Quick Takes

  • Mia Joy Spirit Tamer

    It’s a bit strange to say, but the new album from Chicago-based singer-songwriter Mia Joy isn’t the sort of debut that immediately grabs you. It took a few days after I heard Spirit Tamer for the first time, but I was eventually drawn...

  • Mannequin Pussy Perfect EP

    No punk band today exemplifies flowers and fangs better than Mannequin Pussy. The Philly trio, having made their biggest splash with 2019’s showstopper Patience, operate on a level of vulnerable fearlessness regardless of...

  • Renée Reed Renée Reed

    Louisiana singer-songwriter Renée Reed has a fascinating backstory. Her families' Cajun influence runs deep—from a grandfather who played Zydeco to being the daughter of musician parents who run a one-stop shop surrounded by Creole and...

  • Dinosaur Jr. Sweep It Into Space

    You know the drill by now: J. drawls unenthusiastically over interminable guitar squall punctuated by furious solos, Murph pounds the snare drum and throws in the odd breathless fill, and Lou delivers the bass and approximately two sad bastard...

  • Weezer Van Weezer

    Let’s be honest, most bands just don’t have it.  A few are lucky enough to capture fleeting greatness, only to lose the formula – usually forever. And then there’s Weezer. Now three decades deep into a career...

  • The Armed ULTRAPOP

    ULTRAPOP is not easy listening by any means. But weighed against the rest of The Armed's discography, it's objectively their most accessible—the mock-branding exercise of the album's artwork itself prone to fooling anyone who...

  • Amina Shareef Ali In the Dark (Awake of Course)

    Amina Shareef Ali's newest release, In the Dark (Awake of Course), is an unexpected folk record. With the charming (if occasionally discordant) rawness of a demo tape or found recording, Ali takes us on a journey of loss,...

  • Maxïmo Park Nature Always Wins

    Much like the British art-pop bands that started in the early 2000s, Maxïmo Park finds themselves in a strange in-between. Neither too unfairly-maligned nor ardently adored, the Newcastle band have defended their underdog status by...

  • Goat Girl On All Fours

    On their debut LP, Goat Girl covered an impressive amount of musical ground—whether it was moody post-punk, agitated rockers, or ominous instrumental interludes. Led by guitarist/vocalist Lottie Pendlebury's raspy drawl, the South...

  • Cool Sounds Bystander

    If Cool Sounds comes off more like the title of a boomer’s latest playlist than a Melbourne-based indie guitar band than so be it. If the songs from Bystander were shuffled in with tracks from The Velvet Underground’s Loaded, The...