Posts by Jeff Strowe

[rating=6.00] Trafficking in gnarled punk, energetic rock squalor, and frenetic aggression, Cloud Nothings make a lot of aggressive noise and certainly leave a mark on the senses. With throttled determination, their music throws itself at the listener, demanding not just attention, but your complete involvement and focus. Equally suitable to soundtrack your workout as it […]

[rating=7.00] Despite some weather to the contrary, it is in fact true that baseball season is upon us. It’s that hopeful time of the year where fans of each of MLB’s 30 teams can believe that yes, “This could be the year we win the pennant”, where smaller towns can bask in the regional pride […]

If there were any traces of hipster veneer at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg on Wednesday night (and judging by the jeers that soon followed, there were) Stephen Malkmus totally peeled them away about halfway through his nearly 90-minute set at the sold-out Music Hall of Williamsburg. “Yeah, I’ve always considered Williamsburg a part of […]

[rating=8.00] As founding members of Drive-By Truckers and long before that, as songwriting foils and kindred spirits amongst the Georgia and Alabama musical scenes, Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, circa 2014, are survivors. Together, they’ve logged countless miles in planes, vans and buses, traded inordinate amounts of Jack Daniels swigs from the famous brown bottle, […]

[rating=6.00] It’s appropriate that the gentlemen of The Far West all hail from different corners of the country because the sound they all make together represents a hearty scope of the land’s musical heritage. With members emanating from Chicago, Texas, upstate New York, and Los Angeles, the five-member band can certainly pass as an act […]

[rating=10.0] As Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn piloted their battered touring van up the eastern seaboard in the midst of an Arctic-like winter to Boston’s Fort Apache Sound, it’s doubtful they envisioned themselves as heartland saviors or inventors of newfangled musical genres. Sure, they were driven and motivated to make good on the […]

For those looking to have a good time and let loose on a Friday night, there are few better alternatives than a Robert Earl Keen concert. For over 30 years now, Keen, or REK, as he tends to be referred to by those in the know, has been offering forth a wildly combustible live show […]

[rating=6.00] Fun fact: Stephen Malkmus has now released one more album (six total) with his band the Jicks, than he recorded in the entirety of his tenure fronting alt-rock legends, Pavement. For us ‘90’s nostalgics now settling into a more steady and sedate form of adulthood, this only serves to reinforce how fast the time […]

It’s not every day that one gets the chance to see CBGB legends, Television perform. In fact, it’s not even every year. Thanksgiving weekend marked the first time in over seven years that these venerable New York City rockers graced the stage of their native land. Luring them out into the open was the grand […]

[rating=7.00] There’s a lot going on throughout the 38-minutes that comprise Corsicana Lemonade, White Denim’s sixth LP, and third since expanding to a quartet with the addition of guitarist Austin Jenkins. The Austin, Texas-based band has long specialized in chaotic and harried jams that burst forth with snippets of kinetic energy. Where one song stops and […]

Meric Long has been making music alongside Logan Kroeber for quite some time. The San Francisco- based duo The Dodos rock hard for a two-piece, with Long’s guitar arpeggios scattering around and through Kroeber’s pulsating and aggressively nuanced drum rhythms. Underneath the sound though, is Long’s songwriting, often ruminative, sometimes confessional, but always evocative and […]

As a loyal listener to the long-running Sound Opinions podcast, I’ve heard co-host Jim DeRogatis rave on and on about Savages, for the better part of a year now. His hagiographic odes to the all female London quartet have interspersed themselves into much of the show’s dialogue as he takes no hesitation in his praise […]

A few songs into their set at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg last Sunday night, Dodos’ drummer Logan Kroeber said what was on most of the audience’s mind: “Thank you guys for coming out on the same night as the finale of Breaking Bad. We weren’t sure how many people to expect.” As the roar […]

[rating=7.00] Over the course of a career, most artists and musicians go through multiple phases in their approach to the craft. The shifting nature of the business and the turbulent lifestyle it requires tend to bring fluctuating levels of focus to artists’ perspectives and personas. Some play the comedown machine, bringing their raucous behaviors and […]

[rating=5.00] Lifelong friends and native New Yorkers Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser have been kicking around the indie dance-pop scene for a few years now. Long enough to earn some rave reviews for their previous work, 2010’s Static on the Wire EP and 2011’s self-titled full-length, but due to their still relatively youthful ages, not […]

On a busy June weekend that found musicians, comedians, and media moguls heavily gathered in middle Tennessee for Bonnaroo or north of the border in Toronto for NxNE, the Williamsburg and Greenpoint neighborhoods of North Brooklyn found time to host an event of their own with the music and technology portion of the annual Northside […]

[rating=8.0] It’s been quite some time since Chris Flemmons fired up his Denton, TX collective The Baptist Generals. Ten long years, in fact, have passed since the critically acclaimed No Silver/No Gold  buzzed the music world with its’ ambient and kaleidoscopic whirling dirges and sound-scapes.  In this day and age of blogs and self-uploading of […]

Stones Fest proved to be a veritable jukebox of Stones tunes, as each track elicited howls of approval from the locked in and packed crowd. (Truth be told, the setlist was more of the greatest hits variety, but you don’t really hear people clamoring for much post-1989 Stones material, anyways.)

Signed since 2011 to the Kings of Leon helmed imprint, Serpents & Snakes, The Features have returned with their latest LP, an eleven track self-titled walk through their kaleidoscopic soundscape, offering both steady favorites and some new, interesting wrinkles.

2013 may not be finding Kenny Roby as wealthy or as famous as his old pal, Adams, but it has found him back on his feet as a musician. These quiet years away from the musical grind have allowed him to painstakingly craft an album borne out of his vision and outlook, and the results sound pretty sweet. It’s a triumph for the spirit of the artist, and hopefully a sign of more good things to come.