If you just heard Dressy Bessy for the first time, you missed quite a lot. Formed from the same seminal Elephant 6 collective that gave birth to Apples in Stereo and Neutral Milk Hotel, the group released half a dozen reliably enjoyable records. Dressy Bessy is a Colorado cause célèbre, releasing ‘Fast Faster Disaster’ June 13 via Yep Roc Records at Downtown Artery and Lion’s Lair respectively.
Continue readingAuthor: Ryan Murphy
Album Review: Slow Caves – falling
On March 22, Slow Caves will release their long-awaited debut full-length, falling: an eleven-song suite of the chillest right-crosses to the thorax you will find committed to wax in 2019.
Continue readingAlbum Review: Pedro The Lion – Phoenix
After the release of Pedro The Lion’s 2004 record Achilles Heel, the term “emo” would be weaponised as a slur—by outsiders and longtime acolytes alike—and earnest and plaintive music was largely cast aside for the irreverent, angular, and abstract indie rock that would define much of the next decade. Fifteen years after the band’s last release, hordes of music listeners will gather in front of stages throughout 2019 t(including The Bluebird Feb 10) to see Pedro the Lion in support of its long-anticipated return on Polyvinyl Records.
Continue readingAlbum Review: Anthony Ruptak – A Place That Never Changes
In a musical era defined by digital austerity, A Place That Never Changes is a powerful ode to maximalism, a carefully layered production of towering melodies and micro-cacophonies that cede just the right amount of space for Ruptak’s searing lyrical attack. It captures 2018 America’s prevailing feelings of confusion, anxiety and dread.
Continue reading