Hammock's fifth full length album, “Departure Songs,” is their first double album and their most progressive piece to date. Hammock offers elegant soundscapes with majestic swells and crescendos. “Departure Songs” meets all of the expectations of a Hammock listener with the duo's mesmerizing guitar work of beautifully layered guitar tracks drenched in effects pedals galore, but it doesn't stop...
Prior to the release of the band’s fifth studio album, frontwoman Emily Haines declared to her fans that “Synthetica” is about “forcing yourself to confront what you see in the mirror when you finally stand still long enough to catch a reflection…about being able to identify the original in a long line of reproductions. It's about what is real...
Following their first album, “Sigh No More” released in 2009, is Mumford and Son’s latest and highly anticipated album, “Babel,” which was released on Sept. 21, 2012. In the very first track, “Babel” delivers the same sound audiences love, which is urgent, ferocious strumming, combined with a driving confidence reminiscent of folk pride.
Lead singer Marcus Mumford’s voice never fails...
“Shut your mouth / cause you talk too much / and I don’t give a fuck anyway,” snarls lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day during the song, “Let Yourself Go,” off Green Day’s latest album, “¡Uno!” The band’s ninth studio album is the first in their upcoming trilogy of albums to be released within four months. “¡Dos!”...
Swedish garage rock band The Hives have released their first full-length album in five years, but don’t stray far from their signature style.
The album, titled “Lex Hives,” is irritatingly hyper-repetitive at times. The opening track, “Come on,” consists only of the lyrics “everybody come on,” sung over a canned track of a cheering crowd. Intended as a pump-up album...
After a two-year hiatus and a vocal chord surgery, John Mayer has returned to the industry with a bang. Mayer’s highly anticipated new album, “Born and Raised,” was released Tuesday, May 22. The album’s 13 tracks seem to show a more innocent and raw form of Mayer’s already soothing, bluesy music.
Mayer, after his controversial interviews with Rolling Stone and...
The latest and greatest band to come out of Santa Barbara, Gardens and Villa, played to an enthusiastic crowd at the Barn Wednesday night. The band was the headliner for the highly anticipated “free secret indie concert,” which was not announced publicly until April 24.
The group’s rise has been quick. After leaving their hometown of Santa Barbara (the name...
Beach House released their fourth album, “Bloom,” on May 15. The dream-pop/indie-rock duo formed in 2004 with Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand. Since, the pair has gained positive feedback from all their albums, but “Bloom” distinguishes itself by exploring new depths while remaining true to their entrancing sound. Driven by keyboard, organ and guitar, the vocals seem to play...
American-Canadian singer and composer Rufus Wainwright has released his latest album, “Out of the Game.” Known for his slow, emotionally-driven tracks, “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk” and “Poses,” Wainwright has continued to blur genres between operatic pop, baroque pop and alternative rock. This new album features eccentric melodies like his earlier album, “All Days Are Nights: Song For Lulu” (2010),...
Three years after their previous album, “Swoon,” Silversun Pickups have made a successful reentry into the alternative rock scene with their third album, “Neck of the Woods.” A departure from their earlier work, “Neck of the Woods” displays a new sound and direction for the band. The shoegazer favorites have always been consistent with their sound. From their much...