Headphone Approved Music

Oct16

Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds: Ghosteen [Ablum Review]

Posted By Fire Note Staff on Oct 16, 2019

Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Ghosteen Ghosteen Ltd. [2019] Album Review: Even though we’d been told that the 2016 release from Nick Cave And the Bad Seeds, Skeleton Tree, had been written before the tragic death of his 15-year-old son, Arthur, the album’s stark, grief-stricken music and Cave’s emotional rendering of the song’s lyrics, adding the occasional reference to his son, felt more like a death dirge than a piece of pop music....

Oct09

Gong Gong Gong: Phantom Rhythm [Album Review]

Posted By Thomas Wilde on Oct 9, 2019

Gong Gong Gong Phantom Rhythm Wharf Cat Records [2019] Who: Guitar-and-bass duo Gong Gong Gong are from Beijing’s underground indie scene and Phantom Rhythm is their debut LP. Sound: Phantom Rhythm is a psychedelic blues jam that also has an energetic jazz and surf background that is sewn together by Cantonese lyrics. TFN Final Take: A guitar-and-bass duo singing in Cantonese is a combination I would have never put together but...

Oct03

WIVES: So Removed [Album Review]

Posted By Thomas Wilde on Oct 3, 2019

WIVES So Removed City Slang [2019] Who: So Removed is the debut album from Queens, NY-based post-punks WIVES. Sound: WIVES have the New York swagger of The Strokes, channel the DC post-hardcore of Girls Against Boys, contain an edge of The Fall and bring out a similar Frank Black type Pixies vocal delivery. TFN Final Take: Right off the bat, from opening track “Waving Past Nirvana,” you will instantly connect to the coolness of WIVES....

Oct02

Kal Marks: Let The Shit House Burn Down [Album Review]

Posted By Daniel Taylor on Oct 2, 2019

Kal Marks Let The Shit House Burn Down Exploding in Sound Records [2019] Who: Boston’s Kal Marks rip their way through a 5-track EP, laying everything to waste with their wonderfully grotesque sound. Sound: Kal Marks make beautiful, grungy noise. Off-putting to some, but it draws me in every time. TFN Final Take: Let The Shit House Burn Down doesn’t waste any time. This 5-track EP is efficient. Lean and mean Kal Marks’ noise rock. “Nu...

Sep26

Oso Oso: Basking In The Glow [Album Review]

Posted By Thomas Wilde on Sep 26, 2019

Oso Oso Basking In The Glow Triple Crown Records [2019] Who: Long Island band Oso Oso return with their third album Basking In The Glow. Sound: Basking In The Glow has a catchy indie power pop and if you like Jimmy Eat World, Young Guv and The Promise Ring. TFN Final Take: If done correct, a good emotional power pop record always wins. Oso Oso’s third album, Basking In The Glow, is exactly that – a winner! Lead singer and main band...

Sep23

Pixies: Beneath The Eyrie [Album Review]

Posted By Brian Q. Newcomb on Sep 23, 2019

Pixies Beneath The Eyrie BMG/Infectious [2019] Album Review: For nearly a decade the reunited Pixies, who came back together in 2004, seemed willing to rest on the laurels of their iconic early masterpieces like Surfer Rosa and Doolittle, playing the old “hits” on the retro circuit. Now, as far as that goes, many of us would still have paid to see the beloved band reproduce that music, which proved influential on most of the 90’s...