Shepherd Express | Michael Carriere

The Elusive Parallelograms Go Back to the Futurenew

As more and more of their indie-rock brethren opt for a stripped-down approach to songwriting, an insistence on creating multilayered soundscapes allows the Elusive Parallelograms to distance themselves a bit from many of their contemporaries -- a development that the band seems to welcome.

Shepherd Express | Michael Carriere | 10-17-2008 | Profiles & Interviews

Tags: and everything changes, The Elusive Parallelograms

Burbank Cartel Seeks to Nurture the Milwaukee Scenenew

Without Translation, the new album from Milwaukee's Burbank Cartel, is the album I've been waiting for the band to make. It is an album that sounds remarkably modern, remarkably self-assured: It sounds like alternative rock should sound in the early 21st century.

Shepherd Express | Michael Carriere | 10-10-2008 | Profiles & Interviews

Tags: Milwaukee, Burbank Cartel, Without Translation

Jeanna Salzer: Contemporary Pop Newcomernew

Salzer, a third-year student at Alverno College, is blessed with a voice that belies her young age: She sings with an authority and authenticity that seems to have little place in the world of contemporary pop music.

Shepherd Express | Michael Carriere | 09-19-2008 | Profiles & Interviews

Tags: Jeanna Salzer, Raindrops

Pigs on Ice’s Punk Spectaclenew

Like many of their peers in Milwaukee, Pigs on Ice are clearly influenced by the Jesus Lizard and other seminal acts from Touch and Go's back catalog.

Shepherd Express | Michael Carriere | 09-05-2008 | Profiles & Interviews

Tags: punk, Pigs on Ice

Protestant: True Hardcore Believersnew

It is often taken for granted that hardcore punk is -- and perhaps should be -- the domain of the young. Yet a funny thing happened after I turned 30. Faced with a new round of anxieties and insecurities, I found myself reconnecting with hardcore.

Shepherd Express | Michael Carriere | 05-16-2008 | Reviews

Tags: punk, hardcore, the hate. the hollow

How Vampire Weekend Channeled Africa Through New Yorknew

What is a young artist to make of a post-Giuliani, post-9/11 New York City?

Shepherd Express | Michael Carriere | 04-04-2008 | Profiles & Interviews

Tags: Vampire Weekend

Bob Mould Makes Peace with the Pastnew

For anyone who still associates Mould with Midwestern punk, the cover of his latest solo album, District Line, may come as quite an eye-opener. The art focuses entirely on the sights of Washington, D.C.

Shepherd Express | Michael Carriere | 03-07-2008 | Profiles & Interviews

Tags: Bob Mould, District Line

Jon Mueller Decontructs Metalnew

The title of his latest solo album, Metals, refers to his love for the style of music, and one hears the influence of some of metal's greats throughout the record’s three cuts.

Shepherd Express | Michael Carriere | 02-15-2008 | Reviews

Tags: Jon Mueller, Metals

Dillinger Four, Pretentiousness Zeronew

Formed in 1994 (“The Year Punk Broke, Part Two”), the band has weathered the rise of a mass-marketed underground culture, the birth of the Internet generation and the growth of a political climate that has little respect for dissenting viewpoints.

Shepherd Express | Michael Carriere | 02-01-2008 | Profiles & Interviews

Tags: Dillinger Four

Jimmy Eat World: The Past is Historynew

While Chase This Light may not be the band's most inspiring work, there is something comforting in the simplicity and earnestness with which the band members, some 15 years after their start, still approach their craft.

Shepherd Express | Michael Carriere | 12-14-2007 | Profiles & Interviews

Tags: Chase This Light, Jimmy Eat World