Heavily influenced by the Cure, Joy Division and other ’80s bands on the faultline between goth and electro-pop, I Love You but I’ve Chosen Darkness, from Austin, Texas, play post-punk that sounds more like vintage Manchester or London. That puts them in league with Interpol, exploring the enduring value and appeal of moody minimalism. Formed…
Godspeed You! Black Emperor, a nine-piece orchestral/ambient band from Montreal, is more technically skilled (not to mention much darker) than such post-rock peers as Tortoise and Mogwai. GY!BE creates sweeping soundscapes full of epic drama and anti-government sentiments, variously shading into the wide stylistic realm between Sigur Rós and the Arcade Fire. Despite the extent…
When Jerry Garcia passed away in 1995, the smart money in the New Dead lottery was on Phish — but then it had already been so for those aware of the band. Formed in 1983 at the University of Vermont, the quartet was among the first-born children of the Dead, heavy on improvisation and eclecticism…
It’s an article of faith for many Canadian rock fans that Kingston, Ontario’s Tragically Hip is the best band north of the 49th parallel — or at least the best band that people south of the border have yet to pay serious attention to. The quintet’s chief allure is singer Gordon Downie, who brings an…
Menthol was one of several promising new wave-influenced groups that rose from the Chicago / Urbana, Illinois scene of the mid-1990s. Along with the like-minded Smoking Popes, Menthol produce terrific power pop albums, complete with sly references to the slick world of major label record contracts and grimy rock clubs. If they never quite achieve…
On first blush, the major-label debut by this South Carolina bar band (the beginnings of which was a mid-’80s acoustic duo called the Wolf Brothers) is a thoroughly bland rehash of Woodstock-era pop values. On second blush, too. Beyond culturally inclusive wholesomeness, the quartet’s prime asset is singer Darius (don’t call him Hootie) Rucker, whose…
In the first half of the ’00s, thanks to the Constantines, Unicorns and New Pornographers (to name a few), the international indie rock audience finally began to wake up to the long-thriving Canadian scene. In 2004, Arcade Fire became one of the most warmly received and widely celebrated Montreal acts in some time. Propping up…
