Reconsidering Sonic Youth’s ‘Confusion Is Sex’ at 40 Years Old
Sonic Youth’s Confusion Is Sex is impressively raw and uncompromising, thrilling and terrifying as a walk through the Lower East Side in the early 1980s.
lo-fi
In the Aeroplane Over the Meme with Neutral Milk Hotel
Neutral Milk Hotel’s ambiguous 1988 album, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, suffered a memeified atrocity. But the tides of public opinion rise and fall, and memes come and go.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Epic Double LP ‘V’ Just Wants to Vibe
Unknown Mortal Orchestra return from a five-year hiatus to deliver a double album, V, containing both the best and blandest songs they’ve ever made.
‘The Collected Works of Neutral Milk Hotel’ Are Newly Re-Issued
Essentially a re-issue of a 2011 box set with Neutral Milk Hotel’s recorded work, their legacy remains unparalleled even if there’s not much new to exhume.
Daily Worker Writes a Strong New Chapter with ‘Autofiction’
If you like mid-period Beatles and Byrds, Wilco at their lightest, the Stones at their brightest, and Big Star, you’ll like Daily Worker’s Autofiction.
‘Scalping the Guru’ Highlights Guided By Voices EPs of the 1993-1994 Era
Scalping the Guru‘s 20 songs come from 1993-1994, just as Guided By Voices were about to release their landmark album Bee Thousand.
Mo Troper Releases Another Album of Scuzzy Power Pop
Mo Troper collects what sounds like scraps from his previous album and forges a charming spread of 1960s-inspired lo-fi bedroom pop on MTV.
Emotion Propels Jemima Coulter’s ‘Grace After a Party’ to Stunning Depths
Grace After a Party is a bold and confident debut introducing Jemima Coulter as an artist who straddles the line between the experimental and the accessible.
Kurt Vile Invites Us to Watch His Moves
Indie rocker Kurt Vile returns with the sprawling, pondering, post-pandemic jam (watch my moves). Its best moments entrance and enthrall.
Scree’s ‘Slow Bloom’ Is a Brief, Delightful Gem of an EP
The latest release from the Brooklyn-based jazz trio Scree, Slow Bloom, is a ruminative exercise in low-key jazz dynamics.
King Garbage’s Beautiful Mess of a Sophomore Album Is a Garage-Soul Classic
From marching band drums to gritty guitar lines to hip-hop beats, the dusty anything-goes soul-pop approach of King Garbage doesn’t have any contemporaries.
Why the Mountain Goats’ ‘All Hail West Texas’ Will—In Time—Both Outpace and Outlive You
Twenty years old, John Darnielle’s unique, emotion-driven songwriting gave the Mountain Goats’ All Hail West Texas unrivaled staying power.
