i hate the sound of guitars

Holy crap, I haven’t written about Mixtapes before? Really!? I have literally listened to this band more than any other artist this year.
Mixtapes live in a weird intersection between well-produced pop-punk and lo-fi indie pop. On the one hand they have a fatter drum sound than I expect from low-budget indies; on the other, [...]

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On the A-side, Lemuria offer two more examples of the smart, catchy, indie rock that’s made Pebble one of my most-played albums of the year so far. I expected their side to be swell, and it delivers. But the revelation here for me is Cheap Girls’ “Pure Hate.” I’m not quite sure what “And I/Keep [...]

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Hard to slot this into a specific genre, it’s not very “rock” (not in the least “rawk”), largely (but not exclusively electronic). It’s the sort of record in which choices of “which instrument voices this part” seem driven more by sonic coloration than by personnel. There’s a lot going on if you pay close attention [...]

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Department of cheap shots: Does this sound more like Joy Division circa Closer, or like New Order circa Movement? Okay, I’ll concede some Chameleons UK in the mix, too. But the album cover sure screams “Factory!”:

vs., for instance:

p.s. It’s not bad. Just shameless. And the album cover tends to make me discount the “these folks [...]

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New Order would decidely have struck me as a useful point of reference for Idle Labor even if the cover art didn’t recall Power, Corruption & Lies. As it is, I’m wondering if they want to get threatening letters from some lawyer. Craft Spells’ flowers are less gloomy, of course, and so is their music. [...]

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When I heard “The Heron and the Fox,” it knocked me out. In that subtly arranged song, lovely finger-picked guitar and an extraordinary vocal performance from Little Scream leader Laurel Sprengelmeyer (delicate to the point of fragiliy, with unusual phrasing) unite to deliver a narrative that’s intriguing but ultimately obscure. It’s probably the strongest composition, [...]

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The Long Tangles have coined a term to encompass the many husband and wife indie pop/rock outfits: matrimony rock. Their take puts wife Courtney Han’s vocals and the keys (piano, specifically, on many tunes) way out front. I find it quite pleasant, if a little unassuming (a lot less thorny than, say, Quasi). Hans’ voice [...]

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If I didn’t know The Naked and Famous were from New Zealand I’d be positive they were Canadian. It’s not that they sound specifically like, say, Arcade Fire or Metric, but they combine modern indie rock, new wave, and just a smidge of disco in simpatico proportions. The Naked and Famous add a goodly quantity [...]

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Ryan Walsh, leader of the much-beloved-’round-here Hallelujah the Hills, used to be in a band called The Stairs, who released a pair of albums and some odds-and-ends. Looking at ‘em with hindsight, The Stairs recordings seem like a bit of an exploratory/learning/growing experience, with Walsh and crew figuring out their songwriting and performing strengths, and [...]

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Sounds like Joy Division for once not because of a gloomy baritone voice, but because bass and guitar parts recall Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner. Also sounds a bit like the instruments were at one of a tunnel, and the recording equipment was at the other. Some of this is hooky and/or pretty enough to [...]

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