Control is the latest album from Constant Smiles. This project is spearheaded by prolific songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ben Jones. Jones has constantly collaborated with a lot of like-minded musicians, and it shows in this offering’s collection of expertly crafted sounds. Control’s soundscape is dark and gloomy. Shaded with a dense layer of guitars and ambient […]
Pure X – Pure X
As an opener, the album has forty seconds of grungy, distorted crunchy guitar from “Middle America’s” intro which can translate to “hey folks, after a half-decade of hiatus, our sound hasn’t changed!”. Which I think a safe move given the general feedback they received for this comeback. There are a lot of repetitive lyrics on […]
Nudie Mag – Our Milk
Pasadena’s Nudie Mag has such an interesting blend of power pop. Their melodies are sweet and endearing, tinged with the innocent musings of teenage love, coupled with a sound profile that is loud and gritty. Fuzz dials are turned to eleven, with pounding drums reverberating across the walls. Their debut album “Our Milk” is doo-wop […]
Cathedral Bells – Velvet Spirit
Velvet Spirit is a fantastic debut album from Florida’s Cathedral Bells. Songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Matt Messore has crafted a dimension of hazy and wondrous melodies, where dreams run free along a platform glimmering synths and twinkling shoegaze. Every song has a thick finish of reverb and delay, the vocals are moody and effervescent. Various textures, […]
Husbands – After the Gold Rush Party
After the Gold Rush Party is the sophomore album from Oklahoma’s Husbands. Danny Davis and Wil Norton met back in University and instantly hit it off. Over the years they would write synth pop songs via email correspondence, all the while juggling it with their day jobs and their family life. After the Gold Rush […]
STRFKR – Future Past Life
Prepare yourself to be propelled into an indie-psychedelic light show, where the stars just within arm’s reach and every color in the spectrum glides and coalesces around you. Future Past Life, the latest album from STRFKR is filled with soundscapes that could fool you into thinking you have synesthesia. Its songs are primarily grounded in […]