I’m feeling confident, so let’s going ahead and make the argument that the Sadies are essential listening for the punk rock crowd. Now this is by no means an under-appreciated band; they find no shortage of critical praise with each successive record (and there’s been something like ten at this point). Yet coming as we […]
My “Best of 2007″ list is now online over at Punknews. These articles seem to grow more massive every year and this one was no exception. I’m not even going to attempt to repost the content here.
Best of 2007 - Adam’s Picks
Also check out the rest of the staff picks from our dozen or […]
Of course we were right to be wary of Vice. While not technically a major label (in fact, I think they lost their major backing earlier this year), they’ve definitely set themselves up for suspicion. Let’s remember that this is a brand offshoot of a smarmy indie lifestyle magazine. For the Black Lips to take […]
Despite the sheer reverence shown for the Winnipeg act, the Weakerthans are really a delightfully simple band. Particularly in Canada the indie scene’s treated them with the acclaim afforded to bands like Broken Social Scene and the Arcade Fire: the luminaries. While I’d argue that John K. Samson and company certainly deserve it, they’re clearly […]
While on the surface a stopgap between Let It Bloom and whatever’s arriving this September, this live album will prove remarkably important to the Black Lips when their story’s finally written. It’s the bridge between the Atlanta band’s status as a critically acclaimed underground act and whatever spectacular success or failure awaits them. Vice may […]
This is a frustrating album. Oh it sounds wonderful, but I can’t get past the bewildering song choices on the punk godmother’s cover project. The songs Smith interprets here aren’t only classic — they’re iconic. These are songs that, for the most part, I wouldn’t want my favorite bands to ever think of covering. I […]
The Riptides represent a class of band that’s necessary to the overall health of the punk rock organism. Their peers may be numerous and quite similar at times, but they’ll never be redundant. They’re charming and likable but they’ll never make celebrities of their members. Their records will be met warmly when they arrive, but […]
Call it the effect of an ocean between us, but the work of Damon Albarn has been fairly inconsequential in my life. In North America it’s easy to see Blur and Gorillaz as just two more imported mainstream rock acts, just as easy to avoid as they are to discover. Of course that’s not at […]
Here’s my year end list as originally published at Punknews.org. I think all of the staff lists this year left a lot of the regulars scratching their heads, but I’ll comment on that later.
Crisis on Infinite Orgs
If my efforts this year seem a bit abbreviated, I moved into the house I’ve been renovating for the […]
Now I’m no barometer of the Canadian indie scene, but I suspect my recent discoveries are fairly typical of something happening throughout English Canada. Quebec’s hopping music scene’s been on fire for years now, what with Montreal living out its “new Seattle” tag to the envy of everywhere else, but despite the buzz it’s only […]
