By - Kristi Houk Recommended if you like: Beta Band, Slowdive, Lush, The Daysleepers Music is seasonal. Example: I only listen to Led Zeppelin in the summertime and spring is reserved for a heavy rotation of XTC. As the first hint of autumn seeps in, I tend to lean toward more introspective, somber, heavier fare. Lucky for me, and hopefully you, Film School’s latest release, Field checks all of these […]

By - Kristi Houk Recommended if you like:  The Beach Boys, Argent, Teenage Fanclub, Mo Troper I wish you could read this review in baby pink bubble letters to really emphasize the poppy, bubblegum sound of Diners latest release Domino on Bar/None Records. Surely there’s an app for that. Domino is so overwhelmingly positive, that I kind of want to throw up a little bit. But seriously, this is a […]

By - Kristi Houk Recommended if you like: Kate Bush, Bjork, Radiohead, Patti Smith Polly Jean Harvey doesn’t make the same record twice.  Period. I feel the need to lead with that since there have been murmurings that her latest release, I Inside the Old Year Dying, doesn’t have enough grit as her earlier albums. Sure, this record may not have the same urgency as, say, Rid of Me (1993) […]

By - Kristi Houk Recommended if you like: Big Bite, Hotline TNT, Polvo Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way—I am not a Pavement fan.  This matters because Pardoner—the San Francisco based quartet have been compared to the 90’s alt rockers ad nauseam. I get it. Really I do. The slacker vibe is definitely present on Pardoner’s latest release, Peace Loving People, both lyrically (sardonic wit? check!) […]

By - Kristi Houk Recommended if you like: Imperial Teen, Bob Mould, Dinosaur Jr., Purling Hiss, Dazy Provincetown, the second release from life and musical partners Roddy Bottum (Faith No More and Imperial Teen) and Joey Holman is a fucking triumph for the LGBTQ+ community and a direct, ‘f-you we’re not going anywhere for the rest of us.’ This record couldn’t come at a better time with many right wing […]

By - Kristi Houk “You gotta make hay while the sun shines…” —Liz Stokes I was given explicit orders not to “fan girl” out and I mostly kept my word when I interviewed Liz Stokes, vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of The Beths earlier this week in promotion of their upcoming show this Sunday, June 18th at Saturn. (Get tickets here.)  After all, their magnificent album, Expert in a Dying […]

By - Kristi Houk Recommended if You Like: Pere Ubu, Iceage, The Fall, Dry Cleaning, Viagra Boys It’s been a weird week.  New York and other major cities across the U.S. are covered in a blanket of toxic smoke from the Canadian wildfires. The gray/orange, dystopian images are startling to say the least. Admittedly, Protomartyr’s new release, Formal Growth in the Desert has proved an apt soundtrack to the week’s […]

By - Kristi Houk we love this record and this band!  but for the life of us we can’t find a damn thing out about them 🤣   Recommended if you like: PiL, Tricky, Vacation Forever, Deki Alem Upon listening to the new Y!KES ep, I have a question— Are they punk, metal, grunge, electronica or a brilliant amalgamation of all four?  One minute I’m wearing an oversized smiley face […]