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Sale: Essential ’90s Records

By eMusic Editorial Staff, eMusic Contributor

Maybe it was the moment Garbage, Eve 6 and Candlebox all announced their first full-lengths in what felt like forever. Or the news that Everclear, Sugar Ray, Lit, the Gin Blossoms and Marcy Playground were all touring together this summer. Either way, 2012 feels like the high school reunion that never was, a look back at the '90s through rose-colored glasses and seemingly sudden reunions. With that in mind, eMusic's editorial staff has decided… more »

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Interview: Beach House

By Marissa G. Muller, eMusic Contributor

On their fourth album Bloom, Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand present a stronger picture of the overcast dream-pop aesthetic they've maintained since their 2006 debut. And, much like an abstract painting, Teen Dream's glossier older sibling offers plenty of mystery. It features some of their most obtuse verses ("You build yourself a myth/ And know just what to give") and some of their darker narratives (In "Wild," the young narrator recalls living with a drunk… more »

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Who Are…Royal Headache

By Austin L. Ray, eMusic Contributor

Guitars are at the forefront of much of Royal Headache's self-titled debut, but not the noodling, 14-notes-a-second variety. Instead, these young Aussies specialize in the type of songs led by jangling, major-chord strums laced with just enough distortion to make it interesting. The Sydney foursome cut its teeth in Australia's punk and hardcore scenes before opting for something a little more mod, a little more power pop, a little more R&B. The resulting LP, which… more »

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Hot Water Music, Exister

2012 | Label: Rise Records

Comeback albums are tricky, especially for a band as beloved as Hot Water Music. Wisely, on their eighth disc (and first new album in as many years), the band decided not to recreate the past but instead forge ahead. The songs on Exister expand the boundaries of their sound without sacrificing the visceral sing-alongs that endeared them to fans.

For the past decade co-frontman Chuck Ragan has had a successful career as a folk troubadour, which makes it even more satisfying to hear those whiskey-soaked pipes crack with emotion on roaring anthems like "Mainline" and "Paid in Full." The band's other guitarist/vocalist, Chris Wollard, crafts songs like "The Traps" that are more pop-inspired than anything the band has done before, though… more »

P.S. I Love You, Death Dreams

2012 | Label: Paper Bag Records / The Orchard

The Kingston, Ontario, duo P.S. I Love You sound versed less in musical theory than chaos theory. They major in a strain of volatile, dense noise-pop that sounds constantly on the verge of falling in on itself, and Death Dreams, their second full-length, finds them determinedly upping the freneticism. Drummer Benjamin Nelson appears to take his musical cue from Animal from the Muppets but the band's fulcrum is Paul Saulnier, who layers fuzzy thrash guitar, erratic organ blurts and semi-feral vocals into one reverb-laden noise-ball and fires it out of a canon with the volume knob cranked.

Augmenting the all-consuming air of fertile chaos is the fact that Saulnier is a wilfully obscurantist vocalist, hiccupping and swallowing his words until they… more »

Gossip, A Joyful Noise

2012 | Label: Columbia

At the beginning of the last decade, the Gossip were a garage band similar to pre-stardom White Stripes, if they were from Searcy, Arkansas, by way of Olympia, Washington, and led by an out, proud and queer fat advocate. Not anyone's recipe for mainstream success. Fast-forward to the present: Gossip have massive European hits behind them; they've recorded with Rick Rubin and Simian Mobile Disco alike, and on A Joyful Noise, the threesome team with Xenomania's Brian Higgins, the U.K. production whiz behind dance-pop hits from Girls Aloud, Sugababes, Danni Minogue, Pet Shop Boys and Cher. It's a journey that would defy all logic except for the fact that frontwoman Beth Ditto possesses an utterly arresting voice, one that conveys… more »

Apache Dropout, Apache Dropout (Deluxe Edition – eMusic Exclusive)

2012 | Label: Family Vineyard / SC Distribution

Apache Dropout's self-titled debut was one of 2011's most grievously overlooked albums. The Bloomington, Indiana, trio offered 11 songs with howling vocals and infectious hooks, and while they're often lumped in with other garage punks, their guitar-driven sound owes more to Nuggets than Black Flag. "Teenager," for example, is organ-driven bubblegum that laments the exquisite pain of adolescence. There's the bar-band choogling, John Sinclair-namedropping "God Bless You John Kugleberg," the brief, screaming blues "White Out Man" and the swampy, ominous tracks "It's a Nightmare," which ends with a cackling witch.

But this deluxe edition's major draw is the inclusion of nine live tracks, which do the band an incredible service. The harmonies have more bark, their guitars are louder and more… more »

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Chaos in Tejas 2012

By J. Edward Keyes, Editor-in-Chief

Every year, Chaos in Tejas rises from the earth to deliver the most skull-crushing array of music available for your summer festival dollar. No taste is left behind -- you can go from hearing the sweet, summery anthems of Best Coast to the snarling grindcore of Municipal Waste to the rollicking legendary lo-fi of The Clean. Want a taste of what your in for? Just give a listen to this station, specially curated by Chaos… more »

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