Category: Rock

  • “Do you wanna see the stars before they fall?” asks lead singer James Michael during the chorus of “Stars,” the opening song on SIXX A.M.’s new — and third — album, Modern Vintage. It’s an inspiring tune that really makes one want to stop and smell the roses, as they say. It also dares you…

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  • OK GO: HUNGRY GHOSTSAs you may remember, I reviewed OK GO’s fantastic Upside Out EP back in August of this year. All four of those incredible, tasty treats are served up deliciously here on the band’s new album, Hungry Ghosts, which is, simply put, baked to perfection. But before we get to the brand new…

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  • We’re still amazed by the fact that these guys make all of this massive-sounding music using only bass guitar and drums. It’s insane, really, but it sounds superb. There need to be more songs in the world that use bass guitar like a lead guitar. Just check out Royal Blood’s self-titled full-length album if this…

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  • The Picturebooks is a German duo consisting of Fynn Claus Grabke [vocals, guitar] and Philipp “Maddin” Mirtschink [drums]. The two first met hanging out at a skate park and became fast friends, realizing they had more in common than skateboarding, especially their mutual adoration of motorcycles and bands like The Smiths, The Cure and Minor…

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  • “She ate my heart / I love New York City,” sings Lenny Kravitz, oh so passionately, on “New York City,” one of the best cuts from his primo new album Strut. Roughly ten years ago on his Baptism record he did a tune called “California,” putting the golden state up on a pedestal, the song…

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  • …And then Tokio Hotel went to the discotheque. Sort of anyway. The verses of “Love Who Loves You Back” are sheer synthy pop, but the chorus is entirely danceable and would even seem to be aimed at the clubs. It’s not EDM though. No, this is more like disco circa ’79, the cream of the…

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  • Obviously, if you’re a fan who’s been pining for a new Interpol album your prayers have been answered. And while it doesn’t really have the spark of reinvention, sometimes more of the same is all one needs. If you’ve ever loved this band, it’s impossible not to get enthused about “All The Rage Back Home,”…

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  • The first thing that I have to say about Simian Ghost’s new album The Veil is WOW. And it takes a lot to wow me lately. I generally choose to review things that I feel positively about, but I am not so easily impressed. This album, however, is nothing short of glorious and a sparkling…

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  • I’m always listening to new music, picking things that stand out among the crowd to review for Love is Pop.  The problem is, sometimes you have to listen to a lot of mediocre music before you find something truly marvelous.  I was having one of those days when everything I listened to seemed quite dull when I…

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  • As you can see below, the above video for “Who Killed The Moonlight?” by Nicole Atkins was released way back in July. But, hey, sometimes things fall through the cracks. We subscribe to hundreds of Youtube channels to try to keep up with all of our favorite artists’ videos, but the problem with subscribing to…

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  • review by Michael McCarthy all photos by Joshua Bernard When OK GO hit The Paradise stage in Boston on Wednesday night the crowd had no idea what it was in for.  That is, of course, unless they’d been reading spoilers online.  Following a video clip featuring iconic movies and TV shows that ended with Kermit…

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  • I find it interesting that U2 is credited for writing all of the music for this album with Bono and The Edge credited for writing all of the lyrics. The reason I find this interesting is that they worked with an awful lot of song-writers on this album. Namely, Ryan Tedder, Danger Mouse, Paul Epworth…

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  • Smoke Season was formed during early 2013 and combines the diverse talents of Gabrielle Wortman and Jason Rosen. Their music is quite the hybrid, combining elements of Americana, folk, rock and electronica. They’ve recently garnered attention with their successful August residency at the Los Angeles venue The Echoplex. Hot Coals Cold Souls is their self-produced…

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  • Friday September 5, 2014 – Boston, Massachusetts The reason why the headline above indicates that this edition of the Boston Calling Festival takes place in September, as if that weren’t obvious, is simple: there was already a Boston Calling Festival this year, back in June.  I’m still sorry that I didn’t ask for press access, especially since it…

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