pop Archive
18 Jun 2024
Crowded House’s Neil Finn on the 1986 Smash “Don’t Dream it’s Over” (Part 2 of 2)
Continued from Part One… This feature first appeared in SPIN Songs in the Vault When I formed Crowded House, I’d already had a pretty good stack of songs in the […]
17 Jun 2024
Crowded House’s Neil Finn on the 1986 Smash “Don’t Dream it’s Over” (Part 1 of 2)
This feature first appeared in SPIN “Our albums have always had elements of melancholy,” says Neil Finn, leader, singer, guitarist and songwriter for Crowded House. “And some of the best […]
11 Jun 2024
Album Review: The Brat – Straight Outta East L.A.
Time has an odd way of changing our perception. Most anyone who heard Sex Pistols in the 1978 would have found them abrasive, chaotic and noisy. As Never Mind the […]
04 Jun 2024
Album Review: Little Girls — Valley Songs
Pop music never ceases to amaze. If one looks past the mega-hits – and then looks even farther afield beyond the commercial near-misses — there remains a cornucopia of overlooked […]
31 May 2024
Album Reviews: Pete Ham – ‘Gwent Gardens’ and Tom Evans – ‘I Am Myself’
The careful, exhaustive and ongoing campaign to document (and share with the world) the cache of demos, home recordings and other audio arcana from core members of Badfinger continues apace. […]
25 May 2024
Album Review: The 23rd Turnoff – Michael Angelo
Depending on one’s mindset, the name suggests either a trademark late-’60s attempt to apply a psychedelic vibe to something ordinary, or merely something very pedestrian (as it were). The truth […]
11 May 2024
Album Review: St. Johns Wood Affair – s/t
An offshoot of sixties collectors’ darlings Nirvana, this group features that band’s Keith Smart. He’s joined on some tracks by Pat Martin of Unicorn; the core group of players backs […]
04 May 2024
Album Review: The Cyrkle – Revival
Remember the Cyrkle? No? C’mon; think harder. The mid-60’s group scored a pair of Top 40 successes, first with Paul Simon’s pop confection “Red Rubber Ball” and again with “Turn […]
30 Apr 2024
Capsule Reviews for April 2024 #2
There’s a real assortment of great new music that I’d like you know about. So here I present capsule reviews of five new titles in a variety of styles and […]
01 Apr 2024
30 Days Out, April 2024 #1: Alejandro Escovedo, Disco Biscuits, Pretty Little Goat, Flight Attendant
A critically acclaimed artist whose body of work spans punk, Americana and more; a heavy-gigging jam band; a great local group that’s bubbling under; an up-and-coming band outta Nashville about […]