Destroy This Place – Hospital Garden 7”-split – Forge Again Records – 6/9/12 Fervent guitars and propulsive rhythms, avalanching bass grooves and whipping, whooping vocals – that’s the way to start your summer – drum hails you can lose your shit to pushing songs you can still sing-along-to – Detroit’s superchunky thunder-pop quartet Destroy...
Read more »

The business card reads: Doc Waffles – ▪erudite/absurdist rap wrangler ▪antiquarian rare book dealer ▪Dadaist wordsmith ▪bon vivant ▪Ambulance Chaser. . Waffles raps have a weird charm to them; you can almost see him suavely smirking with a nod and a wink as he delivers his lines of capricious cadences and head-spinning surrealism. He’s...
Read more »

“…that idea deserves song…” -Tom Morello   “…we travel as equals, or not at all…” -Joseph Arthur       I don’t know what it is… But music is inherently inspiring. Music, as is noted in any  history book or on any Wikipedia page, has played an integral role in most every protest movement...
Read more »

Out this June on Quite Scientific – This Detroit quartet demonstrates the impact of earnest pop when it’s bolstered by four minds already finely honed into sensibilities for atmospheric augmentation, shred-it-up-energy, wholesome-smacking new-wave grooves and knotty rhythmic patterns – The reason their “debut” sound has such strong presentation is that this band -as-a-unit- has...
Read more »

What are you gonna take away from it? I was talking to a friend about the artist’s experience and he underlined the vitality of being able to hand something to the audience, the viewer, the listener, the reader. Iron Man will zoom through space and cars will explode in 3-D in front of your...
Read more »

Sweet Sunday-afternoon soundtracks…for a Friday… Sandro Perri’s wafting ambling groove-pop as wavy as gravy, with bubbly synth champagne-froth and honeyed vocal tones crooning all a’ quiver. Impossible Spaces (Constellation) blends minimal Tropicalia-type buoyant breezes to sepia-toned 70’s singer-songwriter soars and wonderfully weirds-it-up with warm, winding organs trailing fuzzy curly cues under breathy ballads. Toronto-based producer/songwriter...
Read more »

There are times when my kool-aid drunkard spills out of the blogoid-saloon and yells his enthusiasm for a work out into vast blur of the Internet skies…whether you wanna hear it or not… Beachwood Sparks (are/were/have-been/prove-again-to-be) one of my favorite bands, but after a concernedly long dormancy -they come back and have made what...
Read more »

Music soothes these savage souls – -shuffling down endless URL aisles offering double-take-deals no longer so hard to believe in the daily blur – hearts on sleeves at such a steal in the big digital vacuum. Dog-walkers and baby-carrage-pushers, bus-stop sitters and even some daring old lady drivers, all have their eyes cast downward,...
Read more »

Rainy Monday – Washing away the splotches of last weekend’s margaritas and mojitos upon the paved stoops of neon-blased taverns and sports pubs… And I’m listening to three deliciously divergent musical works – two from some locals, one from a California group buzzing across the various Internet/satellite channels with notable bombast.   First: On...
Read more »

“Focus” Dustin Mclaughlin’s only 27 but he’s already been to 42 states in the Union and he has his band to thank for it. The singer/guitarist of Woodbridge-based The Summer Pledge also has their van to thank for it. “Make sure your van is healthy and happy,” he quips. Indeed, “Health,” is his one-word...
Read more »