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Posts tagged alternative rock

Snake! Snake! Snakes! – Snake! Snake! Snakes!

Feb26
2011 Leave a Comment Written by J-Sin

This self-titled EP by Phoenix-based Snake! Snake! Snakes! made it to #46 on the CMJ charts. Produced by Bob Hoag (The Format, Joel Plaskett, Dear and the Headlights), the album sparkles with light melodies awash in lush atmospheres, strong vocals, and domineering choruses. “City on Fire” opens the album with a fantastic building chorus armed with huge anthems and vocals stirred with punctuating percussion and moody instrumentation. Precise melodies and dramatic arrangements make it easy for people to mumble words like Bloc Party, Arcade Fire, and Interpol but don’t get caught up in the comparisons because nothing about this dynamic group is stereotypical or expected. Danceable rhythms douse you with knee bouncing mania. The vocals are special as are each fabulously arranged song. This is the future of the college pop music scene.

Posted in indie, modern rock, music reviews - Tagged , ,

Suzy Callahan – Big, Helpless Sleep

Feb26
2011 Leave a Comment Written by J-Sin

I’ve been reviewing and watching the career of Suzy Callahan for several years now. And I gotta admit, she just keeps getting better and better. “Big, Helpless Sleep” starts off with a folksy banjo line on “Don’t Even Be Nice” and then comes in Suzy’s signature swooning vocals. Poignant and thoughtful lyrics are sprinkled throughout the album. Just when you have a favorite song, you find yourself in love with another and then another and so on. Many musicians struggle to find their voice, often creating forgettable tunes or after they have written a gem struggle to follow it up with an equally great song. Not so with Suzy Callahan; her brand of indie pop-rock is mature, smart and most of all damn likable. Isn’t it time for her to stop being dubbed “under the radar” and be acknowledged as the pop genius she is?

Posted in modern rock, music reviews, pop music - Tagged ,

Karnivool – Sound Awake

Feb15
2010 2 Comments Written by J-Sin

Karnivool is Australian for Tool. Yeah ok that was an easy pun but “Sound Awake” is an exact replica minus some of the narrative and talent of Tool – hell they even go by a nickname of “Vool”. Don’t get me wrong, they’re extremely talented but their sound is so cookie-cutter of Tool that it’s almost laughable. Their singer is great and their guitars deploy more melodies than their darker idols but the undercutting bass and percussion are very similar as are their song structures (and song lengths), textures, and bleak atmospherics. Regardless people will soak this up…

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New Radiohead MP3

Aug15
2009 Leave a Comment Written by J-Sin

Earlier this week, a new Radiohead MP3 was leaked…its title is “These Are My Twisted Words” off of their upcoming “Wall of Ice” EP which is set to hit via the Internet virally at first, or so goes the rumors. Also check out the riveting charity track, “Harry Patch (In Memory Of)“.

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Pride Parade – Dose

Aug07
2009 Leave a Comment Written by J-Sin

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Pride Parade are two pieces of white bread toasted with Southern rock and jammed with Mudhoney, “Dose” is a single waiting to fly off shelves. Crunchy guitar laced with manic singing graduated from the College of Cobain, Pride Parade abstains from nuance for fistfuls of toxicity, passion, and intravenous drugs. This is going to be one of the next big finds in the music worlds, so pick it up immediately.

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Moes Haven – It Takes a Lot of Guts! (to be this Obscure and Keep Getting Up in the Morning)

Jul19
2009 Leave a Comment Written by J-Sin

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If you’re an avid reader of Smother over the years, you’ll note that one year was spent reviewing a dozen albums by indie alternative rock outfit Moes Haven. Quirky pop tunes that laugh in the face of the serious. Found in the mail package along with the CD was a DVD of their new indie flick, “Monsters, Marriage, and Murder in Manchvegas” – a hilarious b movie set to the tune of horror thriller, peep the trailer here. But back to the music – this is a collection of some of the finest moments of Moes Haven, though why they didn’t include the track that they wrote for me is beyond me! Adventuresome songwriters that have somehow completely scared off that disease known as ‘writer’s block’. Awesome guys, awesome.

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