Gigaton sounds like Pearl Jam convincingly doing their very best to not sound like Pearl Jam. Liberated from their past and their expectations, the band have freed themselves to take some long overdue risks.
In 1972, the Rolling Stones were holed up in a rickety mansion in the South of France, writing an epic love letter to American music. Counterbalance examines the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St and separates the fever from the funk house—now!
These are a scattering of some Interpol tracks you may have missed or skipped over in favor of those oh-so-relevant singles.
False Heads' It's All There But You're Dreaming is the sound of a modern rock band expertly knitting chaos, beauty, and noise together.
Haim's "The Steps" is flawless -- memorable, intense, and with a chorus that's like a French kiss and a slap in the face at the same time.
After listening to the Boomtown Rats' Citizens of Boomtown, you can't help but wonder if another vanity project is the kind of activism we need to combat the injustices of the world.
Number seven marks the first appearance of a fellow we’ll be seeing a lot of, one Bob Dylan. He’s a poor fool in his prime on the 1966 opus Blonde on Blonde—Counterbalance has a listen.
You Know I'm Not Going Anywhere is a sonic and lyrical breakthrough for the Districts, a record that's years beyond anything else in their catalog.
Former Jellyfish members combine forces as the Lickerish Quartet for a collection of imaginative songs influenced by one of rock's most creatively fertile eras. Roger Joseph Manning Jr. discusses the group's origins and debut track, "Lighthouse Spaceship."
Imagine an orgy scored by rusty industrial equipment blasting New York City noise-rock, something like Unsane, Cop Shoot Cop, or Swans in their wicked primes. That's the noise-rock supergroup, Human Impact.
Brooklyn post-punk trio, the Wants deal in 21st-century dread but do so in a most danceable way on Container.
Let them entertain you... here are ten songs of Queen at their hard-rocking and overblown best.
Much loved Scottish band Deacon Blue deliver a confident set of arena-friendly songs of hope on their ninth studio album, City of Love. Just don't call them a legacy act.
"Freaks", the latest single from psych-popsters, Once & Future Band, is a triumphant blend of mesmeric harmonies and vibrant celebration.
South London alt-rockers, Smoke Fairies allude to the danger of looking too closely in the light on their new album, Darkness Brings the Wonders Home. It's only in the darkness where one can experience the marvelous.
Number five on the list is practically synonymous with Great Artistic Statements. But was Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band really the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper"? A splendid time is guaranteed for all as Counterbalance figures it out.
Veteran troubadour Willie Nile's latest album, New York at Night, is inspired by his adopted hometown and world events. "The song moves me," he says. "I love what it says. It's true. We could use a little bit of love in this country and this world for sure."
Ron Pope's Bone Structure presents a personal view of the world from the perspective of one who is seeing it again for the first time. He is a realist. He knows that human connections are the best one can hope for, and maybe that's enough.
Greg Dulli's Random Desire is striking in its unified exploration of what comes after — years after — a heartbreak. Not a mere collection of 10 songs, it is an album in the classic sense, each track as essential as a chapter in a book or a scene from a movie.
For Black History Month 2020, we are showcasing films and videos featuring Black American artists. Enjoy them and learn about the origin of each Black music legend featured.
Chicago XX is an absolute must for long-time fans and not a bad start for those curious about Cheer-Accident.
Australian garage rockers Eddy Current Suppression Ring return after nine years with a surprise album, but the excitement doesn't last too long.
Producer Ted Templeman and biographer Greg Renoff successfully capture a wide-ranging career in Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life in Music.
LA rockers Silversun Pickups perform a noble service for the music community by helping keep grunge alive heading into their third decade as an alt-rock force.
There are a lot of good elements on Out of the Blue. Kentucky rockers Dan Luke and the Raid might make some great music in the future, but they aren't quite there yet.
Humanist's debut is rich in scope with Rob Marshall pulling in all of his influences from post-punk to breakbeat to indie and krautrock and fitting them together like parts of a puzzle.
Philadelphia garage rockers Scantron continue their "single-slinging" tradition on the satisfying, riff-heavy new EP, Electric City.
Our Counterbalance team takes on the "Greatest Albums of All Time". This time it's Nirvana's Nevermind. Dust off your flannel shirt... it's going to be a grungy good time!
Stirring visuals for "Dissolve" capture the essence of Zooni's slowly unfurling gem.
Alt-rock supergroup the Third Mind launches a musical adventure that brings Alice Coltrane and Roky Erickson together and doesn't forget the guitar solos.
Algerian rock legend Rachid Taha's legacy of innovation lives on in the posthumous release Je Suis Africain.
Parachute For Gordo's new LP, Best Understood By Children and Animals, diverges from the band's art-punk past. The result is an enthralling, throbbing, and incredibly percussion-driven document.
Featuring members of Wavves and the American Scene, Oakland's Unconditional Arms deliver an inspired instrumental that bodes well for a bright musical future.
On Stray, Bambara peel the curtain back further on their reality. Haunting and deeply evocative words are sewn into a dark tapestry of atmospheric, brooding goth meets post-punk on an album that lingers like the rough outline of an aging scar.
Never Not Together is the best record Nada Surf have made in quite a while, as it sees the indie rock/power pop group stress the need for more empathy in the world.
The Slow Rush is another masterpiece for Tame Impala, cover-to-cover. You know it's the band the instant the music begins, and yet the album feels both new and necessary.
In this installment of the tag-team series Counterbalance, we take on the Beatles’ 1966 bellwether Revolver. Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream!
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