Artist: Best CoastTitle: Crazy for YouRelease date: July 27Label: Mexican SummerAnd the award for most insufferable indie-pop star of 2010 goes to . . . the singer of Best Coast, Bethany-something-or-other. I’d heard a lot of good things about the debut full-length by this California garage-pop act, and this record is…
Artist: Vitamin String QuartetTitle: VSQ Performs Lady GagaRelease date: July 27Label: Vitamin RecordsFile under: Profoundly unnecessary.I thought this might be a one-off record by some slumming symphony folks, but, no, this highfalutin foursome have recorded similar tributes to AC/DC, Alice in Chains, Guitar Hero, and, um, 30 Seconds to Mars…
Artist: The BooksTitle: The Way OutRelease date: July 20Label: Temporary Residence LimitedI left work early yesterday because I realized I’d taken only one day off so far this year, and that was back in February. I came home and turned on a baseball game (TV volume down, because the Cubs…
“Yes, I’m running as fast as I can / Toward a stunning and imperfect plan.” The couplet appears midway through That’s How We Burn, the fine Sub Pop debut by Jaill, and it encapsulates the Milwaukee quartet’s tipsy but assured take on Plimsouls-meets-REM, early-’80s mid-fi pop. It’s the sound of…
Artist: Francis and the LightsTitle: It’ll Be BetterRelease date: July 20Label: CantoraIn 2010, a lot of artists have tipped their musical hats to the hitmakers of the 1980s, but none that I’ve heard has paid homage to Peter Gabriel, who was as big a star as nearly anybody from that…
The Arizona Diamondbacks have their first two-game winning streak of the Kirk Gibson era, thanks to a 3-2 win Tuesday night over the New York Mets at Chase Field. The back-to-back wins also give the D-Backs their first series win in almost a month. Barry Enright, who was called…
Artist: Secret CitiesTitle: Pink GraffitiRelease date: July 20Label: Western VinylGood lord, when is it going to rain around here? I’m getting antsy for a cloudy, rainy day. I spent the first 35 years of my life in the Midwest, where it rains plenty during the summer. This is my sixth…
Artist: Sun Kil MoonTitle: Admiral Fell PromisesRelease date: July 13Label: Caldo VerdeA few years back, with the effects of aesthetic atrophy settling into my music-consumption habits, I took a increasingly rare gamble, paying full price for Ghosts of the Great Highway, the first record by Sun Kil Moon. I was aware…
Time to clear the desk of all these CDs. Stuff’s really piling up and I’m not sure I’ll get to write full posts of many of them, so let’s take a quick look at what’s new and notable (or not).Tracy Bonham: Masts of Manhatta — Remember Tracy Bonham? In the…
Artist: Mystery JetsTitle: SerotoninRelease date: July 13Label: Rough TradeMystery Jets are one of those bands whose backstories threaten to overshadow their actual musical output. Here’s what I’m talking about: 1) The British band’s leader/singer has spina bifida, a condition that forces him to walk with crutches. 2) Said bandleader’s dad, in…
Artist: Authority ZeroTitle: Stories of SurvivalRelease date: June 22Label: Suburban NoizeI have a friend who’s a native Phoenician and longtime fixture in the Valley punk scene, both as fan and musician. He loves West Coast punk, thinks Southern California spawned the best of the best punk, especially in the scene’s…
Artist: Danger Mouse & SparklehorseTitle: Dark Night of the SoulRelease date: July 13Label: CapitolThe “lost album” of Gnarls Barkley’s Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse (a.k.a. the late singer-songwriter Mark Linkous) was finally officially released today after more than a year in legal limbo. A cast of thousands (including Iggy Pop, Suzanne…
Artist: Crowded HouseTitle: IntriguerRelease date: July 13Label: FantasyThanks to the many people who read and commented on my post last week of my must-hear songs from the first half of 2010. Seems I touched a few nerves with that list — a common theme of those who were critical of…
Artist: Ty SegallTitle: MeltedRelease date: May 25Label: GonerOne of most reliable indie record labels going is the Memphis label Goner, which has putting out lo-fi garage and punk rock for well over a decade now. Most of the acts still are strictly underground, so Goner may be best known for…
All good things must come up to an end, including the Arizona Diamondbacks’ dominance over the Chicago Cubs at Chase Field. With their 8-3 loss Wednesday night, the D-Backs lost their first home series to the Cubs since 2003 and were swept at home by the Cubs for the first…
Artist: Pierce the VeilTitle: Selfish MachinesRelease date: June 22Label: Equal VisionThe second half of 2010 starts on off a rather sour note — or about 45 minutes’ worth of sour notes, courtesy of Pierce the Veil.Here’s pretty much all you need to know about this San Diego band, which bills…
Today marks the halfway point of Nothing Not New. That means I’ve listen to nearly 140 records in their entirety in the first six months of 2010. Just another 140 or so to go before I can retreat to the familiarity of my record collection.To recognize the occasion, the Up…
Cheap Trick in a casino ballroom: Better than at a zoo, but not as good as at the fair. I’ve seen these dinosaurs about eight times since 1992, in all sorts of venues (including, yes, the Milwaukee Zoo), and Saturday night’s venue, Talking Stick Resort, was pretty terrible. I was hoping…
Artist: KatzenjammerTitle: Le PopRelease date: June 29Label: NettwerkAny of you other old-timers following Nothing Not New read this yet? I know . . . interesting perspective, isn’t it: Cheap Trick posited as a band that almost-kinda-sorta hit the big time, that “phoned in it” and were “half-assed.” If you lived…
The Arizona Diamondbacks’ 3-3 record on its recently completed road trip is a smashing success, considering the team’s generally poor play this year and the competition (two likely playoff teams, the Tampa Bay Rays and the St. Louis Cardinals). The D-Backs ended the trip Thursday afternoon in St. Louis with…
For nearly 30 years, pop-punk rascal Paul Caporino and M.O.T.O. (Masters of the Obvious) have been forging timeless sing-along punk with razor-sharp Buzzcocks- and Hüsker Dü-style riffs and an often-twisted wit that recalls Nick Lowe at his most mischievous. Whether he’s offering an ode to post-coital self-aggrandizement (“Well, I just…
Artist: Wolf ParadeTitle: Expo 86Release date: June 29Label: Sub PopLast night, I made an unplanned run down to the Yucca Tap Room to catch this band called Shapiro, a group of pleasant young men from the D.C. area who play piano-driven pop-rock songs that, at their best recall 1970s classic…
