artist// four year strong album// enemy of the world label// universal motown release date// march 9, 2010 Over the past two years of running things here at BWC, I’ve been subjected to more music than I can handle most of the time. It’s a constant struggle trying to find a balance between delving through the [...]

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artist // freelance whales album // weathervanes label // unsigned release date // september 1st 2009 I’ll be the first to admit that I was a bit hesitant when I first read about Freelance Whales. The five-piece out of Queens, New York come from a bubbling scene that is all too hit or miss, dishing [...]

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Artist: Small Black Album: Small Black EP Label: Unsigned Release Date: October 13 At first glance, everything about Small Black points to the assumption that they are doomed to be just another hot trend band that will burn out before they even have a chance to light. They hail from the hipster infested streets of [...]

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Artist: Atlas Sound Album: Logos Label: Kranky (US) 4AD (Europe) Release Date: October 20 Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox is slowy turning into the kind of rare musical genius wunderkind that are unfortunately so few and far between. Through a slew of Bedroom Demo’s, discharged EP’s and self-indulgent full-lengths, Cox has cemented himself as not only [...]

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Artist: Brand New Album: Daisy Label: Interscope Release Date: 9/22/09 Through the last eight years Brand New have grown into one of the most influential forces in today’s “scene”. Since their cult-classic release Deja Entendu, the band have unintentionally created a base of determined followers that at times borderline on insane worshipers. Much of the [...]

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Thrice Beggars Vagrant Records When discussion arises on the most influential bands on the last ten years of modern rock music, Thrice is and should always be somewhere in the discussion. The band have both struggled and triumphed since their prophetic and strangely titled debut “Identity Crisis” in 2000. Since then, the band have endured [...]

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fun. Aim and Ignite Unsigned / Independent 4 stars / 5 When The Format disbanded at what many to believed the peak of their career, heartbroken fans clamored for an immediate reuniting, or at the very least, for them to continue making music in some other venue. For steadfast followers of vocalist Nate Ruess, their [...]

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Rx Bandits Mandala Sargent House Records 4 / 5 Rx Bandits has been a band notoriously known for their steady evolution. What originally started over a decade ago as a third-wave ska revival act playing under the name of “The Pharmaceutical Bandits” founding members Matt Embree and Chris Tsagakis have found a niche of progressing [...]

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Portugal. The Man The Satanic Satanist Equal Vision Records 2.5 / 5 The Satanic Satanist, Alaska-native Portugal. The Man’s fourth full-length release in four years was conceived as the soundtrack to vocalist’s John Gourley’s experiences of growing up in the majestic daunting lands of Alaska.  While these intentions feel warm and genuine behind Satanist’s cool [...]

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Grizzly Bear Veckatimest Warp Records 4.5 /5 To say it’s been a good year for Grizzly Bear would be an epic understatement. The band’s third full-length release Veckatimest is one that has launched the New York native four piece from relatively unknown freak-folk beginnings into Billboard’s Top 10 Charts and indie stardom. Listening through Veckatimest, [...]

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mewithoutYou it’s all crazy! it’s all false! it’s all a dream! it’s alright tooth & nail 4.5 / 5 Three years ago, prior to the September 2006 release of mewithoutYou’s third full-length Brother, Sister, the band was known to me by little more than the recognition of “January 1979″. I was intrigued the first time [...]

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Dance Gavin Dance Happiness Rise Records 3.5 / 5 Happiness, the third full-length from Dance Gavin Dance showcases the band somewhat hitting their stride after the travesty of an album that was their self-titled sophomore releases.  They dropped the guy who couldn’t scream, and while the replacement seems to be a tad bit generic, it [...]

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As Cities BurnHell or High WaterTooth & Nail Records4 out of 5 In 2007, Louisiana native four piece As Cities Burn released their sophmore album, Come Now Sleep. A follow up to fan-favorite “Son, I Loved You At Your Darkest”, Sleep was an album marked by it’s absence of their then frontman TJ Bonnette. Along [...]

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Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley BandOuter SouthMerge Records4/5 For artists that have been around for as long as prolific singer/songwriter Conor Oberst, there is always a turning point in ones career. For Oberst, this undeniably came in between the time gap of late winter 2005 and the spring of 2007 in which Oberst, following [...]

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Manchester OrchestraMean Everything to NothingFavorite Gentleman Recordings4.5 / 5 If you’ve had your ear anywhere close to the ground in the past 3 years, chances are you’ve heard the rumblings of Manchester Orchestra’s stampeding hype machine slowly nearing. The band’s debut full-length I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child was an almost instant success after [...]

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