Fantastic! Sun: What A Wonderful Word! Aquatic / Riviera By: Eric G. Twee French pop is something of a cliche these days because of all the American indie rock imitators, so it’s kind of strange to hear the real thing (or what purports to be the real thing). Fantastic! is another French pop band obsessed […]

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Tracker Ames Film Guerrero By: Eric G. Tracker plays country-tinged indie rock for those with a little blues in their blood, but the blues here doesn’t always sound quite real. You can sniff out everything from Neil Young to Slint on this Portland, Oregon quartet’s debut album, which is a mix of indie country, post-rock, […]

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Future Bible Heroes I'm Lonely (and I Love It) Merge By: Eric G. If I had to pick the weakest Stephin Merritt side project I’d have to say it’s Future Bible Heroes, hands down, and I firmly believe this is because Merritt doesn’t write the music himself (as he does in all of his other […]

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Shellac 1000 Hurts Touch And Go By: Eric G. It's amazing how many people are jealous of Steve Albini. Jealous of his bulletproof reputation as some sort of an underground God. Jealous of the fact that people kiss his ass no matter what. Jealous of not knowing about him or his bands until everyone else […]

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Paris Texas Brazilliant! EP Polyvinyl By: Eric G. Paris Texas' explosively catchy pop punk combines the bubblegum harmonies of UK legends the Buzzcocks with the manic, upbeat energy of Chapel Hill's Superchunk. The dual guitar assault doesn't hurt the band's momentum, but the real key is the infectious songwriting. Scott Sherpe's vocals are melodious but […]

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Graham Coxon The Golden D Transcopic By: Eric G. Blur guitarist Graham Coxon's second vanity album is an even noisier mess than his first attempt to distance himself from Damon Albarn's songwriting two years ago. Coxon plays every instrument himself, and his musical tangents veer into cacophonous skate punk, discordant indie rock, and jazzy hip-hop […]

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Snake River Conspiracy Sonic Jihad Reprise By: Eric G. I wouldn’t normally waste my time (or yours) reviewing such a stinking piece of shit as this, but since Snake River Conspiracy goes so far out of its way to suck I thought I would oblige it with a few words. How does a former member […]

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