Imagine walking into a 70s bar-lounge and sitting in a velvet booth, the air thick with a perfumed nostalgia and smokey intimacy, your head in a spin from the sultry voices and feverishly groovy notes being elicited from the small stage in front of you. Now close your eyes and press play on “I Don’t […]

Every few years it seems, Australia manages to churn out another solid indie band or artist that manages to make headlines with a stunning debut–so it’s understandable if you’re having trouble keeping up. However, it would be criminal to continue overlooking one such act that made its damn-near flawless debut in 2015 with The Positions, a […]

Drawing from his deep reservoir of talent, Tim Darcy is a Renaissance man by any estimation. He is best known as the lead singer for the Montreal-based rock band, Ought, whose last album came out two years ago. It was around this time that Darcy began the process of writing for his debut solo record, Saturday Night, […]

Led by the fierce vocal seductress, Kat Leon, Holy Wars have released their highly anticipated debut single “I Can’t Feel A Thing.” Wrought with emotion and a beautiful blistering of guitars and drums, the LA-based band have come together quite nicely. You may recall Leon and bandmate Nick Perez from their past project, Sad Robot — together, the two […]

Eat Your Fill On Gothic Tropic’s Debut LP, Fast or Feast Cecilia Della Peruti has more in common with Father John Misty than meets the eye. It may have only dawned on her while we lounged at Echo Park Lake, as the Santa Ana winds ruined a family picnic nearby. After shamefully admitting I hadn’t […]

At 22-years-old, while most people Jay Som’s age are graduating from universities or trying to make ends meet, Bay-area native Melina Duterte has two albums under her belt and has already finessed a loyal following for her lo-fi, bedroom rock confessionals. Her most recent release, the sublime contextualization of that very realization titled Everybody Works, has left her leaping […]

  Words: Steven Ward Boasting an original story worthy of its own television miniseries, folktronica band Crystal Fighters owes its very name and early inspirations to the unfinished opera penned by vocalist Laure Stockley’s grandfather in the last years of his life. Recovered by Stockley when cleaning out her grandfather’s reclusive home in the Basque countryside, […]

Words: Steven Ward  Even if you’ve never delved very deep into the historical roots of the budding punk scene that developed in the UK during the 1970s, chances are if you’ve been a fan of rock music in the last four decades, you’ve had a taste of Wire. Attributed to expanding the sonic limits of […]

The city of angels has a new source of sunshine. Joy née Bishop and Jeffrey Downer make up Joy Downer, a bright indie pop duo whose debut EP, Radio Dreamer, is out now. I’m fondly reminded of Florida-based SALES given how soft electronics complement tender hues in their music. I was fortunate enough to pick […]

For duo Raquel Berríos and Luis Alfredo del Valle, the dichotomy of their tropical Puerto Rican roots and the bustling grit of their New York home is a temperament that is self-evident in their music almost immediately. On their most recent EPII, as well as their new single “Frío,” the couple effectively ground their souls and foot-soles […]