Naming itself after the vehicle commonly used in its native Denmark to collect mental health patients, The Blue Van makes a fetish out of Cream/Faces-influenced blues-based rock on The Art of Rolling: “What the young people want / They want to wear flared jeans / I wanna be like the Mods / A London hip-shaking…
When Robert “Bucket” Hingley emigrated from England to America in the early ’80s, the 2 Tone ska craze had already peaked back home. But his love for the music had not, and in New York he managed to find a sufficient number of enthusiasts to form a band and eventually start his own record label.…
Some may dismiss the Raveonettes with the argument that, beneath all the noise and echo of their recordings, there’s nothing at the core. Not true. There’s the Ting Tings. The Salford, England-based duo presents all the repetitious pop of the Danish band, but in a clean, polished context. Even the noisier moments on We Started…
Named after a vintage ’50s motorcycle, this Vancouver, BC quartet — the Kirkham brothers (guitarist Robbie, bassist Chris and drummer Anthony) fronted by Filipina vocalist Cassandra Ford — comes on with the surface trappings of goth horror (starting with Ford’s cover paintings for Fears in the Water) and cabaret decadence (particularly in the musicians’ fashion…
It was Hank Williams who sang “I’ll never make it out of this world alive,” but it was the Pretenders who went to the trouble of determining just how much hell a group could endure without actually giving up. In 1980, Ohio expat Chrissie Hynde was the mind, muscle and heart of a superlative London…
Hype has always been a two-edged sword, but in the 21st century it’s become more like a flamethrower. For the mainstream, it’s up to record labels, agents, managers and other parties with vested interests to build the buzz for a new artist; in the indie-rock world, thanks to the Internet, fans do the heavy lifting.…
Loud, wild and funny, the Flaming Lips play in the same pen of cartoon-psychedelia imagery used by others, but these disenfranchised Oklahomans, led by songwriter/guitarist/singer Wayne Coyne, possess wit and ingenuity most of the acid-addled competition lacks. From its uniquely disgusting front cover to the brilliant alienation anthem “My Own Planet,” The Flaming Lips (originally…
These folks either wrote reviews that appear on the site or wrote for Trouser Press magazine. If anyone listed below cares to E-mail us with a link you’d like added, just let us know. And ditto if anyone is AWOL from this list. Grant AldenDavid AntrobusJem AswadTroy J. AugustoMichael AzerradCary BakerMichael BakerEmily BeckerSeth BenderJohn BergstromArt…
