Modern Nature’s ‘The Heat Warps’ Is Superb and Compelling
Modern Nature’s new LP, The Heat Warps, is fabulously compelling and questioning, and the questions it asks are not the ones you expect to hear on a pop album.
David Pike
David Pike writes regularly on music, film, neo-Victorianism, subterranea, urban fantasy, modernism, global urban culture, and Paris and London, and is the author of half a dozen books, most recently After the End: Cold War Culture and Apocalyptic Imaginations in the 21st Century. He teaches in the Department of Literature at American University.For more on his writing, please visit his author page at Bright Lights Film Journal and his faculty profile page at American University.
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Louisville Punk’s Defiance of Violent Conformity
Punk’s rooted, regional, and defiantly local identities made scenes like Louisville punk essential and life-affirming during the violently conformist Reagan years.
S.G. Goodman Is as Authentic as They Come
Like all of the best folk music, S.G. Goodman’s songs plumb emotional depths. They also have teeth and they’re not afraid to stick a beating on the world.
Turnstile Balance on the Edge with ‘Never Enough’
Turnstile’s Never Enough lies somewhere between the working man’s folk-rock earnestness of the bygone SoCal era and the synth-washed ambience of the cover.
Neil Young at World’s End: ‘On the Beach’ at 50
Neil Young’s On the Beach lodges not in the heart or brain but in the spleen. Perfect for depressed, alienated teenagers in the soft-rock days before punk.
Blaxploitation Movies and Music Are the Story of the 1970s
Blaxploitation signaled the moment ghetto culture and the Black vernacular hit the American mainstream, paving the way for rap, hip-hop, disco, and modern sports.
2 Tone: Race, Music, and Pop Culture in Thatcher’s UK
2 Tone found a sweet spot between punk anger and pop sensibility that mirrored the myriad poles they were trying to bridge in their band members and audiences.
Rosali’s ‘Bite Down’ Sounds Classic
Rosali’s Bite Down is a deceptively smooth ride that threatens to pull you under at any moment. Its classic sound draws from Fleetwood Mac and 1970s music.
Yard Act’s ‘Where’s My Utopia?’ Suits Our Post-Pandemic Moment
Yard Act’s Where’s My Utopia? is a mother lode of cool sounds, critiques of late capitalism, meditation on fame’s futility, and a forecast of apocalyptic change.
Disillusion and the Glimmer of Hope for American Suburbs
The familiar image of the American suburbs has not changed much since the 1950s. Benjamin Herold’s Disillusioned both updates and counters that image.
Cymande Are Possibly the Most Sampled British Musical Artists of All Time
Cymande were foundational in the creation of hip-hop, disco, house, drum and bass, and rare groove, passed through generations like so much underground music.
The Enduring Mystery of the Jaynetts’ “Sally Go ‘Round the Roses”
The Jaynett’s ’60s pop single “Sally Go ‘Round the Roses” is equal parts all surface and inscrutable depth, which is why a range of artists cover it to this day.