Royal Blood | The Troubadour (Los Angeles, CA) | September 29, 2014 | The Brighton, UK gents Michael Kerr (vox, bass), Ben Thatcher (drums), the ball cap and leather jacket now widely known as Royal Blood have a pretty good thing going here in Los Angeles. Since their rather meteoric rise across the pond after a mere two years in […]

Lessons in French | Author: Hilary Reyl | Rating: 8/11 | Breakout novelist Hilary Reyl puts a modern spin on the coming-of-age tale with a story of a young American woman in Paris. When Kate is offered a job as an assistant to Lydia, a glamorous and famous photographer, she gets far more than she signed on for, navigating the complexity of […]

In-Flight Safety | Conversationalist | Rating: 8.5/11 | Are icy tones and chilly guitars a Canadian thing? If so, then In-Flight Safety from Halifax, Nova Scotia remains true to national form on Conversationalist – their fourth release. But John Mullane (vox, guitars, keys) and Glen Nicholson (drums, percussion) offer up something of a beautiful dichotomy with a rich and thoughtful […]

U2 | Songs Of Innocence | Rating: 6.8/11 | Regardless of how you feel about being conspiratorially ‘spammed’, it happened. Granted, all other unsolicited media ending up in one’s inbox promptly gets the thumbs down/mark as spam treatment but, alas, this is what occurs when the biggest band in the world (U2) and a titanic of music delivery and technology (Apple) join […]

Interpol | El Pintor | Rating: 8.5/11 | When we first got the memo that the beloved, somewhat beleaguered New York City former foursome (now a trio: Paul Banks, Sam Fogarino & Daniel Kessler) known as Interpol had album #5 in their pocket, we had but one simple – yet very honest – request of them: Please don’t suck. After […]

Bishop Allen | Lights Out | Rating: 5/11 | Bishop Allen has had a successful run with cinema and great indie-pop songs over the last ten years. Sadly, their new record, Lights Out, has failed to do something new and agreeable. Lights Out is a great step in the right direction for the band’s musical talents, but it fails to exhibit […]

How To Dress Well | The Echoplex (Los Angeles, CA) | August 22, 2014 | There’s a good chance that you will do one of three things at a How To Dress Well show: dance, cry or make out. Preferably with someone you actually know on that last one. The cool and dungeon-esque dark of the Echoplex was as fine […]