The legendary cosmic jazz visionary Sun Ra died back in 1993, but his legacy has been carried on by the Sun Ra Arkestra ever since. The group still tours and plays all the time, but they haven’t released a new recording since 1999’s A Song For The Sun. Apparently, that’s about to change. The Sun […]
Inter Arma – “Purple Rain” (Prince Cover)
It’s not that you can’t cover “Purple Rain.” You can. People have done it. Etta James and the Waterboys and LeAnn Rimes have all released their own versions of Prince’s perfect 1984 power ballad. Sufjan Stevens and Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam and My Morning Jacket have covered “Purple Rain” live. Madonna and Stevie Wonder […]
Hum Surprise-Release First Album In 22 Years, 'Inlet'
The band Hum formed in 1989 in Urbana, Illinois. Over the next decade, they released four albums and had exactly one big success, the 1995 alt-rock radio hit “Stars.” But Hum’s impact goes far beyond that one song. The band’s sound — a huge, surging guitar swirl that drew on American punk and metal as […]
Jesu Announces New Mini-LP 'Never', Shares New Single "Because Of You": Listen
Justin K. Broadrick is one of the great restless spirits in the history of heavy, aggressive music. With bands like Napalm Death and Godflesh, Broadrick spent the ’80s and ’90s inventing new forms and expanding genre boundaries. Since 2004, Broadrick has been releasing sad, blurry, personal music under the name Jesu. (Jesu is a shifting […]
Bad Moves – "Working For Free"
At the end of the week, Bad Moves are releasing their sophomore album, Untenable (digitally at least). The album was supposed to come out last month, but got pushed back due to pandemic concerns, which means we’ve heard a nice chunk of singles: “Party With The Kids Who Want To Party With You,” “End Of […]
Pure Bathing Culture – "Something Silver"
The last time we heard from the Portland duo (and Band To Watch) Pure Bathing Culture, it was with last year’s excellent Night Pass, an album that found Sarah Versprille and Daniel Hindman digging deeper into the soft rock elements of their sound. Today, they’re announcing that album’s successor, a new EP called Carrido that […]
The Made-Up Word "Alapathy" Gains Meaning In Fenne Lily's New Single
Young Bristol singer-songwriter Fenne Lily announced her signing to Dead Oceans earlier this year with “Hypochondriac,” a gorgeous indie-rock track with a lot of depth beneath its surface-level beauty. It marked Lily as someone fans of artists like Phoebe Bridgers, Stella Donnelly, and Aldous Harding should keep an ear on. Following last month’s “To Be […]
Sprain's "Worship House" Is A Spindly, Mathy, Volatile Epic
Sprain is a spindly, mathy LA quartet calling back to ’90s post-hardcore greats like Slint and Unwound as well as noise-rock bombardiers like Metz and the Jesus Lizard. They’ll release their debut LP As Lost Through Collision this year through The Flenser, the great San Francisco label that recently kicked out great albums from Midwife […]
Hear Jenn Wasner's New Flock Of Dimes EP 'Like So Much Desire'
For over 10 years now, Jenn Wasner has made alluring, shape-shifting music as part of Wye Oak, her duo with Andy Stack. But along the way, each of them have embarked on other projects, with Wasner taking on alternative monikers like Dungeonesse and Flock Of Dimes. Her last Wye Oak outing, the great The Louder […]
Widowspeak Breathe New Resonance Into Old Clichés On "Money"
Brooklyn indie veterans Widowspeak reminded us how beautiful their country-tinged dream-pop can be when they returned last month with “Breadwinner,” their first new song in three years. As you might expect, it turns out that song was our first taste of a new album dropping this year. It’s called Plum, it’s out at the end […]