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GARRETT MARTIN

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Yo La Tengo | Fade

Matador Records (2013)
Fade starts with James McNew and Ira Kaplan harmonizing on the line "sometimes the good things fade."

By: GARRETT MARTIN | January 17, 2013

Allo Darlin' | Europe

Slumberland (2012)
It's good to hear a band grow. Like Allo Darlin's first effort, Europe is full of catchy pop songs, and Elizabeth Morris's vocals are still heart-tuggingly direct and intimate.

By: GARRETT MARTIN | April 10, 2012

Matador (2012)
Ceremony aren't as intellectual or dryly hilarious as Wire and don't attempt a comparable stylistic variety, but the raucous Zoo is a fine tribute to Wire's heavier side, alternating between powerful, lumbering riffs and manic splatters of guitar noise.

By: GARRETT MARTIN | March 13, 2012

The Magnetic Fields | Love At The Bottom Of The Sea

Merge Records (2012)
The Magnetic Fields' last three albums all eschewed the synthesizers that typified their sound in the '90s, but Fields main man Stephin Merritt makes up for it on Love at the Bottom of the Sea, where he deploys at least 10 albums' worth of synths in a brisk 35 minutes.

By: GARRETT MARTIN | February 28, 2012

Guided by Voices | Let's Go Eat the Factory

Guided By Voices, Inc. (2012)
The GBV name on Let's Go Eat the Factory' s label indicates two things to those fans: this is the first record to feature the "classic" Bee Thousand/Alien Lanes line-up since 1996, and this is the first Pollard album to deserve the GBV moniker since the break-up.

By: GARRETT MARTIN | January 11, 2012

Big Troubles | Romantic Comedy

Slumberland (2011)
I was worried when I heard that '80s jangle-pop maestro Mitch Easter was producing Big Troubles' second album.

By: GARRETT MARTIN | October 12, 2011

Let's Wrestle | Nursing Home

Merge (2011)
Let's Wrestle are another pack of young British guitar owners, and although they haven't crafted much of an identity outside of being amiable wiseasses, that's all you need if your songs are catchy enough.

By: GARRETT MARTIN | June 22, 2011

Times New Viking | Dancer Equired

Merge Records (2011)
Times New Viking's tour of America's legendary indie-rock labels continues with their first release for Merge after a few albums on Matador and then Siltbreeze.

By: GARRETT MARTIN | April 27, 2011

Lifeguards | Waving at the Astronauts

Ernest Jenning Record Co. (2011)
Hey, it's another Robert Pollard record. Today must be a day. We can't even joke about how prolific this guy is because we've heard 'em all a million billion times already.

By: GARRETT MARTIN | March 09, 2011

Kurt Vile | Smoke Ring For My Halo

Matador (2011)
It's weird to write about a guy who operates this close to the classic singer-songwriter template and not even consider the lyrics.

By: GARRETT MARTIN | March 03, 2011

Faust | Something Dirty

Bureau B Records (2011)
Faust are like the anti-Who: only the rhythm section remains.

By: GARRETT MARTIN | February 09, 2011

No beef with us

Ireland's tireless So Cow embrace Boston
"The United States is probably my favorite country," says Brian Kelly, the singer for Irish indie-pop band So Cow. It's nice to know somebody in the world still loves us.

By: GARRETT MARTIN | October 04, 2010

Drum circle

Man Forever's John Colpitts finds his rhythm
It sounds like the set-up to a bad joke. When Man Forever take the stage at Great Scott in Allston this weekend, the band will run five or six drummers deep.

By: GARRETT MARTIN | August 10, 2010

Crooked Fingers | Reservoir Songs II

Foreign Leisure Records (2010)
Yep, the music industry is still dying. Eric Bachmann, the singer/songwriter behind Crooked Fingers and '90s indie-rockers the Archers of Loaf, knows from experience.

By: GARRETT MARTIN | July 13, 2010

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