The band’s debut LP, Innerspeaker, showcased Parker’s eerily Lennon-like vocals as well as his ability to craft songs resembling those of legends like The Beatles and Pink Floyd not only in terms of style but also quality. However, his group’s latest effort, Lonerism, tends to highlight dense layers of synths atop the formerly prevalent effects-driven guitars, yielding a unique if not improved result. Read More…
Eight years ago, Green Day exploded from near-obscurity after their post-Dookie decline to rockstar superstardom following the release of the now Broadway-approved political epic American Idiot. Since then, and for most of their career, the East Bay natives have faced criticism for selling out their punk appeal to major-label record Read More…
Pop’s self-proclaimed punk princess/perpetual party-girl has released her latest album, The Truth About Love, at a point in her life when she should be best qualified to remark on the subject with the eyes of a seasoned veteran. Whereas her previous album, Funhouse, was a post breakup, revenge-fueled swing at Read More…
There’s an “Indie Class of 2009” reunion this year, and Grizzly Bear just arrived fashionably late (with an emphasis on the “fashionably” part). The bands that owned the “campus” three years ago — Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, The xx and Grizzly Bear — have all released new records in 2012, Read More…
There are times in pop music when a song takes on a life of its own and becomes bigger than the artist who performed it. The smash hit of the summer, “Call Me Maybe,” is such a song. It has grown into a phenomenon, sparking countless YouTube parodies and entering Read More…
If any more evidence were needed, The Killers are proof of the unfortunate phenomenon that popularity so often equates with mediocrity in the music world. A hugely acclaimed band, they have built their success on plain, enervated rock songs. It’s the least common denominator at work again, as The Killers Read More…
You could call Woods’ sixth album, Bend Beyond, “cohesive,” but they probably wouldn’t want you to. G. Lucas Crane, the band’s tape effects technician, told Ragged Words, “Cohesive is one of those terms applied when you notice something. I think each of the albums have been their own weird journey Read More…
America loves brothers who can sing: Kings of Leon, the Bee Gees, The Everly Brothers, Oasis.We can’t get enough. And who could possibly be better to further this national romance than those good-natured, southern, banjo-wielding Avett Brothers? Straight out of Concord, N.C., Scott and Seth Avett come with identical scruff and Read More…
It’s brutally unfair. We have been enjoying the fruits of Chan Marshall’s woe for nearly two decades now, and it has been anything but a symbiotic relationship. Plagued by family turbulence, substance abuse and a slew of highly publicized breakups, indie darling Marshall — known musically as Cat Power — Read More…
Following the release of The xx’s debut album, xx, the band was swarmed with critical acclaim and immense popularity, leading to seemingly endless touring and spots in high-profile music festivals across the globe. After three long years, the band returns with Coexist, a follow-up album destined to be subject to Read More…
