Since its beginnings in 2002, Los Angeles band the Bronx has incorporated a sunny element within its version of hardcore. Maybe it’s a California thing, but it’s hard to describe their explosive, melodic, pump-your-fist music, other than to call it pizza-party punk. Their latest effort The Bronx (IV) is lacking any form of anger, which feels weird for a band of their ilk. Still, songs like “Along for the Ride” and ... Read More

  Almanac, the second full-length from Brooklyn band Widowspeak, opens with cascading guitar lines you could listen to on loop all night long. Molly Hamilton’s waifish vocals float down between the heavy drums, getting listeners primed for more, more, more. Still drawing a striking resemblance to beloved ’90s legends Mazzy Star, Widowspeak seems to be venturing out from under that shadow. The guitars, courtesy of Robert Earl ... Read More

Sometime around the release of his 1984 album Climate of Hunter, Scott Walker discorporated and his consciousness scattered. Periodically, he’s able to gather his atoms back together and create a harrowing dispatch from the ether before vanishing for another decade or so. His once-golden voice reduced to a haunted wail, Walker painstakingly recreates the sounds of traveling through half-existence surrounded by phantoms of the 20th ... Read More

Crystal Castles set the bar pretty high for their third release. After all, NME named their eponymous debut the 39th greatest album of the last decade, and their sophomore effort received widespread critical acclaim. Luckily,  Alice Glass and Ethan Kath show no signs of slacking off on (III). This time around, they’ve abandoned some of the thrashing punk of their self-titled 2008 release while retaining the abrasive energy of a ... Read More

It’s a sweltering summer day in New York City, pushing 100 degrees, when Paloma Faith and I decide to take a walk. Luckily, the 27-year-old British singer is, in her own way, dressed for it: she’s wearing a gorgeous two-piece sunsuit that’s straight out of the 1960s. She’s further armed with cat-eye sunglasses, a sky-high beehive, and her unique blend of smarts, sweetness, and grit. It’s her idea to do our ... Read More