The Folk Implosion Begin Again with ‘Walk Thru Me’
After a quarter century, Lou Barlow and John Davis of the Folk Implosion return with an album that testifies to their enduring friendship.
alternative rock
Kasabian Deliver Infectious Grooves on ‘Happenings’
Conceived in a spirit of celebration, Kasabian’s eighth LP is a concise, stadium-friendly set of danceable, infectiousness pop-rock for life’s brighter moments.
Travis’ Tenth Studio Album ‘L.A. Times’ Lacks Consistency
L.A. Times finds Travis inspired but in need of direction on what could be a transitional album in their career. They do take more risks than in over a decade.
A Comeback Story for the Ages: Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Californication at 25
Red Hot Chili Peppers made an LP on their own terms with Californication. They silenced the doubters and launched the second act of their extraordinary career.
The Mysterines’ New LP Is Moodier, Darker, and Slower
The Mysterines’ new record is the aural equivalent of a spooky, creaky old house—at an amusement park. It gets the look and feel right, but it’s artifice.
Cicadastone’s ‘Future Echoes’ Is Grunge’s Rip-Roaring Last Stand
Cicadastone’s Future Echoes is a gleeful, rip-roaring, endlessly entertaining beat-down of everything sensitive or delicate in our homogenized society.
The Black Watch Might Be Signaling the Beginning of Their End
With Weird Rooms, John Andrew Fredrick and the Black Watch are at the late height of their powers and perhaps the end of their life as a group.
Dirty Three Prove the Theory That Love Changes Everything
Dirty Three continue their long career of making organic, meditative post-rock jazz that always humbly approaches a single moment, without pretense or distraction.
Joan of Arc Are Resurrected at Last (Just Ask Tim Kinsella)
By putting Joan of Arc’s collected works in a dynamic box set, Tim Kinsella gauges how fans and critics are reconciling with the band’s work with modern ears.
The Decemberists’ New LP Is a Return to Form
The Decemberists straddle between the exotic and quotidian, the real and imagined, to reveal that existence is most interesting when lived in a liminal state.
The Dark Beauty of Alice In Chains’ ‘Jar of Flies’
Unplanned and unprepared, when Alice in Chains recorded Jar of Flies‘ catchy songs on the fly, they created some of their career’s darkest yet warmest music of their career.
Steve Albini’s Black Swan Song: Shellac’s ‘To All Trains’
Shellac’s To All Trains is as compelling as anything they ever produced and a swan song. In Steve Albini’s case, the swan must surely be big, angry, and black.