Starflyer 59’s Pet Sounds (all the way down to the mono recording!): Layers and layers of instruments floating atop of each other like disembodied ghosts.
She’s 19, writes her own songs, can belt it out like Pat Benetar, she’s fuckin’ hot, and she does a lot of photoshoots in ripped’n’tattered black t-shirts.
While a noodly/spacey rock project in the past, Warn Defever has made a full-blown jazzy r&b album with the help of Lovetta Pippen, a Harlem choir girl.
Angel Youth, despite being a complete rip-off of Clarity-era Jimmy Eat World is an emotional meteor shower that flattens me to the ground with every song.
Interesting arpeggios and harmonies, loads of breakdowns, heartfelt singing, At The Drive-In-ish guitar pull-offs, and none of the stubborn predictability.
As frontman for Grant-Lee Buffalo, Phillips opened for R.E.M., Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam. Phillips has the same ability to stir up the soul as they did.