Album Reviews

Although Le Concorde has only been around since 2003, they sound like pop rock veterans on their newest EP, Suite. Stephen Becker, the mastermind behind the band from Chicago, gets how to write a catchy song—and this new batch brings plenty of energy. The gem here is “All These Fragile Unions,” which uses Becker’s rhythm and wonderfully awkward sense of melody and sounds to form almost three minutes of suiteness. The bar has officially been raised for their next full-length album.

The reissue of the Grateful Dead’s very first two archive titles, simultaneous with the release of Three From the Vault, reaffirms how endlessly fascinating it is to follow this band. And it’s not just the music, but also the way the group meshed aesthetic and business activities.

Listening to this record will result in immediate obsession and audiences should prepare to be both fascinated and aurally wooed.