On Buy Any Means, Willi M. Blake is able to call back to the halcyon days of gangsta rap. With a screwed and chopped sound to the single’s chorus, there’s a whole hell of a lot of gravity here. Blake’s flow on Buy Any Means is sick; rapid-fire bars come forth, bolstered through sweeping synths and a booming bass line. Blake is able to keep listeners interested through the entirety…
In Stuck in a Video Game, Feyer is able to tell a story about the playing experience in a fashion similar to Atom and His Package and Owl City. With a bit of chiptune and video game-esque synth arrangements, Feyer is able to really hammer home the overall feel of sitting down and getting down and dirty with a wide array of video game genres. A clear, clean, and crisp…
On Situation, Gold Dig and Mista Roe are able to create a track that both calls back to the late oughts and the current era of rappers (e.g. Big KRIT, Kendrick Lamar). With sections to Situation that call back to The Game and Trey Songz paired alongside a more gritty, street-wise flow, there’s something for everyone on Situation. With a chorus that will tattoo itself deep into the minds and…
On Jessica WJ, Cayucas are able to make a catchy piece of alt-rock that calls back to the halcyon days of the mid-1980s. With tremendous charisma and taut instrumentation, Cayucas are able to immediately catch listeners’ attention. The bit of synths and Cure-styled guitar/drum dynamics imbue this single with an air of authenticity. The track is effortlessly able to change styles while maintaining the same momentum of the song’s first…
On A Million Times, T-Pain is able to bring back the same laid-back flow that set him so far ahead of what other rappers were doing in the oughts. The shuffling production of the track ensures that the sound has a current and contemporary sound, while the feature by O.T. Genasis provides a bit of a boost to the single’s momentum. Refreshing and a nice change of pace from what…
On The Kings House, The Gulps are able to make a high-energy track that incorporates the best in surf-punk, 1980s prog-rock (Subdivision-era RUSH, anyones), and 2000s angular rock in the vein of Franz Ferdinand and Wolfmother. With the vox, guitars, drums, and bass hitting on all cylinders, it’ll take everything one has to not get up and rage. The bit of fuzz that is draped over The Kings House ties…
The Irrepressibles are able to create a wholly engrossing electronic track in their latest single International that resounds loudly with listeners long after the song ceases to play. Bold synths and intricate compositions whip in hints of goth and synth-pop as the track continues to play. There is considerable depth showcased during International; one should strap on their headphones to hear the depths of the backing instrumentation. This is our…
Soap Bubble Dreams is the new album from indie/alternative rockers Para Lia from Germany. This new release should go up fast on the radar if it gets heard by the right people in the right places, because it contains everything that is no longer being done, and everything that’s still being done without all the proverbial bells and whistles. It features German musicians René Methner and Cindy Methner, each of…
Philly has a long and storied musical past, from Blue Eyed Soul (Hall & Oates) and legit Soul (Gamble and Huff) to Hair Metal, lost and lots of Hair Metal (Cinderella, Britny Fox, Tangier, Poison…). But Bluegrass is not one of the genres that usually come to mind when you think of Philadelphia. The complicatedly-named Who? What? When? Why? & Werewolves? could possibly change that. On their 7-song debut, Greatest…
Axdy’s Stardom begins with booming bass and a delicate set of vocals playing well off of each other. With the vocals pulling double duty in both telling a story and adding to the overall harmonies of Stardom, it’s no surprise that the finished effort is impressive. There is a bit of brooding, a bit of intensity, and a whole heap of unique sound that issues forth shortly after. With nods…
Haunted is a track that tackles a number of genres to make for some of the most hard-hitting and emotionally intense music we’ve heard. With a supersonic set of vocals reaching their highest plateau during Haunted’s chorus, DIAMANTE is able to indelibly impress herself upon the minds and hearts of anyone listening in. With hints of Linkin Park, Evanescence, and Skillet that can be picked up here, Haunted is one…
On Dar.Ra’s new track, Diamonds N The Shadows, a funky, intense rock groove that is as much White Zombie as Stacey Q, listeners will be ferried through a number of distinct musical styles. There are booming drums, 1980s synths, and some funky fresh new wave / rap mashups that just work. The composition continually shifts styles and sounds to keep listeners on the edges of their seats. With some of…
Hero, the latest effort by Los Angeles’s Malea, is a fantastic addition to her corpus. The track begins with little more than Malea’s vocals and guitars. As the track continues to incorporate additional elements (such as a bass and keys), the resulting shifts in momentum ensures that Hero is proceeding at a quick pace. When things move into the two-minute mark, Malea puts a bit of brakes on the composition.…
Don’t Deny Me is Fellow Robot’s expansive rock track that looks to the days of Brit-pop and surf rock for influence. An airy set of vocals lightly floats on top of a thrushy, intense unity of guitars, bass, and drums. The four-minute run time of Don’t Deny Me allows for the track to focus on a number of distinct sections. The talent and passionate arrangements are able to establish a…
The Waters is a wonderful blend of pop, EDM, and 1990s R&B in a bold fashion. With an organic / electronic dichotomy between Breen’s vox and a carefully curated synth track, the effort is able to immediately draw listeners in. The rising and falling action of Patrick’s vocals recede a bit at the 2:30 mark to allow for the instruments to establish a new normal. The more traditional pop-rock style…
Heart on the Run is a tremendously touching effort that has Currin weave a tale that will impact anyone that has ever been in love. A dense, detailed instrumentation creates a sound that will resound loudly long after the song has ceased to play. The dynamics between the strings, guitars, and Currin’s vocals make for a cohesive, coherent statement. The guitar work stands out on Heart on the Run; linking…
Seattle Twee Pop pioneers Tullycraft (and, I’m sure they cringe at every reference to that genre name) may have taken six years between albums, but they are still in top form on this, their seventh album. The Railway Prince Hotel, like their earlier efforts, still brims over with sticky sweet melodies, trading off male/female vocals and Sean Tollefson’s endearing habit of writing too many lyrics and rushing to get them…
“Vibrations,” the new single from acclaimed rapper NoTrace (and featuring vocalist Glenn Travis), isn’t a political song in nature, but its intellectual lyricism and intrepidly stylized narrative can’t help but evoke some pretty strong imagery and thoughts about our society as it stands today. In the track, NoTrace raps about the difficulties of life, keeping his head above the water one day at a time, never allowing too much of…
A generation removed from a number of brilliant Western Mass bands that mixed pop melodies and occasional hooks with a strong punk rock foundation (think Dinosaur Jr and the Pixies), Potty Mouth have managed to resurrect much of that same loud, fast smart indie rock spirit on their sophomore LP, Snafu. Following up 2015’s EP and their 2013 debut, the band (now a trio), spent much of their time away…
The absolutely epic sound of Hold Your Breath begins with an assertive, R&B-infused set of vocals that are matched to a tee with sweeping synths. Hybrid adds together varied arrangements that draws upon 1990s dance and pop. The electricity that flows through Hold Your Breath will have listeners firmly on the edges of their seats. The accompanying video for Hold Your Breath further hammers home the distinct style that is…