the dbs Archive
29 Jun 2021
Album Review: Various Artists – Yesterday’s Tomorrow
If you’re at all familiar with the alternate and/or college rock scenes of the 1970s and ‘80s, you’ll know the names Mitch Easter (Let’s Active, producer of R.E.M.), Peter Holsapple (The dB’s, Continental Drifters), Chirs Stamey (The dB’s, work with Alex Chilton) and Don Dixon. This busman’s holiday of a sort is a document of
06 Jul 2020
Album Review: Holsapple & Stamey — Our Back Pages
As wonderful as the dBs were during their original run (featuring Peter Holsapple with and then without Chris Stamey), the more acoustic-flavored efforts by Holsapple and Stamey – 1991’s Mavericks and 2009’s hERE aND nOW – were truly special as well. Decidedly different in tone and energy, but simply superb they were, even for a
01 Apr 2017
BONUS: Two Single Reviews
Every so often, I get a single in for review. Two recent releases are of particular note and merit. So that justifies a rare Saturday post from me. No fooling. The Embrooks – “Nightmare” b/w “Helen” (State Records) Anytime a publicist uses the word “freakbeat” when describing music sent for possible review, my curiosity is
21 Feb 2017
Sneakers: A Walk Through Powerpop History, Part 2
Continued from Part One … Speaking of wanting (or not wanting) to know, around the time that the original Sneakers EP was released, the band couldn’t get many gigs. In fact, according to Unofficial Sneakers Historian and bassist Robert Keely, Sneakers’ 2016 reunion performance at the Hopscotch Festival in Raleigh was exactly the band’s ninth
20 Feb 2017
Sneakers: A Walk Through Powerpop History, Part 1
In the histories of power pop, indie rock and college rock (and whatever you want to call the musical scene that bubbled under in North Carolina several decades back), there’s one band that elicits approving nods whenever it’s mentioned. Sneakers never released a full album and played only a tiny handful of live shows, but
27 Nov 2015
Holiday Music Roundup 2015
Imagene Peise — Atlas Eets Christmas Let’s get a few things out of the way right up front about this holiday-themed release. First there is no Imagene Peise; despite a convoluted backstory, “she” is really The Flaming Lips. But no, that’s not quite accurate, either: This album – a reissue of a 2007 limited edition
25 Jan 2013
The Chris Stamey Interview
Chris Stamey has been an important – if ever-so-slightly underground – part of the American music scene for decades. An early post-Big Star collaborator with Alex Chilton, he went on to create some of the best and most timeless music in rock/pop as a member of Sneakers, The dB’s, and as a solo artist. He’s
21 Mar 2009
Album Review: Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey – hERE aND nOW
✰✰✰✰✰ Once in awhile a record comes along that is so special, so singularly amazing, that it nearly defies criticism. The album hERE aND nOW by Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey is such a disc. Right out of the gate, Holsapple and Stamey deserve kudos for rescuing a beautiful track from undeserved obscurity. Family’s