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MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER
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“No holds barred” and “warts and all” are typical qualifiers when it comes to rock-and-roll memoirs, but rarely do they fulfill the promise.
DeVotchKa performs live at the House of Blues on March 9, 2013.
Leeds, United Kingdom
Bands that have taken home the United Kingdom's Mercury Prize in the past have included Suede, Pulp, Primal Scream, and Arctic Monkeys.
Merge Records (2013)
Stockholm's Shout Out Louds have always been a curious but consistent act.
Brooklyn, New York
Most people are probably sick to death of Brooklyn being a hipster's paradise where dinks with moustaches tatted on their fingers drive fixed-gear bikes to Williamsburg bars to pay $6.50 for a can of PBR.
Atlanta, Georgia
Andy Hull is doing just fine with the introspective and sometimes angst-tinged alt-rock of Manchester Orchestra, and Brooklyn-based Kevin Devine has built up a solid following with his own singer/songwriter thing.
Cellars by Starlight
It's a chilly winter night in Allston, and I'm huddled around a table at Deep Ellum with the Year Million, discussing the band's just-released EP Broken Circuits .
Atlantic Records (2013)
Worrywarts who were stressed about Frightened Rabbit making the major-label jump after three well-received indie full-lengths and a pair of EPs can quit fretting.
Sounding like the bastard offspring of T. Rex and Alex Chilton, King Tuff's self-titled second album and first for the iconic Sub Pop label was one of the more pleasant surprises of last year.
There are two ways to go about being a post-hardcore band from the '90s.
Cellars by Starlight
To say that this is a busy time for Chad Stokes is an understatement.
Carpark Records (2012)
It was a mad bummer when Philly's synth-infused post-punk outfit Hail Social quietly called it a day a half-decade ago after just two inspired releases.
Four records in and still suffering the endless comparison treatment, it's high time folks started to let the Gaslight Anthem exist on its own merits, without the looming specter of that iconic fellow Garden State native.
Do you remember the time I knew a girl from Mars? Probably not, since that Ash hit was from eons ago. But Ash frontman Tim Wheeler does remember, checking in via phone from London.
Seven Four Entertainment/Republic (2012)
Soundgarden have long been the most-likely grunge outfit to reunite; the only surprise here is that it took this long for them to get their shit together.
Captured Tracks (2012)
Feeling disassociated, darkened, distressed, or just plain different this fall? Don't fret or suffer like the only hope out there for getting lost musically is by listening to early Depeche Mode or jumping on the Kraftwerk revival bandwagon.
Capitol/Parlophone (2012)
It's no myth that artists tend to struggle with the dreaded second-album slump, but less clichéd and much more real is the third-album choke — especially when previous releases are so critically acclaimed.
Nothing on the seventh Walkmen release is remotely as jarring as their 2004 masterpiece, "The Rat," a song that had frontman Hamilton Leithauser howling over frenetic guitars and a wildly crashing drumbeat.
It's always annoying when a band is touted as "the next big thing," especially when they've been around pumping out great stuff for years and then suddenly everyone is talking about them like the stork dropped them off that morning — see Bon Iver winning a Best New Artist Grammy this year, five years after their debut came out.
Bands looking to create a BUZZ should take note of Caspian.
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