Marc Edelstein

Jan 15, 2025 | popmatters.com | Marc Edelstein

Junior Citizen Sire Records What if the gaudiest, roaring-est, most muscular guitar record of the post-grunge era was released, and nobody heard a thing? That’s the story of Poster Children. Cast your mind back to the slender, faraway mists of 1995. Late spring / early summer… Fond trips to the beach with a particular special someone long since vanished.

Jan 14, 2025 | popmatters.com | Marc Edelstein

For any music aficionado, guitar solos are an intrinsic highlight of rock history. Often, they form the most memorable sequence of an already great song, like hot fudge on a delicious sundae. Other solos can take on a life of their own, outshining the less-than-stellar track around them. Everyone knows the big names, with immortals like Pete Townshend, David Gilmour, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Eddie Van Halen speaking for themselves. That’s why you won’t find any of those here.

Oct 30, 2024 | popmatters.com | Marc Edelstein

Coin de l’œil Safe Suburban Home Nothing impresses this reviewer more than marked improvement. Healees’ self-titled 2022 debut furnished a rough blueprint for what some consider ‘jangle-gaze’, which we prefer to call ‘power pop-gaze’: a dynamic, more energetic strain of classic shoegaze.

Oct 23, 2024 | popmatters.com | Marc Edelstein

Ever since childhood, we have been fascinated by different songs bearing the same title. There have been seven US Top 40 hits in the rock era named “Lady”, “Hold On”, “One”, or “You”, six titled “I Love You” or “Missing You”, and five named “I Believe”. Some were released within weeks of each other, some decades apart. After a lifetime of listening, the sport comes from judging which single is superior.

Aug 19, 2024 | popmatters.com | Marc Edelstein

The “sophomore slump” has become such a cliched element of industry lore that it’s practically expected. After a respectable debut, an otherwise decent band invariably follows up with a well-intentioned misfire. Often, this stems from a self-fulfilling prophecy – the artist tries so hard not to release Debut: Part II that they wind up straying from the positive attributes that set them apart in the first place. Every now and then, a promising act pulls it all together on their second outing.