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Show Recommendation: The Mallard

mallard

Adorned in a heavy, lo-fi reverb, The Mallard plays light, fluffy garage pop music that a few friends have been raving about of late. They hit me up, thinking I’d like it, and they were right. The band boasts four members; what’s unique, however, is that they all belong to the same body. The body is that of a woman simply titled Greer. The right foot gets the kick drum, the left the hi-hat tambourine. The arms and fingers play guitar, and vocals are left to the mouth. It’s an interesting perspective in which to describe your band, but it fits The Mallard to a T. Read More »Show Recommendation: The Mallard

The Jesus Rehab: The Highest Highs And The Lowest Lows [Album Review]

jesus-rehab

Once you move past their name which comes a close third in brilliant hilarity behind the likes of Test Icicles and The Dead Kenny G’s, The Jesus Rehab are beyond what you would expect. With a name like that, you might expect a sassy post punk explosion of anger and atheism. But, you couldn’t be more wrong. Instead, The Highest Highs and Lowest Lows comes out softly, proclaiming beautiful indie pop with a hint of acoustic glee that measures up nicely to The Modern Skirts, or Belle & Sebastian on a Benzedrine trip. Read More »The Jesus Rehab: The Highest Highs And The Lowest Lows [Album Review]

Fergus & Geronimo [Feature]

fergus-geronimo

Why hello there Hardly Art, I hear you have a few new signings, one being La Sera (new project of Vivan Girls’ Katy Goodman), the other being the glorious bubbly lo-fi pop group Fergus & Geronimo. Calling their home New York City and Denton TX seems fitting for a band that plays delightfully soulful, super catchy lo-fi garage-ish pop. It should be no surprise that this band has released before on Woodsist Records — they have that sound. But they find a welcome home on Hardly Art aside greats like Golden Triangle and Seattle locals Unnatural Helpers. Read More »Fergus & Geronimo [Feature]

A Fine Day For Sailing: Sand Box [Album Review]

a-fine-day-for-sailing

What sort of group puts out two full length albums in less than a year? Well, how about a damn good one? And A Fine Day For Sailing is most definitely so. Fresh (extremely, in fact) off their last pop wonder, My Baby Loves Pop Music, the happy-go-lucky band of English excitement junkies are back with Sand Box. And to say they have improved would be to dumb down the greatness of My Baby, but I’ll be damned if these cats didn’t create something entirely original, using the format that worked wonderfully a few months ago. Read More »A Fine Day For Sailing: Sand Box [Album Review]

No Age: Glitter [mp3 Review]

no-age

It’s interesting to hear the progression No Age has made since Nouns. “Glitter” is an entirely different beast. Sure there are elements of noise that the band so favored on that brilliant debut from 2009, but here it’s contained and restrained. They’ve tamed the beast. No longer do they shout to be heard amidst overwhelming, clever guitar riffs. No, here they focus on a consistent drum beat and actually… wait for it… sing! Still, the song builds and grows into a noisy little creature, vicious yet slumbering. I doubt this band has tamed to the point of being domestic — after all, “You’re A Target” was pretty f*ing mad, and that came out pretty recently. Frankly, I’m torn as to which side of No Age I like better, the insane noise or the restrained madness. Either way, you’ve got a winner. Read More »No Age: Glitter [mp3 Review]

Transient Songs: Cave Syndrome [Album Review]

transient-songs

Are you tired of your father’s versions of psychedelic rock? It can be granted that the 70’s were the age for some of the finest LSD-related music and mishaps history will ever know. But, surely it becomes tiresome to constantly hear about Rush’s supposed futuristic nonsense, or Roger Water’s boring obsession with the sky, and not having anything of your own time for a real comparison. Well, degenerate hipsters and demon-friendly youth-mongers, you are in luck. Introducing: John Frum a.k.a. Transient Songs. Stick it to your old man you gentle monsters! Read More »Transient Songs: Cave Syndrome [Album Review]

Kelley Stoltz

  • Cyndi 

kelley-stoltz

Kelley Stoltz’s new single, “I Don’t Get That”, is something of another time. One listen and we find ourselves reeling in an era when music was intended to set us off; when the sun could be felt through the speakers. A simple, rugged guitar progression and centric sultry sixties throwback rhythm feed our appetite as the kind of warm and vagrant pop music we want to hear. It’s the type of song we would’ve stayed up late to listen to, hiding our radios under our pillows so mom wouldn’t know we were listening to that dirty rock music. Though his sound is not a huge divergence from the glory days of the Brit-rock invasion, Stoltz makes pop music the way it’s remembered and hoped to be. Read More »Kelley Stoltz

Jen Wood

Jen Wood: Finds You In Love [Album Review]

Jen Wood is perhaps best known for her role as the female vocalist accompanying Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello on that Postal Service album for a few years back. Listening to her new solo album, Finds You In Love, it’s instantly apparent that this work is about as far away as you can get from that well-known piece of pop art. So get your expectations in order. Her melodies are just as simple and just as catchy, but this is pure folk-pop; simple, beloved and true.

Read More »Jen Wood: Finds You In Love [Album Review]

Panda Riot: Motown Glass [Video]

panda-riot

Contrary to your own beliefs, whatever they may be, I feel that shoegaze is, more often than not, a very visual style of music. That’s why select bands choose to accompany the music with visual elements. This trait lends itself to music videos. Panda Riot mixes their shoegaze with indie pop, emphasizing a domineering, precocious drum machine beat accompanied with playful female vocals. Read More »Panda Riot: Motown Glass [Video]

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