The two comprise Brooklyn’s Royal Baths, and their second record, “Better Luck Next Life,” shows an impressive self-assuredness, conviction and carefully crafted sound that seems only common among the calculating acts from New York these days (see: Sleigh Bells, Body Language). They’re also savage and unafraid of dissonant guitar noises, something they probably learned from […]
The Black Keys
Posted inMusic
The Black Keys — El Camino
It was a risky move considering the backlash that followed “Attack & Release,” the Keys’ 2008 album that many accused Burton of overproducing. I personally found his finer touches (like the banjo and piano-plinking on the drawly “Psychotic Girl”) more dramatic and fun, a refreshing departure from the rust belt-blues shtick they’d worked from the […]
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Sticky situation
With the 2000s came a new trend: blog bands. These were acts that came out of nowhere, riding a wave of buzz built solely by music blogs. But with the quick rise came the inevitable backlash, and the poster child for that unenviable situation is Tapes ’n Tapes, the indie-rock fourpiece that performs Tuesday at […]