Review: Spunky synths play all the right notes in ‘Paradice’
With its new five-track album “Paradice,” the group cranks the synthesizers to the max and gets the dance juices flowing.
With its new five-track album “Paradice,” the group cranks the synthesizers to the max and gets the dance juices flowing.
The past few years have been rife with uncertainty for Bloc Party fans. While the British alternative collective was on hiatus, rumors of a break-up began to circulate. But all is right in the Bloc Party camp as they return with their fourth studio album, the unimaginatively titled “Four.”
Listeners may be familiar with Chromatics after their track “Tick of the Clock” was incorporated into the stellar soundtrack of the film “Drive.” With their latest album, “Kill For Love,” the band sings and strums their trademark disco-pop sound to perfection. Throughout the album, Chromatics specialize in creating dreamy atmospherics in which listeners can get…
After remaining dormant for half a decade, indie rock darlings The Shins have released their new album, “Port of Morrow,” at long last. On the highly anticipated album, James Mercer and company draw from their typical mix of indie ballads and sensitive slow jams. Listeners are treated to a healthy dose of eccentric instrumental elements,…
Lately, all manner of gothic and grave-wave electronic acts have been crawling out of their cellars and bedrooms. The scene’s latest addition is Trust, a menacing duo that calls Toronto its home. Their debut LP, “TRST,” is both sonically impressive and sinister. Band members Robert Alfons and Maya Postepski channel Nine Inch Nails with industrial…
American shoegaze duo School of Seven Bells are back on the scene with their spooky new album, “Ghostory.” As the title suggests, the LP draws inspiration from everything creepy and mysterious. School of Seven Bells sticks with the gothic electronica that made their last album, “Disconnect From Desire,” a beautiful and ethereal listening experience. Lead…
British trio Band of Skulls has made quite a splash over the last three years with their tenacious brand of energized garage rock. On its new album, “Sweet Sour,” the group turns down the volume for some moments of meditation. The band’s first album, “Baby Darling Doll Face Honey,” lived and died by its gargantuan…
With the release of their new LP, Cloud Nothings have now put forth three albums in less than two years. “Attack On Memory,” their new effort, is a grunge-punk manifesto filled with feisty angst. Frontman Dylan Baldi and company employ clashing guitars, rapid-fire snare drums and guttural screams to deliver an energizing blast to listeners’…
In the wake of a harshly received “Saturday Night Live” performance, songstress Lana Del Rey has emerged as a bizarre, experimental artist. While the vocals on her latest album, “Born To Die,” are pleasing to the ear, the lyrical components lack a real depth across the work as a whole. A number of songs follow…
Synth-pop duo Chairlift has been lying low since its hit single “Bruises” graced Apple’s iPod Nano commercial back in 2008. But the band is breaking its silence with a bubbly new album called “Something.” The pair’s sophomore LP is a groove-happy piece of art that relies on giddy bass lines and sparkling synthesizers. Chairlift manages…
Girls, a folksy San Francisco duo, wowed the indie scene with their catchy throwbacks to 1950s rock ’n’ roll on their debut LP, “Album,” in 2009. Two years later, they have returned with a full-length sophomore effort that proves the first time around wasn’t just luck.