Posts by Jeremy Lukens

[rating=9.00] Last Place shows no signs of the rust you would expect from a decade-long recording hiatus. Reunion albums have a notorious track record, but Grandaddy is able to recapture the spirit of their original albums without ever sounding like an old band imitating its former self. The California quintet disbanded shortly after the release […]

[rating=8.00] Yeah You, and I, the first solo album by Arcade Fire multi-instrumentalist Tim Kingsbury, is a densely layered indie pop gem that rivals Kingsbury’s main band in its artistry. Under the stage name Sam Patch, Kingsbury began writing and recording the material shortly after ending Arcade Fire’s Reflektor tour, so it’s not surprising that […]

[rating=7.00] After twenty years playing together, The Sadies aren’t showing any signs of slowing down. Northern Passages, the tenth studio album by the Toronto alt-country quartet, is an eclectic collection of roots rock that builds on its predecessors while incorporating influences from the various artists with whom the band has recently recorded. “Riverview Fog” opens […]

[rating=7.00] Little Fictions, the new album by elbow, is a slight reinvention for a band that is now seven albums and 20 years into its career. The music is less gloomy and a little more varied than previous releases. It leaves a bit more room for fun among the brooding introspection from which the band […]

[rating=9.00] From the opening measures of I See You, it is clear that London trio The XX have broken their mold. “Dangerous” is a big, layered pop song with a dancehall beat and a “Thriller”-esque bouncing bassline. It still has some of the band’s trademarks, such as the sultry intertwining vocals of Romy Madley Croft […]

[rating=7.oo] Graphism, the sophomore album by Boston trio Pale Hands, is a concentrated romp through nostalgic visions of trendy dance clubs in the 1980s. With swirling, saturated synthesizers and pulsing basslines, the trio dashes through a too-short collection of retro-pop gems. The added impact of guitarist Nick Murphy brings a bit more of a rock […]

[rating=7.00] Use Your Delusion, the debut solo album by Man Man frontman Honus Honus, is an album that is both eclectic and unsurprising. It carries all of the trademarks of Honus Honus’s other work – the eccentric lyrics, dark imagery, complex song structures, and piano-based instrumentation. It is unsurprising only in that the album doesn’t […]

[rating=8.00] In the two years since Phantogram’s spectacular sophomore LP Voices, the duo spent a lot of time collaborating with everyone from Miley Cyrus to Big Boi, the latter for an entire album under the moniker Big Grams. Though that may not have been a factor, there’s no denying that their new album Three is […]

[rating=6.00] Norah Jones’ solo albums have always been reliable, well-crafted collections that never disappoint though never really take any risks, either. Listeners know what to expect: an album full of soft, mostly slow piano pop with intricate melodies and good songwriting without much deviation from the formula. That is, until Jones teamed up with Danger […]

[rating=7.00] Head Carrier, the Pixies’ sixth album and second since reuniting in 2003, shows a more confident and mature band. After the critical failure of the reunion album Indie Cindy in 2014, the band shows a willingness to move on, brush off the mistakes, and stop trying to relive the glory of their classic releases. […]

[rating=7.00] Twelve years after the release of debut album Eye to the Telescope, Scottish chanteuse KT Tunstall has come to terms with being a pop star. Radio hits and the accompanying fame seemed at odds with her style, a solo acoustic musician backing herself with a loop pedal, but if there’s one thing pop audiences […]

[rating=6.00] From the horn intro leading to the first verse of album opener “New Love,” it’s clear that Amos Lee is again taking his sound in a new direction. After years of crafting his unique folk/soul hybrid over his first four albums, on 2013’s Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song Lee successfully experimented with the country side […]

[rating=8.00] Divorce, the second full-length album from JPNSGRLS, continues to build upon the promise of their 2014 debut, Circulation. The sophomore album by the Canadian quartet of non-Japanese men is a frantic 32-minute blitz of unbridled rock intensity. The album’s opening salvo, titled “Oh My God,” gives no time to catch your breath. After a […]

[rating=7.00]  Seven albums into their career, Swedish trio Peter Bjorn and John continue to fine-tune their style of infectious indie pop. Though the band’s major breakthrough – both commercially and critically – was 2006’s Writer’s Block (“Young Folks”), in some ways 2011’s Gimme Some was their peak. Though not as eccentric as the earlier records, […]

[rating=5.00] For their third full-length album, Fitz and the Tantrums abandon their soulful roots in favor of a pop aesthetic more in keeping with current pop radio. 2010 debut Pickin’ Up the Pieces thrived on its retro R&B tone and soulful harmonies. 2013’s More Than Just a Dream deftly blended that soulful vibe with a […]

[rating=7.00] Over the course of 15 years and four previous albums, indie duo The Kills have continuously refined their sleazy rock sound, adding and subtracting influences and keeping their core sound intact while making subtle changes in the periphery. Coming off their cleanest, most melodic album – 2011’s Blood Pressures, which is also their best-selling […]

Anyone who thought Grace Potter’s pop rock album Midnight meant that Potter had gone soft was proved wrong on Sunday night at Orlando’s House of Blues. Backed by her new band the Magical Midnight Roadshow, Potter delivered an intense 2-hour set that deftly combined new and older songs from her catalog. Throughout the show, Potter […]

[rating=9.00] Yeasayer is one of those bands that sound different on each album, a fact that is both refreshing and frustrating to fans. Though each album sounds distinctively like Yeasayer and like perhaps no one else in the industry, each channels their sound through different filters. All Hour Cymbols is a psychedelic album with Middle-Eastern […]

[rating=8.00] Moth, the third album from Brooklyn duo Chairlift, is the band’s boldest statement yet, adding an urban edge to their synth pop sound. Singer Caroline Polachek has learned to meld her idiosyncratic vocals better with the grooves supplied by multi-instrumentalist Patrick Wimberly, who replaced founding member Aaron Pfenning in 2011. The result is a […]

[rating=7.00] With his third full-length album Age of Transparency, Autre Ne Veut (real name Arthur Ashin) continues to explore the fringes of post-R&B. He expands upon the eclectic experiment on the genre that was 2013’s critically acclaimed Anxiety by incorporating more elements of jazz into the mix. Ashin began recording by playing with a full […]