If music artists have narratives that span their entire careers, Samia is sketching in her next page appropriately with her new single “Kill Her Freak Out.” According to her, the sedate, withdrawn, Bridgers-esque expressions of anger and despair embedded in … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Samia, “Kill Her Freak Out”

The new single from Meat Wave is exactly what I want, and indeed expect, rock music from Chicago to sound like. “10k” moves with a steady intensity and an obvious, inherent power, like an el train coming at full speed. … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Meat Wave, “10k”

Not to get all Mr. Holland’s Opus today, but one of the enormous privileges that comes from working in higher education for many years (in my case, about a decade and a half) is watching the exemplary human beings you … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Ariel Bui, “Sixteen”

I suspect most people whose curiosity is piqued by the new band the WAEVE attribute that interest to the presence of Graham Coxon, famous for bringing all manner of wild invention to the band Blur. I’m also glad to hear … Continue reading This Week’s Model — The WAEVE, “Can I Call You”

This is as it should be. I feel like a band that had its official home base in the same ZIP Code as me (or one of the nearby ones within our shared city limits) should give me this this … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Disq, “(With Respect to) Loyal Serfs”

It’s been nearly ten years since I reviewed Caitlin Rose’s sophomore LP, The Stand-In. It’s a good record, and I wrote as much. In the time since, though, it’s grown on me considerably, the clarity of Rose’s songwriting and the … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Caitlin Rose, “Black Obsidian”

There’s always a lot of chatter about summer songs. Don’t the other seasons deserve songs, too? Just as the first tracks suited for accompanying bright, shiny days start appearing a few weeks before anyone would reasonable declare summer to be … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Carla dal Forno, “Come Around”

Allow me to add my own Yeah. Actually, let’s make that a Hell Yeah. Cool It Down, the new album from Yeah Yeah Yeahs, is scheduled for release in September. Continue reading This Week’s Model — Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Burning”

When Katie Crutchfield and Jess Williamson decided to collaborate, they didn’t treat it as a lark, some mere noodling that might provide a B-side or two. They came up with enough material for a full studio album and recorded it … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Plains, “Problem with It”

When Robyn Hitchcock burble blasted his new single, “The Shuffle Man,” in the ionosphere this week, most digital dispatches dutifully noted that it came with the announcement of a new album, the first full-length studio effort from the inner plane … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Robyn Hitchcock, “The Shuffle Man”