Titus Andronicus is one of those bands I’ve followed with appreciation, but without ever quite locking in fully. The rafter-rattling power of their music and the fierce craft that clearly goes into their songs is admirable, to be sure. I … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Titus Andronicus, “(I Blame) Society”
The opening guitar riff is almost enough for me. Rhythmic, echoing, and steely strong, it reminds me of the first moments of Billy Bragg’s “The Saturday Boy,” though with an extra coat of hard toffee gloss and a quickened pace … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Tacocat, “Hologram”
In my music fandom, I have a few clear weaknesses, sounds and conceits before which I am utterly helpless. One of chief bits that gets me almost every time is a song that is about being a song, calling attention … Continue reading This Week’s Model — An Horse, “This is a Song”
It’s perhaps not surprising that a performer as iconoclastic as Karen O might have difficulty finding her footing in the current music industry. All sharp edges at a time when the strong preference is for sleek, prefab figures, the frontwoman … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Karen O and Danger Mouse, “Turn the Light”
With about two decades of recorded music and seven full-length studio efforts behind them, the National are somewhat burdened by their most distinctive elements. Barring a massive, likely fan-alienating reinvention, a new National song is going to exist in the … Continue reading This Week’s Model — The National, “You Had Your Soul with You”
I appreciate honestly and accuracy in promotion, so I’d like to celebrate the simple guarantee offered by the trio Mountain Man in announcing new covers of John Denver songs. On their Facebook page, after pointing out they’d gone the extra … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Mountain Man, “Take Me Home, Country Roads”
“And it all feels harder than normal,” Jess Cornelius sings at the opening of the new single “No Difference,” over a spare, echoing guitar line. “And you can’t believe it’s happened again,” she continues, the last word stretched to about … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Jess Cornelius, “No Difference”
When I write about music, there are a few synonyms I might employ to avoid repetition of the word “singing.” I’m partial to “belting,” but I probably need to retire the term. How can it be applied with any accuracy … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Lizzo, “Cuz I Love You”
I’m fully prepared to defer to John Darnielle if he posits differently, but I think there’s no story from Greek mythology with more of an indie rock vibe than that of Sisyphus. The story of a egotistical king who was … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Andrew Bird, “Sisyphus”
Here’s the thing about working in higher education, as I did for about fifteen years: You get to feel booming pride for a whole fleet of young adults who go out and start putting dents in the world. Sometimes, that … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Emily Reo, “Strawberry”
Coffee for Two 