AltWeeklies Wire
Wolfmother's Retro-Hard-Rock Proficiency Continues on 'Cosmic Egg'new
It's a record more steeped in romanticism than the band's eponymous debut, which had a lot of metal-schlock (unicorns, witches, ancient monoliths).
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
11-18-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Cosmic Egg, Wolfmother
Pardon the Colloquialism, but the New Mountain Goats Album is Super-Duper Goodnew
The Life of the World to Come is so good it may make you giggle and squirm and play it over and over again.
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
10-29-2009 |
Reviews
The Big Pink Feels Like a Marketing Ploynew
On A Brief History of Love, they've taken everything self-indulgent and whiny about Oasis and fused it with everything redundant and artificial about The Postal Service.
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
10-15-2009 |
Reviews
The Self-Obsessed Songsmith Lou Barlow Returns with 'Goodnight Unknown'new
After Sebadoh and the uninspiring Folk Implosion, Lou Barlow's releasing his second solo album -- and it's nice to have him back.
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
10-07-2009 |
Reviews
The Golden Silvers are a Band That Just Wants You to Have a Good Timenew
The debut album from London's Golden Silvers is a melange of Saturday-morning cartoon pop, rock opera and disco dance party.
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
09-16-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Golden Silvers, True Romance
To Call 'Blue Roses' Atmospheric Would be a Vast Understatementnew
If Tori Amos stole Harriet Wheeler's larynx and used it to make a baroque folk album with Rufus Wainwright's cabaret sensibility, you'd get Blue Roses, the eponymous debut of Yorkshire vocalist/guitarist Laura Groves.
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
09-16-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Blue Roses, Laura Groves
Jack Penate: Taffy and Bassnew
Everything actually isn't new on Peñate's sophomore effort, but several bright tracks are worth the purchase price alone.
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
09-02-2009 |
Reviews
The Arctic Monkeys Go in a New Direction on 'Humbug'new
Humbug is the Monkeys at their most sincere and plaintive, and if you're not too cynical to follow them in this new direction, it should make your heart skip a beat or two.
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
08-31-2009 |
Reviews
Interpol's Paul Banks Strikes Out on His Own With an Alter Egonew
Since the album's title finds Banks literally describing his new alter ego for his audience, it's telling that he chooses to link this persona with the album's third track, "Skyscraper," an ambient, acoustic soundscape mostly sans vocals.
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
08-12-2009 |
Reviews
Cobra Starship's Ephemera Has Its Placenew
Hot Mess is a consummate piece of throwaway pop music: vapid and empty, but fun.
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
08-05-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Hot Mess, Cobra Starship
Discovery's 'LP' is Faddish Yet Funnew
Listening to Discovery's LP reminds us that synthpop is the "sound of the aughts."
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
07-29-2009 |
Reviews
Eminem's Latest Shows Lots of Talent and Lots of Gaynew
Eminem delivers a strong new record that reminds us of his incredible talent--while also reminding us that gay people exist.
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
06-04-2009 |
Reviews
Green Day's Latest Is a Sprawling, Potty-Mouthed, Pop-Punk Masterpiecenew
21st Century Breakdown is framed as an arch response to the post-Bush landscape of contemporary America, proving that Green Day has never lost their genre's tradition of snide social critique.
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
05-27-2009 |
Reviews
Jarvis Cocker's 'Further Complications' Is Inherently Unimpressivenew
Jarvis Cocker's newest solo album is about as fresh and exciting as video footage of Courtney Love drunk in public.
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
05-20-2009 |
Reviews
Peaches Makes Fun of Our Darkest Desires While Inviting Us to Shake Our Assesnew
Hard-core sexuality could easily become a gimmick, but Peaches' latest is evidence that she's not one to be outdone by her own shtick.
Tucson Weekly |
Sean Bottai |
05-14-2009 |
Reviews
