Todd A

The label of “power-pop” like all labels that exist as a shortcut to thinking is inaccurate and unflattering in the way it casts its net so wide. Still, it is inarguable that there is a great number of bands with more Cheap Trick, Big Star and Replacements records in their collections than sense. Imitation may be the highest form of flattery, but let’s get real, most power pop bands don’t come within miles of sounding like their heroes. Or if they do, they somehow lose the point that they’re supposed to sound like themselves. The Deathray Davies understand that and in lieu of attempting a pale imitation, the group crafts a sound of their own in songs and production. (continue reading…)

You know those records where one track is so amazing that it’s hard to pay attention to the worth of the rest of the album? In the case of Daft Punk’s newest record, Discovery, that track is the fourth, “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.” The track is led by a robotic computer voice played by a synthesizer so the words are spoken on different notes. In the first half of the song, the voice is introduced bit by bit along a melody. For the second half of the song, Daft Punk improvise on the synthesizer making the robotic voice scat along their keyboard flourishes. Like a friendlier version of Radiohead’s “Fitter. Happier.” automaton, Daft’s robot enjoins us to “Work it Harder, Make it Better, Do it Faster” to a powerful groove. The sound is an identifiable update of the minimalist beat-bass-robot voice of “Around the World” from the duo’s first album, Homework. (continue reading…)

With a name like Brazen Hussies and this cover art, the Hussies are clearly a band after my own heart. (continue reading…)

The Causey Way Causey vs. Everything (Alternative Tentacles)
The Gossip That’s Not What I Heard (Kill Rock Stars)

It’s fairly difficult for an indie band to swing with any credible authenticity. Perhaps it’s the genre’s innate bookishness that prevents its players from getting the rhythm just right. Still, many a liberal arts college student has delved into the bins of his local used record store and discovered a love for the hip-thrusting rhythms of the early days of rock ‘n’ roll. After all, one could argue it was the initial combination of the Britons’ bookish nature and the Yanks’ soul that created rock ‘n’ roll. Study the right records, smoke the right cigarettes and you’re on your way to being Keith Richards. (continue reading…)