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3 days ago | 
popmatters.com | Patrick Gill
Thee Black Boltz Sub Pop Tunde Adebimpe is best known for his work with TV on the Radio, a band he co-founded and serves as co-vocalist and principal songwriter. TV on the Radio are distinguishable from their indie rock peers, not just because the members are mostly Black, but due to the creative energy they bring to the process.
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1 week ago | 
popmatters.com | Patrick Gill
SABLE, fABLE Jagjaguwar Bon Iver purists may feel a familiar sense of frustration after listening to Justin Vernon’s fifth studio album, SABLE, fABLE. On the one hand, the record includes the SABLE EP (2024), which features three strong tracks, including the unmatched “S P E Y S I D E”. That offering hinted at a return to form, even if it included odd capitalization and punctuation choices (are those spaces in the song title?).
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3 weeks ago | 
popmatters.com | Patrick Gill
Black Sheep Boy Jagjaguwar In 2005, it would have been impossible for Will Sheff to believe that Black Sheep Boy would be Okkervil River’s high-water mark. He was on such a creative streak that Black Sheep Boy Appendix, released the following year, actually included a few songs (“No Key, No Plan”, “Another Radio Song”) that rivaled anything on the record.
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4 weeks ago | 
popmatters.com | Patrick Gill
Radio DDR K Records / Perennial The expanded edition of Radio DDR puts Sharp Pins on the map and brings some welcome attention to this tight-knit Chicago scene. Kai Slater is not only the primary songwriter and multi-instrumentalist for Dwaal Troup, the guitarist for punk and noise rock band Lifeguard, and the creator of the Hallogallo zine, but he also releases music as Sharp Pins.
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1 month ago | 
popmatters.com | Patrick Gill
For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) Dead Oceans For Michelle Zauner, it had to be hard coming down from the high she was on following Japanese Breakfast’s breakthrough album Jubilee (2021) and bestselling memoir Crying in H Mart, released that same year. While both were acclaimed triumphs, fans were less surprised by Jubilee’s success than that of her tender and heartbreaking story.
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1 month ago | 
popmatters.com | Patrick Gill
Middle Independent Chances are you have never heard of Jesse Welles. If you have, it’s likely because you’ve been pulled into his orbit filled with weekly viral videos and social commentary. If you’re still listening, one can assume your views align with his progressive politics. Even if Welles builds on a history of protest music, he has a way of pointing out imbalances in power, stupidity, and atrocities in a frank and darkly comical manner that feels refreshing.
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1 month ago | 
popmatters.com | Patrick Gill
Lullabies to Paralyze Interscope Josh Homme formed Queens of the Stone Age from the ashes of the heavier stoner rock band, Kyuss, which broke up in the mid-1990s. The Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age Split EP contained the final studio recordings of his former group but also introduced the world to his new act with, most notably, “If Only Everything” (included on their 1998 self-titled debut as simply “If Only”).
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1 month ago | 
popmatters.com | Patrick Gill
This Side of the Island Glassnote Brooklyn musician Hamilton Leithauser returns with This Side of the Island, an album he’s worked on for the past eight years. Although Leithauser primarily writes and records at his home studio, the Struggle Hut, he went to Aaron Dessner’s Long Pond Studio (now famous for Dessner’s work with Taylor Swift) to complete the project.
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1 month ago | 
popmatters.com | Patrick Gill
Cotton Crown Trouble in Mind Welsh indie band the Tubs’ sophomore album, Cotton Crown, picks up where their underappreciated debut album, Dead Meat (2023), left off. Sure, they received praise from the likes of Iggy Pop and overwhelmingly positive critical reception, but any success they have had has primarily spread through word-of-mouth.
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1 month ago | 
popmatters.com | Patrick Gill
Constellations for the Lonely EMI North Doves’ sixth album is one many feared would never happen. After the release of The Universal Want (2020), they were set to go on tour the following year, but their plans were thwarted. It wasn’t the pandemic that hindered them; rather, frontman and bassist Jimi Goodwin struggled with his mental health and was recovering from substance abuse. While Doves were on indefinite hiatus, Goodwin began working with a new project called the Bird Effect Ensemble.
