Latest Posts

SMUG – Gorgeous

December 10, 2018

SMUG’s new album, Gorgeous, knows exactly what it is: bratty pop-punk marked by massive, inescapable hooks. Through ten songs, “Gorgeous” never wavers from its goal to get you moshing with your friends now and humming to yourself later. Opener “Robbed Blind” sets the template for most of the songs on the album. A guitar tag and a quieter verse lead into a huge, anthemic chorus; repeat, add a bridge and you’ve made it. It’s a rhythm any listener’s familiar with, but that doesn’t make it less potent – on the contrary, the directness is kind of the point. SMUG doesn’t want to distract you with any frills. They want to upload the hooks directly into your brain. There are songs that break this mold a bit, and they’re the best on the album. “Earworm,” for instance, builds and builds and builds, starting with a calmer, almost power-ballady intro, but roars[...]

Anamon Drops Album, New Single “In 3”

October 11, 2018

Most rock songs are written with a particular, predictable pattern in mind – a rise and a fall, a bob and a weave. “In 3,” the new single from Rochester’s Anamon, is more like 5 quick punches to head – unorthodox, but effective. “It’s not real,” croons vocalist Ana Emily over chimey guitars and a headbobbing beat as the song begins. It’s a straightforward enough beginning, but before a minute and a half is up, the song has gone through three total changes already, settling on a shifting dance-rock groove which Monaco looms over, threatening “I’ll send you back to hell, boy/Don’t even try to test me.” By the end, “In 3” has erupted into near-total chaos, with a screaming saxophone ditching melody for noise as the whole band turns up. You’ll be wondering how you got there after three minutes and forty-seven seconds; give the song a few more[...]

Tonight: Neko Case

September 26, 2018

Neko Case made headlines earlier this month for a series of tweets lambasting Bradley Cooper as the “beige demon who makes sure very standard white dudes get to be in everything,” but if you were unfamiliar with her name up to that point, you’ve been missing out. Over the past two decades, Case has written and performed some of the most arresting and affecting music out there. Though she’s recorded with The New Pornographers as well as the supergroup case/lang/veirs, Case’s best work is on her solo albums, where she tells tales of the fury of the natural world and acutely felt human suffering in her signature alto. Forget about Cooper – people will still be singing Case’s “Star Witness” long after “The Hangover” has fallen out of syndication (long live “Wet Hot American Summer,” though). Moral of the story: check out Case’s show tonight at Asbury Hall, where she’s[...]

Red Heat – Dark Days

September 24, 2018

Seemingly, the biggest outlier on Red Heat’s new album, Dark Days, is the song “Yojimbo.” Most of the songs on the album are very literal and highly political, but “Yojimbo” is a relatively direct recounting of the movie of the same name. In their fierce, subtly technical punk vernacular, Red Heat recounts the story of a masterless samurai who stumbles into a village ravaged by violence and reluctantly saves it from itself. Except, look at the lyrics: “The bodyguard is trying to kill you, Better get your wallet out. This town is a graveyard now, The cooper’s all sold out. The old mayor plays his prayer drum, While the new mayor’s selling silk, ‘Til they burn the silk house down and put a sword in his gut.” What’s missing here? The hero. There’s no change, no action, no resolution. The agent of change has been excised. “Yojimbo” has been reduced[...]

Humble Braggers – Cycle

September 10, 2018

Cycle, the latest EP from synth-pop quartet Humble Braggers, is excellent, danceable and almost entirely bereft of hope. The cycle that the album title alludes to goes something like this: Feel lonely, feel desire; Take a risk, regret the consequences; Find connection, find out that it’s torturous; End up alone; Repeat. Sounds depressing, right? But it’s not. Even as the lyrics dwell on despair, the songs themselves carve out a euphoric space where pain gets put on hold as we give ourselves over to the music. We start with “Reckless.” In a stripped-down verse, bass and a simple beat drive us forward as vocalist Tom Burtless softly intones: “You’ll never get what you want it’s pointless… It’s rinse wash and repeat. It’s the cycle you wish you could defeat.” But instead of collapsing into despair, the synths bubble up and explode into the chorus, with Burtless chanting “I know, I[...]

Leyda – s/t

August 27, 2018

Leyda evokes the feeling of college. Not Asher Roth’s college, not “Animal House,” but the actual emotional space of the place. You’re constantly two different people. On one hand, you’re hopeful, idealistic, excited to see how life turnedyer hand, day-to-day life is sad and often gross. Everyone seems to harbor a barely-concealed depression, relationships end messily and you spend a lot of time watching other people vomit. Those two layers of life exist simultaneously, both true in their own way but mostly irreconcilable, like two liquids in a suspension. Leyda lives in that tension, makes poetry out of it. “Wren,” the first song on the self-titled EP, sets this tone. It starts with the symbol-laden image of a burying a dead wren in fertile ground, with songwriter, vocalist and pianist Saffi Rigberg’s distinct and lilting voice matching the strange beauty of the moment. But soon, we’re back to reality –[...]

Venus Vacation – Muggerhugger

August 13, 2018

Muggerhugger, the latest release from Venus Vacation (formerly known as Major Arcana) is a hard album to place. That’s not only because the vocals, song structures and levels of intensity are so unpredictable (though they are, and compellingly so). It’s because of the tension between the feel of the songs and the songs themselves. Tension, here, being a good thing, the sort of thing that makes the 7-song ride of Muggerhugger so interesting. It’s impossible not to pay attention when Muggerhugger is playing, and not because it’s aggressively experimental or experimentally aggressive. It’s because you’re always trying to figure out your relationship to these songs. Passive listener? Melancholy comisserator? Blissed-out romantic? Where you stand changes rapidly, often in the course of a single track, and you’ve got to keep up or start the song over. What is this driving tension, exactly? On one hand, you’ve got a band with an[...]

SLINKY X – Darn

July 16, 2018

SLINKY X’s Darn is a feelgood summer record if, for you, feeling good in the summer means waking up late and groggy on a Sunday, throwing on yesterday’s clothes, jumping in the car and stopping at the gas station on the way to a party because, while you didn’t have enough time in the morning to brush your teeth or shower, you have plenty of time to buy beer. In that moment, this is the disc you’d pop into your CD player (you’d be playing music off your phone, but you dropped it in a swamp last Tuesday and haven’t bothered to replace it). Darn is fuzzy garage-pop, with riffing guitars laying the base for matched-up male-female vocals that alternate between “ba-ba-bas” and cheeky lines like: “My brain feels like a slinky… always feel like I’m drinking/soda water from the sinky.” That line, from lead track and standout “slinky,” sets the[...]

Soft Opening – Don’t Like Most Things

July 9, 2018

Don’t Like Most Things, the new release from Rochester’s Soft Opening, is not nearly as misanthropic as the title suggests. Far from it, in fact – the best moments of the album spring from longing for connection, not denying it. The first song, “Don’t Bury Me Yet,” kicks off with distorted and strutting hard rock machismo, but it’s just a feint. It’s almost immediately undercut by a cleaner guitar and a cooing saxophone that launch us into something closer to Dinosaur Jr. than T. Rex. Singer and songwriter Justin Pallini soon begins to catalog his fear of death by bodily breakdown: “Feeling swollen, aching knees/Body’s breaking, takes what it needs/Getting harder and harder to breathe… Soon, I’ll die, won’t I?” The humming sax lines, quick tempo and over-the-top neuroticism keep the mood light, as if he knows the obsession is ludacris and counter-productive. He just can’t help himself. “Love Dumpster”[...]

Tonight: Pale Angels

April 19, 2015

Tonight: Pale Angels come through the Glitterbox with local support from JOHNS, Kharlos and a “v. new” Alien Three. Pale Angels put a fuzzy sheen on what are, at their core, solid guitar-driven pop songs. Reminds me of the appeal of bands like Nirvana a bit: they rip and tear through their songs, but you can still hum the melodies to yourself for a while after the fact. Doors at 6pm, music at 7pm, $7 for the touring band. Check out “In The Sunset” below.

Tonight: Desmadrados Soldados De Ventura

April 17, 2015

Sugar City plays host to Manchester’s Desmadrados Soldados De Ventura tonight, joined by Flesh Trade, Cages and trio Baczkowksi/Abramson/Sack. Desmadrados Soldados De Ventura create huge walls of sound and fuzz that could properly be called “psychedelic.” I don’t mean the brand of psych-rock that entails putting on sunglasses and singing about ghosts on the beach, either. These are full-on improv freak outs with shades of bands like Can as well as modern counterparts like The Mars Volta. And they’ve been kind enough to bring these sounds all the way from the UK for the likes of us to indulge in. With support from Cages, Flesh Trade and Baczkowksi/Abramson/Sack, it should be a noisy, experimental, unhinged night over at Sugar City. Music starts at 8pm for $7. Facebook event here. Check out Desmadrados Soldados De Ventura below.

Tonight: Jeffrey Lewis & the Jrams

April 7, 2015

Tonight, Mohawk Place will host singer-songwriter Jeffrey Lewis with local support from Jack Topht and Max Weiss. Even if you don’t know Jeffrey Lewis, he is still probably like a guy that you know. With some hope, I might say their ranks are growing: the witty, thoughtful, sensitive types given both to melancholy and optimism, sometimes both at the same time. Lewis’s music is often humorous and easy to listen to, but it can still affect the listener deeply, sometimes unexpectedly. It kind of reminds me of watching home movies from your childhood: you’re laughing, you’re smiling, it all seems light, and then feel like crying all of a sudden. Doors at 7pm, show at 8pm. Facebook event here.

Tonight: Richard Album

April 5, 2015

Last time Richard Album came through town, a bunch of people crowded into the living room of the Jungle Gym. I think he was wearing black lipstick, and maybe a tie. There were candles and the lights were low, but Richard was up and down the aisle of people acting charming and sincere like a vulnerable lounge singer. Maybe my memory is filling in some blanks, but that’s the impression I got. Now he’s coming back for a repeat performance and I hope it’s just like that. His music is a bit punky, a bit surfy, occasionally a bit Ariel Pinky in its aesthetic and its earnestness, but more likable. He’ll be joined by surf-rockers Space Wolves, new two-piece Getting Dressed and established two-piece Space is Haunted, who will also be releasing a tape at the show. Doors at 6pm, show at 7pm, $5 for the touring band. Facebook event[...]

Difficult Night

March 26, 2015

Difficult Night sits at the intersection of a handful of disparate influences. There’s the Malkmus vibe in the lyrics, the vocals and the music, but not quite so wacky. It’s a bit more conversational, if you you imagine you’re having a conversation with a hyperliterate neurotic. It noodles, it jams, it bobs your head. Sometimes it may even rock a bit. But guitarist/vocalist Shane Meyer is so out front the entire time crooning that he kinda reminds me of Van Morrison. Instead of singing about caravans and eyeballs and whatnot, though, he’s making puns, telling stories and twisting his words around. The music itself is understated and effective, complementing the vocals and building a space for Meyers to talk. In that sense, it certainly feels like an intimate singer-songwriter project, but without all the overwrought emotions and emotional whispers that label often implies. Check out Difficult Night and a few[...]

Newish Star – How Soon We Forget

March 14, 2015

There’s a certain word that comes to mind when I think about the genre of pop-punk: “bratty.” In this context, it’s a compliment, or at least not an insult. Good pop-punk tends to come with a sneer and a stuck-out tongue, the objects of its quasi-ironic, sometimes petty derision usually the self, and then everybody else. That’s not a huge emotional range, and really good pop-punk often cleverly plays with those limits. It’s those kind of moments that make Newish Star’s new tape, How Soon We Forget, especially interesting. Musically, it’s in the same ballpark as their past releases, but past the power chords, the slightly-off vocals, and the driving drums is a level of nuance that serves as evidence of growth. The very first moments of the tape serve as a pretty good metaphor for where the band’s at. It’s a recording of the trio between songs at a[...]