Interviews

Margo Cilker has always been a roamer. Her second album, Valley of Heart’s Delight (due out this Friday via Portland label Fluff & Gravy Records), glimmers with a variety of imagery—from the vast Santa Clara valley to Oregon’s woodland trails.  “I had to remove the idea that if I was going to sing about a […]

Pittsburgh-based Deathcore band Signs of the Swarm recently released their fifth studio album, Amongst the Low & Empty, via Century Media Records. Having been touring intensely just before recording this new album, Signs of the Swarm were a little up in the air about what developments might be part of a new collection of songs, […]

The band Main Steam Stop Valve (mssv) are releasing their new album, Human Reaction, on September 1st, via Big Ego Records. It’s their second album together, although they’ve also released several EPs and done a fair amount of touring behind their work, since that’s a large part of how they operate. In fact, guitarist Mike […]

The cover art for Hiss Golden Messenger’s latest album, Jump for Joy, is in black and white, but it beams with hopeful and nostalgic happiness. As bandleader and songwriter M.C Taylor puts it, “It’s a sun-in-your-eyes feeling—that ambiguous joy and excitement for whatever is on the horizon.”  The photo looks like it was torn from […]

Germany-based band The Bloodstrings have been known for their horror aesthetics and Psychobilly traits over time, but with the release of their third album, Heartache Radio, they have expanded their sound to incorporate their Punk roots, as well as taking specific aim at social issues for the first time. This stemmed partly from a growing […]

This summer, The Lumineers’ co-founder Jeremiah Fraites and ambient artist Taylor Deupree released Northern (Redux) via Dualtone Records/Mercury KX, a newly interpreted version of Deupree’s 2006 album, Northern. The project is unique both in its conception and in its outcome since both artists found an organic working method to evolve tracks after passing on the […]

Three decades ago this year, a pop punk band from suburban Chicago released their debut LP Get Fired and managed to completely upend expectations of what punk music could sound like. The four-piece – comprised of brothers Josh, Eli and Matt Caterer along with Mike Felumlee – merged a raucous, sloppy mix of distorted guitars and […]

It’s hard to believe that it was only a few months ago that Les Imprimés introduced himself to the world. After signing with the illustrious Big Crown Records, the multi-hyphenate, Norwegian-bred artist immediately began winning over our hearts.  His debut single for the label, “I’ll Never Leave”, introduced us to the cosmic soul of Morten […]

Dolly Dagger is an independent Rock musician with a small band who hails from Australia but resides in LA where she has lived and worked for some time. Bandmates include Jesse McInturff, who also composes for film and TV, and drummer and fellow Aussie Danni Ammon. Releasing a few singles over time, the group have […]

For a true music geek, few feelings pale compared to digging up a diamond at your local record shop. The tradition of buying an unknown album strictly off of its cover art or band name has yielded some terrific lost releases gaining a new set of legs, such is the case for Johnny’s Uncalled Four. […]