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Los Campesinos! 'Romance Is Boring' Holds Up a Decade Later

The three albums Los Campesinos! released after their debut showed who the band really were: angrier, artier, and more thoughtful than we initially thought. Romance Is Boring holds up in its notable decade-on reissue release.

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Music

Surprises Want to "Tell the World" (premiere)

Brooks Paschal, ex-Sullivan member, launches solo career as Surprises and share a new song and video with big, booming choruses, hook-laden verses, "Tell the World".

Music

Florida Alt-Rockers A Brilliant Lie Threaten to Come Apart at the Seams in "Unwoven" (premiere)

Taken from A Brilliant Lie's forthcoming EP Threads: Weaver, the video for new single "Unwoven" captures the barely contained potency of a band firing on all cylinders.

Music

The Life and Times of Cerberus Shoal

Underground experimental rock sonic adventurers Cerberus Shoal get a much needed re-release of their essential records through Temporary Residence.

Music

New York Punk Band FAITH/VOID Embraces the Spotlight

While not an instant household name except perhaps to its fan base, FAITH/VOID churns out intense yet catchy music that has a broad appeal to people who are even not necessarily fans of punk or emo.

Music

Smoking Popes on Faith, Politics, and Judy Garland

Josh Caterer of Smoking Popes talks with PopMatters about musical and spiritual experiences, and reflections about the legendary Judy Garland, who inspired their new album Into the Agony.

Music

Alkaline Trio Discovers That the "Young Idea" Has Never Left Them on 'Is This Thing Cursed?'

Alkaline Trio diehards will find themselves, by turns, nostalgic for what came before and thrilled by what they hear now on Is This Thing Cursed?

Music

The Get Up Kids Return... Again with 'Kicker'

The Get Up Kids are searching for an elusive position, that nostalgic allure of their previous glory on new EP, Kicker.

Music

The Breaking Pattern - "Shadow of the Moon" (video) (premiere)

The rising Arizona emo group capture the picturesque beauty of their state's natural landscapes as a story of love-struck fantasy unfolds.

Music

Wovenwar: Honor Is Dead

Wovenwar returns with an entertaining if safe sophomore effort. The group hasn't yet found its groove, but it's getting there—one radio-ready growl at a time.

Interviews

The Yin and Yang of the Universe: Conversations With Max Bemis and Chris Conley

Max Bemis and Chris Conley discuss the new Two Tongues record, family matters, and connecting to the rock and roll muse.

Music

Balance and Composure: Light We Made

The Pennsylvania post-hardcore band Balance and Composure have changed a bit. Is it a slick and successful movement toward a fresh sound, or is it an awkward stumble?

Music

At Folsom Prison: Every Dream and Every Crisis Means the Rise

Nervousness and talent make the band’s third album a brilliant departure point from which to venture into unknown territories.

Music

Desaparecidos: Payola

Desaparecidos find giddy joy as they tear the establishment to pieces.

Music

Blake Bliss: Friend, Enemy, Stranger

This album is so distraught and, I hate to say it, silly in its studied seriousness, that it’s what people might kick around as the punchline to a perverse joke.

Music

The Best Emo Albums of 2014

Like emo's first wave, today's revival has taken issue with the category itself. But concerns over labels shouldn't get in the way of appreciating the connections between the subgenre's up-and-comers and legacy acts that reconvened like Y2K never happened.

Ian King
Music

Dads: I'll Be the Tornado

I’ll Be the Tornado is an enrapturing album, and one that you simply must hear with your mind and your heart.

Music

Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate): You Will Eventually Be Forgotten

You Will Eventually Be Forgotten boasts some solid craftsmanship, which is quite endearing, but also has some wretched singing, making the proceeding seem rather average at best.

Music

The Relapse Symphony: Shadows

This is the sound of a band making waves, and, despite its slight faults, it’s largely enjoyable and a soundtrack to your next backyard summer barbeque.

Music

Tigers Jaw: Charmer

Adding new textures and the vocal talents of Brianna Collins, Tigers Jaw does the impossible, and that is evolve without leaving anything behind.

Music

JPNSGRLS - "Smalls" (video) (Premiere)

The kinetic, off-the-wall music video for JPNSGRLS' infectious tune "Smalls" is available for viewing exclusively at PopMatters.

Music

Owls: Two

Two is certainly a good album, and it’s absolutely the one Owls wanted to make. It’s just not always a record I want to listen to.

Music

Krill: Steve Hears Pile in Malden and Bursts in to Tears

With this five-song concept EP, Krill proves itself a serious band that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Music

You Blew It!: Keep Doing What You’re Doing

With maybe the truest emo record yet to come from the recent resurgence of emo and pop-punk, You Blew It! call back to the height of the genre without getting too bogged down by tradition.

Music

Their/They're/There: Analog Weekend

Musical kinship excuses hero worship on this EP.

Music

Touché Amoré: Is Survived By

Far from "bowing their heads and leaving out the back", the Los Angeles-based post-hardcore/screamo outfit Touché Amoré is doubling down on its clean guitar/screamed vocal contrast, and successfully so, at that.

Music

The 1975: The 1975

With emo melodies dressed up in disco guitar grooves and '80s rock reverb, the 1975's self-titled album makes for one of the year's most compelling, if flawed, debuts of the year.

Music

Funeral for a Friend: Conduit

Somewhere tonight this record is the soundtrack for a boy sitting alone in his room staring at a photo he snapped of someone looking the other way. A candle drips upon his desk and he drips of angst. Together they smolder in the orange glow of melancholy -- despite fully functional track-lighting.

Music

Moss Icon: Complete Discography

Complete Discography is a stellar encapsulation of a seminal signpost in the post-rock landscape of today.

Music

Motion City Soundtrack: Go

Motion City Soundtrack ventures away from broken hearts and sad stories, taking a hard look at self-worth and mortality on their new brilliantly crafted release.

Music

I the Mighty: Karma Never Sleeps

Prefab emo music that was already tired sounding in 2005 sounds even more so in 2012.

Jedd Beaudoin
Music

Jason Clackley: To the Few and Far Between

Jason Clackley's leanings as a singer and songwriter are equal part Blake Schwarzenbach, Bob Mould, and Ronnie Spector, and that's probably the only time I'll say that about anyone, ever. His vision is few and far between.

Music

Hit the Lights: Invicta

Invicta starts out great for a pop-punk album, but hits a brick wall about mid-way through the proceedings.

Music

Somehow You Love Me: An Interview With Saves the Day

With the influential emo-rockers closing out a long-in-the-works album trilogy, Saves the Day's Chris Conley speaks openly and candidly to PopMatters about who he was, who he wants to be, and the event that changed everything for him ...

Music

Saves the Day: Daybreak

Daybreak finishes off the Jersey emo rockers ambitious project with 11 songs about “acceptance”.

Music

Taking Back Sunday: Taking Back Sunday

Taking Back Sunday experiences revival through the reunion of their original lineup and creates their best work in years.

Music

Stay Ahead of the Weather: We Better Get Goin' If We're Gonna

If you yearn for the real, true emo of 10-15 years ago, here are five songs to satiate your sensitivity.

Stephen Rowland
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