How much money can a band expect when a court rules that the flagship song from the fastest-selling debut in U.K. history sounds strikingly similar to a song of their own? If your band is Wire and the year is 1995, not a pence. That was the result of an out-of-court settlement that awarded no […]

Just imagine how complex Pinback’s lush melodies would be if Rob Crow only played in one band. If he didn’t have to split time with a tedious solo career or play with other bands over the years including but not limited to Thingy, Goblin Cock, Optiganally Yours, Alpha Males, Physics, and Snotnose, he might have […]

Scotland might be on the brink of a musical civil war…or at least a slight rethinking of the country’s sonic landscape. Although the famed Glastonbury Festival has long been a rock ‘n’ roll staple, the European host nation has for just as long also served as a hotbed for delicate twee pop a la Belle […]

When debating the best New Pornographers album, the biggest loophole in determining the most solid collection of near-perfect guitar-pop tunes has nothing to do with the Canadian outfit’s stellar four-LP catalog. Rather, it’s frontman Carl Newman’s 2004 solo album, which very well could trump his best group output. But in a live setting, his full […]

For all the backslapping and grandstanding during this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival, its “Don’t Look Back” segment — featuring veteran bands each playing one of their classic albums from front to back — missed two obvious performers. The occasionally re-united Dismemberment Plan could have rocked Emergency and I, but even more glaringly absent was the […]

There’s a built-in audience for pop punk, which is both the genre’s biggest asset and its biggest obstacle. There always will be angry teenagers, and a fresh crop of them turn over every few years — discovering power chords, hating curfew, having their hearts broken for the first time, and ultimately being the types of […]

Even high school kids need somewhere to go during the summer, right? Not all of them work seasonal jobs, saving up for much-needed future keg money. A good chunk of them sit alone in their basements scrawling love poems into notebooks and shouting (or maybe crying) in the shower every night. But every now and […]

Make sure you’ve got at least two days-worth of stubble before hitting up a Battles gig. All the chin stroking that goes on at these math-rockers’ shows often requires the perfect follicle count. A freshly-shaven face is certain to chafe sometime between songs from last year’s Mirrored and 2006’s EP C / B EP. But […]

Some bands just need to play outside, either because their booming tunes are too big for tiny clubs or because they just have too many people to cram onto a dimly lit stage. Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s are a bit of both. Sure the group’s swooping, baroque pop structures lend themselves well […]

Parents, don’t let your baby girls grow up to be Louis XIV fans. Actually, by the time they mature into adult womenhood, the glam-rock California foursome probably won’t be interested anymore. Nope, these guys like easy women, partying, and partying with easy women. In case it’s still not clear: Louis XIV likes to fuck. A […]