Grating, blistering, relentless industrial thrash death metal about marriage and starting a family? Leave it to Strapping Young Lad’s freakish mastermind, Devin Townsend, to create Alien, an aural onslaught of Ministry-indebted mayhem that spends a surprising amount of time on the topics of love and babies. To top it off,…

Nearly every mention of Diamond Nights cites Thin Lizzy as a reference point, but the Brooklyn quartet’s debut full-length, Popsicle, is more than just another retrogressive romp. The opener, “Destination Diamonds,” for example, shares DNA with both Shudder to Think and Cheap Trick. Cocky castrato Morgan Phalen, hook-happy guitarist Rob…

Deceptively simple at first, the often-seething guitar pop of all capitals reveals greater complexity upon repeated listens. At its best, the band avoids coyness and cuts straight to the rock, with the right combination of crunchy riffs and chewy layers, recalling the Pixies and Sugar-era Bob Mould. Complex leads supplied…

Mark Eitzel wants to know if I can hold on for a second. Through a muffled receiver, I hear him speaking to a friend on the other end. “I’m gonna step outside and do this interview,” he says. “The pizza’s in the oven, and it’s almost done.” In more than…

Okkervil River makes happy music for sad people. The act’s lo-fi indie rock is alternately cheerless and hilarious, fragile and burly, beautiful and dissonant. With largely acoustic instrumentation, touches of Americana and a notebook full of reflections on love, loss and longing, primary Okkervil auteur Will Sheff crafts the kind…

In the world of instrumental rock, Saxon Shore has little in common with the onanistic, sonically soulless noodling of Eric Johnson or the spaced-out, loosely constructed noise rock of Mogwai. For its latest album, the ensemble teamed with producer Dave Fridmann to produce ten tightly structured, richly layered instrumentals –…

Peter Bo Rappmund and Grant Hazard Outerbridge — the duo who make up the Very Hush Hush — pulled up stakes and headed for the warmer/weirder climes of northern California earlier this year, taking with them the damaged, moody compositions they’d crafted together in a dilapidated house in Boulder. This…

There are two routes taken on most collaborations between distinctive musicians. Either one fantastic sound disappears while the other dominates (see Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz or those electronic tracks with Neil Tennant on lead vocals), or both sounds disappear and a lifeless, unremarkable disgrace remains (see Velvet Revolver, Audioslave, the Thorns)…

Lately, New York’s the Hold Steady has gotten more ink than a hipster covering up that embarrassing Lorax tattoo he got in college — and with good reason. The boisterous quintet sounds like ’70s-era E Street Band on meth and PBR, with motor-mouthed frontman Craig Finn spouting tales of Catholic…

When you first listen to Vaux’s major-label debut, Beyond Virtue, Beyond Vice, it sounds like little has changed from the smarter-than-most melodic metalcore of the act’s last effort, Plague Music. Then “Need to Get By” kicks in with its “Paranoid Android” vocals, soft-loud dynamics and volatile trajectory, and things just…

I like it,” says Alan Andrews, “because it’s not about punching.” No, it’s about dancing. And Andrews, singer/guitarist with the Photo Atlas, and his bandmates — guitarist Bill Threlkeld, bassist Mark Hawkins and drummer Devon Shirley — are at the vanguard of the Mile High City’s recent dance renaissance. They’ve…

With viral melodies, sold-their-soul technique and devilish beats, the four horsemen of Seattle’s the Divorce create end-times party music that doubles as another sign of the apocalypse — the deliciously sinful triumph of style over substance. Opening with the festive “Yes!” and whipping us into a caffeinated froth with tracks…

If the idea of a synthesized bass line opening a My Morning Jacket record disturbs you, stop reading and go back to your latest issue of No Depression. Your loss. With each release, Jim James and his compadres take another leap, further alienating their alt-country fans while charming a brand-new,…

James Murphy is tired. It’s 10 a.m. in Brooklyn — a decidedly un-rockin’ hour for any rock star. But it’s not just the time of day that’s weighing on him. “I just don’t see the point of being in a rock band,” the 35-year-old musician/producer laments. “I love rock. I…

If the thought of “piano rock” conjures images of Elton John in his duck suit or Jerry Lee Lewis pounding the ivories with his penny loafers, then you obviously haven’t heard the Dresden Dolls. The Boston-based piano/drums duo of Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione whip up a stunningly potent racket,…

When Fugazi’s VW Microbus crashed into Frank Zappa’s Mothership of Invention, the collision sounded a lot like Make Believe. Released last year, the quartet’s debut EP — building on impressive resumés from groundbreaking post-hardcore bands like Cap’n Jazz, Joan of Arc and Owls — only hinted at the act’s potential…

Much has happened in the five years since Earlimart released its sophomore effort, the raucous Kingdom of Champions, which drew comparisons to the Pixies and X. Three years later, songwriter/guitarist Aaron Espinoza, bassist/keyboardist Ariana Murray and drummer David Latter took a sharp left turn, reinventing themselves as the properly medicated…

If the Rosebuds’ 2003 debut, The Rosebuds Make Out, overflowed with pop songs of innocence, then their 2005 followup, Birds Make Good Neighbors, is brimming with songs of experience (apologies to William Blake). Opening with the dour “Hold Hands and Fight,” the record takes a noticeably dark turn from the…

Black Dice makes experimental electronic noise rock that’s been known to draw blood. Infamous for their visceral and assaulting live shows, brothers Eric and Bjorn Copeland — now joined by new drummer Aaron Warren — have produced more than their fair share of jarring, disorienting and disconcerting records in the…

For a certain kind of person, there’s nothing happier than really sad music. That’s where the National comes in. On the quintet’s latest critically lauded album, Alligator, Matt Berninger comes on like Bill Callahan fronting American Music Club, while brothers Aaron and Bryce Dessner and Scott and Bryan Devendorf provide…

Quite simply, there is no better living showman than Maceo Parker. Catching one of the alto sax maestro’s marathon three-hour shows is a truly transcendent experience for any fan of funk, jazz, hip-hop, R&B and soul: His performances are never disappointing, always worth the money, and a funky, funky good…

Minus the Bear’s latest record, Menos el Oso, is the sound of hardcore kids growing up. Known previously for comical song titles like “Hey, Wanna Throw Up?” and impressive rock resumés, the highly technical, versatile quintet has finally produced the record we’ve always known it could. Jake Snider’s lyrics have…