Jason Heller
[Copyright 2024 NPR]
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In the early 1990s, Pavement was especially rough around the edges. A new collection of unreleased recordings from the era captures the band's absurd charm. -
Shakespeare references, a cappella intermissions and sprawling 10-minute tracks aren't what first spring to mind when thinking about punk albums. But most punk albums aren't remotely like this one. -
The album balances clarity and grit in a way that highlights Isbell's competing halves: On one side, he's an immaculate old-school songsmith; on the other, he's a rebel with ragged edges. -
The roots-rock band's fifth album doesn't deviate wildly from Heartless Bastards' wheelhouse, but it does give Erika Wennerstrom and company more room to roam. -
Raw, belligerent and dissonant — that's just the tip of the noise-rock iceberg when it comes to Metz. -
For 25 years, the Superchunk frontman and Merge Records cofounder has quietly made some of the loudest pop in human history. -
Six years after its last full-length album, the Danish progressive-pop band has morphed again, this time into a more streamlined, potent, startlingly evolved version of itself. -
Where the band's last album used prickly electronics and cavernous arrangements to hold humanity at arm's length, Deep In The Iris turns those elements into lulling hymns to cleansing and redemption. -
On its second album, the British rock duo moves smoothly from tantrum to anthem, crafting songs with singalong hooks and buckets of sweaty, cathartic rage. -
Amid the clipped one-word titles and ominous synthesizers, there's a desperation to connect — and a soundtrack for dancing.
