indie Archive

I think the publicist – however well-meaning he may be – was having a bit of fun when writing the one-sheet that accompanies promo copies of The Tables Turn Too Often. Sure, it’s useful to provide potential reviewers with some musical signposts, occasionally dropping of names in a RIYL (“promo-speak for “review if you like…”)

On the band’s website, Asheville-based Poet Radio describes itself as “a dark psych rock band with occultist undertones.” New listeners shouldn’t be warned off by that description; the trio’s new Horseflesh EP starts off accessibly enough and gets more even listenable as it goes along. “I’m Clean” begins abruptly, almost as if the band had

After making a trio of band albums, Lynchburg, Virginia singer-guitarist Ben Delaurentis has made a solo record in Liar for a Muse. But don’t assume that you’ll find a vice-and-acoustic vibe; Delaurentis has a pleasing sense for arrangement, and he makes the best of instrumentation and (especially) vocals. “As Good as it Gets” opens the

Canadian rock foursome Sloan is unusual in the context of popular music: the band has been together for more than 25 years without a single change in its lineup. Even more remarkably, all four members of the Toronto-based group sing, play multiple instruments and compose songs. And it’s no leap of logic to observe that

In the years just before punk broke in the UK, there was a musical scene bubbling under that would exert an influence on punk while (quietly) providing a bridge between mainstream rock and its more jagged variant. Like garage rock and freakbeat, the scene didn’t really have a name in wide use at the time;