Remember back about a year ago when I said Mumford and Sons were your new favorite family? Well, if you don’t here’s a potent reminder. Fresh off a whirlwind week at CMJ, the boys have returned to London for some much needed rest. Announcing their new US home of Glassnote records last week and an [...]

I was a mere lad when The Clash played their epic gig at Shea Stadium, opening for The Who on October 12, 1982. Technically speaking, I was just shy of my 12th birthday. I wasn’t yet loyal to any one band and was just starting to figure out the music scene and my place in [...]

Due to being in Detroit, being struck down by the flu, and the election, my focus on music has been somewhat diminished—and this is certainly uncommon for me. However, during my illness, I received Samantha Crain’s amazing EP, The Confiscation. This singer and guitarist is just 21 years old, but writes like a much more [...]

The Gaslight Anthem is a band from New Jersey that combines melodic punk (think Social Distortion) with the storytelling of Bruce Springsteen. While location is important for most bands, it is especially true for this quartet due to the comparisons they have drawn to Springsteen. To me, the major points of comparison lie in the [...]

If you’re not from Upstate, NY (And by this I don’t mean Westchester County!) you probably have no idea that Syracuse has a pretty active music scene. If you’re from Upstate, you likely think that its emphasis is on the blues. And while the blues certainly has a strong base in Syracuse—punk and indie music [...]

Portishead has recently released Third, their first album in a decade. And jumping back into Portishead’s world ten years on, three things are immediately clear. The first is, I’ve missed them more than I realized. Secondly, the band’s music has been incredibly influential. Lastly, they still sound amazing. And this sound—this combination of voice, samples, [...]

Like many others who look to the Internet to find new music, I found Selkirk, Scotland’s Frightened Rabbit on YouTube. It was a grainy-filmed live version of their song, “My Backward Walk” (more on that song later) with a short intro consisting of The National’s track, “Fake Empire.” I was totally blown away. I had [...]

In honor of the Watson Twins being added as the opening band for his October 18 show at the State Theatre, here’s a review of their great debut album, Fire Songs.
Most people know The Watson Twins—Chandra and Leigh—from their playing with Jenny Lewis on the album Rabbit Fur Coat. And the sisters work on that [...]