Album Reviews

Jazz Dispensary’s compilations tend to work best when they lean into a specific mood, and Magia Brasileira takes the listener to the Samba-filled Brazil of fifty years ago. This set spans the late ’60s through the ’70s, focusing on Brazilian artists and adjacent players who blurred samba, jazz, and funk in a way that feels […]

Released in 2012, Just Tell Me That You Want Me brings together a wide range of indie and alternative artists to reinterpret Fleetwood Mac’s catalog. The compilation doesn’t just revisit the band’s biggest songs; it draws from multiple eras, from the early blues years to the more polished pop records of the late ’70s and […]

Arriving as part of Third Eye Blind’s 30th anniversary run, Rarities & First Drafts pulls material largely from the band’s first three albums: Third Eye Blind (1997), Blue (1999), and Out of the Vein (2003), and presents it through demos, alternate takes, and acoustic versions. Instead of revisiting these songs in their familiar form, the collection strips back some of the studio layering […]

Coming off the stripped-down intensity of Hallowed Ground, Violent Femmes pivoted in a noticeable way with 1986’s The Blind Leading the Naked. Produced by Talking Head’s Jerry Harrison, the album expands the band’s wiry folk-punk foundation into something more layered and polished. It still carries that anxious energy that defined their early work, but adds […]

For over forty years, Brooklyn’s They Might Be Giants have been crafting earwormy art rock that toys with genres, targeted age groups, and educational endeavors. For their 24th album, The World Is to Dig (whose title was inspired by a 1952 children’s book), TMBG continues their quirky style, with the two Johns just keeping up their idiosyncratic […]

Coming off the buzz of their debut United, Phoenix returned in 2004 with Alphabetical, a record that trades some of that scrappy indie energy for a more controlled, polished approach. The Versailles band leans harder into groove here with tight basslines, clean guitar tones, and a subtle nod to R&B that gives the album a […]

Released as a companion piece to 2001’s Greatest Hits, Acoustic Hits strips The Cure’s catalog down to its core and puts the songwriting front and center. Recorded at Olympic Studios in London during the same sessions, these versions remove most of the band’s signature production (no dense synth layers or effects), just acoustic arrangements that […]

By the time The Cure released Greatest Hits in 2001, they had already built one of the most recognizable catalogs in alternative music, moving from scrappy post-punk minimalism to lush, radio-ready pop without losing their identity. Owing one last album to Fiction Records, Robert Smith agreed to put out a greatest hits under the condition […]

By 2001, Stone Temple Pilots were in a different place than their early ’90s peak. Shangri-La Dee Da had just come out, and instead of chasing the heavier sound of Core or Purple, the band leaned into something looser and more varied. Live at Rolling Rock pulls from across their catalog, and you can hear […]

Years before Primal Scream bridged the UK’s rave and rock cultures with their landmark album Screamadelica, the Scottish group’s debut, Sonic Flower Groove, was decidedly more jangle pop than acid house. Pulled from a pair of 1987 singles tied to their debut 1987 EPs collects Gentle Tuesday and Imperial for the first time on a single pressing, […]

Originally released in 2000, United finds Phoenix at the very start of their run, before the polish and global recognition of later albums. At this point, they’re still figuring things out, but the core of their sound is already there with clean guitar lines, understated grooves, and Thomas Mars’ conversational vocal delivery. It sits somewhere […]

On the first two Fantastic Cat records, the quartet of singer-songwriters (Anthony D’Amato, Brian Dunne, Don DiLego, and Mike Montali) brought their own styles successfully into a band setting. However, on their third album, the cheekily titled Cat Out of Hell, Fantastic Cat feels like a long-running, well-oiled, veteran outfit. Things are more fluid as individual […]

In 2016 and 2025, Washington alt-rock innovators The Melvins toured as co-headliners with UK grindcore veterans Napalm Death under the banner Savage Imperial Death March. The tours showcased contrasting heavy styles. The Melvins, pioneers of the grunge and sludge metal movements, bring intricate riffing at various tempos and odd time signatures, while Napalm Death, pioneers […]

With the release of Great As Ever: Live In Philadelphia ’86, a theme is beginning to emerge in the chronological issues of this archival series. Notwithstanding how this package lives up to its title–it’s actually a reference to the loyalty of the audience from the leader of the band–Gregg Allman’s self-assurance and pride in his […]

Staying positive is an incredibly difficult skill to maintain. With all the negativity and palpable tension thickening the air, stirring up a fog so dense we sometimes forget to look at our fellow humans and share a smile, being the one to break the mold and share a technology-free moment with someone, or anything, is […]

Closing in on four decades of blending folk, Americana, and Southern rock, Drivin N Cryin can still effortlessly churn out a remarkable record. On their 11th album, Crushing Flowers, the band still splits the difference between Bob Dylan’s introspection and the Ramones’ punch. “Mirror Mirror,” written after singer Kevn Kinney’s visits with his mother during […]

Escapism is a fickle beast to control. When used properly, it can serve as a meditative retreat in your day-to-day life when a minute is all you need, but when it overtakes you, you become distracted and detached from your sense of reality. For Rachel Lime, the singer/songwriter/producer, time seems to be suspended in her […]

Joe Pernice has been playing an uncompromising brand of indie music for more than three decades now. He dug into alternative country with the Boston-based Scud Mountain Boys before switching to a more indie rock/pop sound with the Pernice Brothers. But it’s his latest—and first—solo studio effort, where he strips it all down for a […]

Charley Crockett has always been a prolific artist, stretching the limits of his imaginative approach to country, which toes the line between tradition and the lofty. Recently, though, the long-standing troubadour has been releasing distinct, genre-altering releases, starting with 2025’s Lonesome Drifter and Dollar A Day, which arrived a few short months later. These two […]

The long-running, Seattle, Washington-based drone metal act Sunn O)))))) returns with their first new music in seven years, as their tenth album is a self-titled offering and their first for new label Sub Pop.  The duo of Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson has been performing for over thirty years, pushing avant-garde metal and noise rock […]