Laurel Halo
The day I visited Laurel Halo at her East Williamsburg apartment it was literally raining ice in the streets. Falling, sparkling shards is a strangely appropriate image under which to address Halo, who is 25 and released her first EP, King Felix, on Hippos in Tanks in the US in November of 2010. (More …)
The Vaccines
What became of the likely lads? Of the many things the British music scene does so well (synth-pop, mope rock, making ugly guys somewhat attractive), it seems like their one most foolproof export has always been the four-piece, red-blooded, meat-and-potatoes blokeband, from the Beatles to the Libertines. Since the most recent heyday of the genre (can I get a “fook yeah!” for 2004?) nothing has quite matched the panty-wetting party vibes of Franz Ferdinand or the Devolutional pop-punk of the Futureheads. (More …)
Blondes
Blondes are Zach Steinman and Sam Haar. Zach hails from San Francisco and Sam is from New Jersey. The two met in art school at Oberlin College in the mid-noughties where Zach was studying studio art and Sam, music. After a series of bands – everything from a performance art drum circle to synth-pop and a post-punk outfit – the two have settled on the musical duo they call Blondes. (More …)
Crystal Stilts
Rock is a bit like an archaeology dig. That’s not to imply the genre is stagnating or has run its course – far from it. But as the eons of rock are solidified, as blues begets rock and rock begets indie, the average listener begins to view each new band and its respective influences as though they were layers of sediment. Dig beneath the surface, and bits of a guitar riff and the bones of a particular instrument from genres past form the layers for future musical innovation. (More …)
