Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy is an old pickup truck: The cracks and rust in his voice testify to the hard miles he’s traveled, the imperfections providing a patina of authenticity in a world full of glossy paint and auto-tune. The sad lilt in his voice invites us to load our…

The Afghan Whigs have never lacked in sensuality. From 1993’s Gentlemen to 1998’s 1965 and even 2014’s Do to the Beast, Greg Dulli’s lyrics are often seductive and enticing. It should be noted that approach continues on the band’s latest effort, In Spades, with a twist; Ever the lyricist,…

Upon first glance, Thurston Moore’s Rock n Roll Consciousness appears to be an EP, including just five songs. Those songs, however, stretch and unfold to fill more than 40 minutes with experimental and expansive music that could only be created by Moore. Rock n Roll Consciousness Thurston Moore April…

Feist, “Pleasure.” There’s a moment on the new Feist album, Pleasure, that calls back to her breakthrough album The Reminder. As the track “Any Party” winds down, the sounds of someone (let’s assume it’s Ms. Leslie Feist) leaving the party rise to the forefront as the music fades away.…

To say Juliana Hatfield wrote her new album because she was inspired by Donald Trump’s election seems wrong. Motivated. Driven. Determined. Those all might be more appropriate since Pussycat, though beautifully done, appears to give lyrical middle finger to the 45th U.S. president. Pussycat Juliana Hatfield April 28 Recorded…

It’s been two years since San Francisco orchestral pop band The Family Crest released Beneath the Brine, a breakout that led to the group’s first national headlining tour and commercial licensing deals. A large chunk of the intervening time went to touring, including a slot at Outside Lands in…

Joe Goddard created a solo album to express everything he couldn’t with Hot Chip. Every emotion, every risk and every last drop of musical talent in Goddard’s bones has been poured into this album and the finished product is nothing short of incredible. With Electric Lines, Goddard creates a…

Looking for your next favorite dance band? Nashville’s COIN shows with How Will You Know If You Never Try that it’s a force to be reckoned with; a band whose infectious party anthems will be uttered in the same breath as those by bands like Grouplove, Passion Pit or…

When RIFF talked to Weezer’s Brian Bell about his band The Relationship last November, to say he was excited about the group’s forthcoming album would have been an understatement. A smile spread across his normally stoic face, Bell beamed when he talked about the music he and his band…

What began as Nima Kazerouni’s musical bedroom experiments evolved into So Many Wizards. The Los Angeles dream-punk project, led by Kazerouni, is back and looking to build upon its last album, Warm Nothing. Since that last album, Kazerouni has undergone a series of radical life changes and has drawn inspiration…