Though they've been saddled with labels like "jangle pop," "C86" and, of course, "twee," singer/guitarist Roxanne Clifford of the London-based quartet Veronica Falls has a more fitting descriptor for her band: "horror rock." The term is a nod to one of her musical idols, Roky Erickson - appropriate, considering that the B-side of the band's first 7" was a haunting, harmony-rich cover of his psych-pop nugget "Starry Eyes." There's a beguiling air of the macabre… more »
Whether you're happily married or told Cupid to shove it a long time ago, we can all agree on one thing: to quote the one-and-only Nazareth, "Love hurts/ Love scars/ Love wounds/ And mars." Or something.
That's why we went ahead and compiled a list of 36 Songs To Soothe the Pain, from the bloodletting confessionals of Neko Case, Bright Eyes and Sunny Day Real Estate to the melancholic melodies of Sigur Rós, the Shangri-Las… more »
It used to be easier to pretend that an album was its own perfectly self-contained artifact. The great records certainly feel that way. But albums are more permeable than solid, their motivations, executions and inspirations informed by, and often stolen from, their peers and forbearers. It all sounds awfully formal, but it's not. It's the very nature of music — of art, even. The Six Degrees features examine the relationships between classic records and five… more »
After Elvis went into the Army and before the British Invasion, the years 1958-63 were rock's forgotten years. But they were the years that shaped the musical tastes of baby boomers and of acts from the Beatles and Rolling Stones to Bruce Springsteen and the Ramones. Hear the dance sensations, the one-hit-wonders, the girl groups and doo-wop singers, surfers and rockabilly twangers, the birth of Motown, the evolution of R&B into soul and so much… more »
If people join cults to escape adulthood, what Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion started looks like an exception. A little more than a year ago, the Cults leaders — who met when both lived in San Diego and then, later, moved to New York — were just a couple of 21-year-old film students haphazardly posting a few demos online. Now they're major-label artists promoting a hotly-anticipated album, with all the grown-up demands that entails: constant… more »
20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of the Shangri-Las gathers a dozen of the tough-but-sweet girl group’s definitive songs, including the classic “Leader of the Pack,” “Remember (Walkin’ in the Sand),” and “Give Him a Great Big Kiss.” “Out in the Streets,” “I Can Never Go Home Anymore,” and “He Cried” (a reworking of Jay & the Americans’ hit “She Cried”) are chief among the tracks that listeners only familiar with the first few songs on this collection will get to discover. Though it’s not as awe-inspiring and complete as the British Myrmidons of Melodrama [RPM 136] retrospective, 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of the Shangri-Las is still a decent introduction to the group’s theatrical, exuberant, and often poignant sound, offering their radio hits and just enough more to make it worthwhile for the mildly curious. – Heather Phares
