Wavelets – Athaletics
I might as well come out and say it: My name is Jay, and I love emo. Not whatever people called emo back in 2003. Not Hawthorne Heights and Senses Fail, or even Saosin. I’m a fan of American Football, Sunny Day Real Estate, and Cap’n Jazz. To me, emo’s not a dirty word, and...
Mixtapes – Maps and Companions
Mixtapes are one of the best things about Cincinnati aside from the Reds and Barbecue Revue. But since I’m going vegetarian and it’s not baseball season, they’re the best. Over the past two years, they’ve put out a lot of music. By my count, I think they put out four EPs (including a split with...
Signals Midwest- Latitudes And Longitudes
Signals Midwest occupies a very odd space in music. It’s not really easy to pinpoint what kind of music they play. Anyone asking is usually met with a genre descriptor and an, “I guess,” tacked on to the end of it. The best comparison is to ‘90s emo coupled with the current punk that’s out...
Drake- Take Care
I’m not the target audience for a Drake album. This is a fact that I’ve come to terms with. I thought his first mixtape was pretty all right and I liked exactly three songs off of his first album: “Miss Me,” “Unforgettable,” and “Up All Night” because Nicki Minaj torched that song. There’s not a...
A Very She & Him Christmas – She & Him
When I heard that She & Him (also known as Zooey Deschanel & M. Ward) were putting together a Christmas album, I had mixed feelings. The side of me that loved She & Him’s cutesy retro-pop, sunshiny sound was very much looking forward to some upbeat covers of classics like “Silver Bells” and “Have Yourself a...
Kaskade – Fire & Ice
Fire & Ice is the sort of album that makes you wonder why you have not been paying closer attention to Kaskade all of your life. Ryan Raddon (Kaskade) has been making dance music since the nineties, but he is relatively less known compared against his peers in the DJ community. The main reason being...
Phantogram – Nightlife EP
Deriving their name from an optical illusion, Phantogram is a duo of friends since junior high school, Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter. Their EP snapshot of Nightlife is the kind of follow up one would like to see after their aptly titled debut, Eyelid Movies. Electronically laden and beat driven, Nightlife might be the best...
Banner Pilot- Heart Beats Pacific
Banner Pilot is some of the most bare-bones pop-punk bands that’s out today. Their catalog is full of raspy vocals, big hooks, and a bass-heavy mix. Most songs are about the Midwest, winter, or parking lots. Sometimes, it’s all of the above. Banner Pilot is by no means the most exciting band in the Fat...
Atlas Sound – Parallax
“Found money and fame/ But I found them really late,” laments Bradford Cox on “The Shakes,” Parallax’s opening track. Cox may have found these things recently with the success of Deerhunter’s 2010 LP Halcyon Digest, but his solo project, Atlas Sound, has yet to gain the substantial following of his more-famous group. But that should...
Tom Waits – Bad As Me
Tom Waits is a veteran in the music world. Spanning his nearly 40-year career, Waits has produced over a dozen albums to varying success. Given his tenure as a musician, this poses the question “does this grizzled old man have anything to say about our generation?” The answer? Hell yes. Bad As Me is an...
Gauntlet Hair – Gauntlet Hair
The self-titled debut album from somewhat mysterious Denver/ Chicago based duo Gauntlet Hair is a dreamy collage of sonorous noise pop, with a sound as elusive as the band members themselves. In an age when personal branding has become a priority for many musicians, Andy and Craig of Gauntlet Hair choose to remain low profile,...
Pterodactyl – Spills Out
The third album released by Pterodactyl, Spills Out bursts aloud with its moody pop to formulate a grandeur feeling of optimism. Its simple methodology for teamed up melodies forms this retro 1950s surfer bop with more familiar tones and rifts from the current era of indie rock. Featuring electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, synthesizer, and...
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