...rock-n-rolling Canadian brethren Danko Jones, though popular in their homeland and in Europe, haven’t cracked the U.S. Top 40 in 16 years of relentless touring and recording.
With a voice that critic Paul Williams once described as “a fierce beacon in the darkness, the lighthouse at the end of the world,” Van Morrison was indeed born to sing, as the title of his first collection of new songs in four years says.
The title of Calexico’s eighth studio album refers not to the capital of Algeria, but to one of the oldest neighborhoods in New Orleans, on the West Bank of the Mississippi River, where the altcountry vets recorded the disc.
Who says there are no second acts in American lives? Dinosaur Jr. has been putting the lie to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s old line since their original lineup reunited in 2005.
Arguably to a fault, English indie rockers Bloc Party have been determined never to repeat themselves from record to record. Over three albums, they’ve ranged from angular guitar rock to more restrained, layered songs to electronica-tinged material.
“Sparks Fly Again,” the second track from Beachwood Sparks’ third full-length album, is a none-too-subtle reference to the fact that the Los Angeles alt-country band has been dormant since 2002.
San Diego post-punk outfit Crocodiles emerged in 2008 as a duo with a jones for the Jesus and Mary Chain and Echo & the Bunnymen (whose debut album is called Crocodiles).
The Gaslight Anthem’s 2008 album, The ’59 Sound, launched the New Jersey quartet off the turnpike of obscurity and onto numerous critics’ year-end best-of lists.
Ultra wordy Bay Area rapper Aesop Rock is back with his first record in six years, and we’re willing to wager it’ll be the only album this year to reference Dagwood Bumstead.
Sun Kil Moon is the brainchild of Mark Kozelek, and it’s more or less an outgrowth of Red House Painters, the 1990s outfit that established Kozelek’s career as a somber song smith.
On this self-titled follow-up to First Four EPs, their 2010 debut, West Coast punk supergroup OFF! hurtle and bash through 16 songs in roughly 17 minutes.
When it came time to choose a vocalist for his solo follow-up, the iconic guitarist selected Alter Bridge frontman Myles Kennedy, who sang two tracks on Slash’s debut.