AltWeeklies Wire
Down by Avalon: Simple, Precise Popnew
Frontman Alan Martin considers life and love with energy inherited from singers like Van Morrison, Ray Davies and Paul McCartney.
Tags: Down by Avalon
Dom Casual Moves Past Homagenew
On the band's latest, Espanta Muerto, they've created a fully-formed, rich-sounding, original testament to their touchstones.
Tags: Dom Casual, Espanta Muerto
The Mountain Goats Flex Their Rangenew
Heretic Pride isn't the band's best record by a Bethesda mile. But, perhaps more than any other, it is uniquely capable of articulating what they do so well.
Tags: Heretic Pride, The Mountain Goats
Michael Holland Goes Traditionalnew
Apropos of its title, Simple Truths and Pleasures is full of characters looking for a little relief and maybe a little joy but never expecting too much.
Sentiments Get Monochromaticnew
Though the writing is generally sharp, the sentiments get a little monochromatic over the course of the Monologue Bombs' Beverages + Ghosts.
Transistor Sun Winks as it Nodsnew
After all, Transistor Sun is about celebrating old habits -- loving, starting over, having fun, playing rock that splices from Cheap Trick, Guided by Voices and KISS -- all over again.
Tags: Transistor Sun
Sleepsound's Radio Readynew
Sleepsound's pleas recall the grandeur of a low-budget Snow Patrol or The Fray and the empathy invitation of a Nada Surf chorus.
Tags: Leaves Change, Sleepsound
What is Roots Music?new
A cross section of the artists who've performed during the first four years of the Carrboro ArtsCenter's American Roots Series, this disc showcases the wide range of American Roots.
Boxbomb Genre Jumps on Followupnew
The band's first full-length, My Obsession, finds Boxbomb looking to expand on and improve on the sounds from Golden, building from their grunge base with an ambitious span of assorted genres including country and blues.
Tags: Boxbomb, My Obsesssion
Yup, It's a Yep Roc Christmasnew
The debut Christmas compilation from Yep Roc Records successfully captures the range and fiery spirit of its label: Collecting new Christmas cuts from a dozen Yep Roc bands, Oh Santa! is alternately cranky or sentimental, thoughtful or whimsical and reverent or mischievous.
Juan Huevos Creates Classic Street-Story Hiphopnew
Juan Huevos -- the outlet of Jon Gregory, a 28-year-old white dude with a killer moustache -- raps about falling off bar stools, turning Friendster photos into late-night pornography and wanting to quit bad jobs.
Tags: Juan Huevos, MC People Magazine
Cool (and Smooth) John Fergesonnew
Indeed, one of the great joys of With These Hands is the ease with which Ferguson segues between styles, creating an evolving energy from the lively first half to the second half's gentler, late-night vibe.
Snatches of Pink Nearly Do-Wellnew
While Snatches of Pink and Clarissa both went to the summit, enjoying a major label tenure and a bid for radio play, they never quite sparked popular imagination, despite several fine, well-regarded albums in the '80s and '90s.
'Carolina Funk': A Labor of Lovenew
Chapel Hill's Jason Perlmutter spent half a decade compiling this 22-cut, 23-page package, which travels the same high road as similar triumphs of excavation and passion.
Hammer No More Fingers' Debut Sounds Almost Passenew
But after a half-decade of post-punk hair bands and precious indie pop, it's refreshing to hear an album get its hooks in without disco hi-hats or another whimsical glockenspiel line.
