Yeah...
Fun outerspace synth-pop and teen angst. The Drums' Encyclopedia is a burst of juvenile bliss and despair. The playful, almost extra-terrestrial tunes on “Magic Mountain,” “Let Me” and “Wild Geese” paired with lyrics like “Somewhere in the back of my mind I crave...
Haunting, folksy soul sung beautifully. This second album from Canadian singer-songwriter is ambitious and intricately assembled, yet stays true to the “doom soul” aesthetic of her past work. In fact, if anything, Neuroplasticity magnifies the doom with richer songs...
“World's Loudest Band” isn't so loud right now. Significantly mellowed out and more monotonous than their first two albums, charged, melodic guitars take a back seat to more prominent percussion and drier vocals. Without a doubt the San Francisco shoegaze outfit...
Airy pop for flower-crown wearing Coachella goers. Zella Day may not be a name you are familiar with, but her musical style definitely is. On most of her self-titled EP, Arizona-born now LA-based Day draws striking similarities to well-established pop artists we've...