A few weeks ago, the Sex Pistols answered their inevitable nomination to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with what many fans trumpeted as an especially “punk” gesture: an open letter, hand-scrawled and atrociously spelled, declaring their contempt for the corporate institution and vehemently declining to appear at the ceremony. And it was pretty punk of them, insomuch as our concept of “punk” in the 21st century has been informed by mass-produced bondage pants, vague notions of “sticking it to the man” …

It’s well known that in the two years before Rosanne Cash’s latest album was written and recorded, the singer-songwriter experienced the deaths of three loved ones: her stepmother, June Carter Cash, her father, Johnny, and finally her mother, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin. Such an ordeal would be profound for anyone, let alone someone with a family saga as troubled and as public (seen Walk the Line) as Cash’s; and as an emotional document of her loss, Black Cadillac is nothing short of spellbinding. …

On hearing the Lovetones for the first time, you’d be forgiven for wondering whether the Australian indie-psych outfit is for real. After all, this is a band who name their paisley-tinted second album Meditations; who write songs like “Was I There in Your Future?” and then decorate them with trippy analogue synth atmospherics; who aren’t afraid to drop the occasional prominent sitar line into a bubblegum tune about a girl with “stars inside her hair.” These guys aren’t just your garden-variety walking anachronisms, in other words. They’ve listened to the …

Group Hug & PostSecret
Internet Confession Projects
Perhaps there’s a level of voyeurism involved. Sure, every now and then it’s nice to get a glance inside other people’s heads and know what they’re thinking (without them knowing you know.) Mostly, however, I think the beauty of Grouphug.us is rooted in the same principle that has kept housewives glued to soap operas since the heyday of radio (and what, incidentally, brings me back to Degrassi Jr. High week after week)–it’s nice to know that other people are more fucked up than you are. …

This reviewer was under the impression that any “Thee” band had to play Headcoatees-style garage dirt. He would have also sworn that any album whose title contains the word “cuts” was necessarily put out by DJ Skribble. Little did he know.
Thee More Shallows dip into slippery electronics, self-aware strings, and 2005′s near-mandatory clean rhythm guitar parts to assemble More Deep Cuts’ twelve tracks. They leave a jagged enough edge, though, to avoid the “destined for The O.C.” tag, while still producing sounds light and accessible enough to make a few …

“Juicebox”
from the forthcoming First Impressions of Earth
(Rough Trade – available on iTunes)
Yeah, so the Strokes – those guys still around? Yes, apparently, and they’ve just put out a new single.
Barely.
Guys, honestly, I liked it more when you were spending months in the studio with $30,000 of rack gear to make you sound lo-fi. Now that I can hear your polished guitar-and-bass dynamic, I’m unhappy to report that I’m just not comfortable with you, the Strokes, having a guitar-and-bass dynamic. Incidentally, when did you guys get a bass player? I thought …