Big Red ★

Dimension by Wolfmother

Let’s get one thing straight: Wolfmother rocks. The three-piece band from Australia have managed to look back to past styles of rock and roll and fuse with them with modern techniques to create a concoction that’s refreshing as it is unique. In a modern rock world saturated with pretenders, Wolfmother has managed to make music that actually sounds like rock and roll. […] - The Student Operated Press

Dancing Choose by TV On The Radio

TV on the Radio’s music is a new kind of rock ‘n’ roll, one that collects all of this itinerant noise and recycles it, spits it back out as a pulsing, sandblasted reckoning. Fuzz and buzz, tumble-dry spin cycle patterns—are we listening to synthesizers or guitars, live drums or a programmed approximation? The dense mix of the New York City band’s sound—redundant, perhaps, on its surface, yet a swamp of complication beneath that serves as an artist’s rendering of the very city it comes from—makes piecemeal analysis irrelevant. It’s all one, a sonic totality of post-industrial digi-funk and the paranoid, lovesick blues of the Information Age—or, as Tunde Adebimpe sings in “DLZ”, the penultimate track on the band’s new Dear Science, “the long-winded blues of the never”. […] - Zeth Lundy, PopMatters

Lullaby Haze by Mates of State

As much as it can be a disappointment when some musicians refuse to evolve or progress their sound over time, I find that there are always certain bands that I simply don’t want to see change. I’d much rather have them continue doing the same thing that they’ve been doing since day one. For me, Mates of State are one of those bands. This husband and wife duo have been writing cute and catchy pop songs for over 10 years now, using primarily a piano/organ and drums combination. […] - Muzak For Cybernetics

Metropolis by Faded Paper Figures

In the vein of any successful side project, Faded Paper Figures capitalizes on the most prevalent talents of each member involved. Williams’ vocals are soothingly appropriate when set to the backdrop of Kael Alden’s synthesized melodies, with Heather’s angelic backing vocals providing just the right amount of harmonic diversity. […] - Obscure Sound

Future Past Perfect by Future Rapper, et al

Straight outta collapsed time slinging discontinuities, Future Rapper & Co. cough up $.99 cent store syrup with more rhymes per square inch than Rakim’s motherboard. Wrong-footed family men chronicle time-heroics and mythological mash-ups over dubby electro-squiggle. […] - Asthmatic Kitty Records

• Future Rapper on YouTube

Juno by Tokyo Police Club

Tokyo Police Club have managed to be so damned pleasing by melding two usually disparate elements from indie rock writ large: awkward, self-concious lyrics verging on emo and poppy dance rhythms. […] - Never Learned to Swim

A Summer Chill by This Is Ivy League

Some bands don’t offer anything new whatsoever, but they still manage to grab your ear and keep you listening. This Is Ivy League is one of those bands, fitting into the gentle acoustic sounds you’d hear from Kings of Convenience or Simon and Garfunkel. The duo recorded their self-titled debut in their apartments, and for the most part keeps things really simple- mostly love songs built with acoustic guitars, sweet harmonies. - The Yellow Stereo

Glue Girls by Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

Usually, overly long band names point to an irritating sense of self-importance. Why else would you make someone spend a full minute enunciating your name, or force your fans to apply some ridiculous acronym? But somehow, by about 15 seconds into “Glue Girls,” the lead track from Pershing, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin is easily forgiven. - Nicholas L. Hall, Miami New Times via Jonk Music