The Walkmen will soon release their sixth album, Heaven, nearly a decade after their debut, and the opening track from it indicates a tremendous amount of maturity since then. "We Can't Be Beat" is a calm, yet hearty, acoustic track that's a far cry from the loud, gritty rock from ten years ago - but no less solid. From there, the new album could take any number of directions, making for one of the most interesting releases of the spring.
After three years since the release of their breakthrough album, Manners, Passion Pit are finally following it up this summer with Gossamer, and this is the first glimpse they're giving us. "Take a Walk" features the same uptempo, synth-driven bop but most noticeably turns the pitch down on singer Michael Angelakos' vocals. The song touches on topics of family, poverty, and regeneration with a strongly optimistic tone driven by a Coldplay-esque chanting refrain. With soaring energy continuing to inspire their music, look for them to be one of the summer's most sought-after tours.
Portland has a reputation for alt-folkiness with images of bearded guys in a Paul Bunyan-esque garbs. But lately, the city of roses has seen a rise of dream pop love (i.e. Blouse), and Sundaze is one of the bands slowly gaining a momentum.
The trio just released a seven-track EP on their own label, Slow Wave. Snow Falling is drenched in reverb and fender tremolos, electronic drums with sexy guitars with flavors of The Raveonettes, Serena-Maneesh, and Galaxie 500.
Stream the final track from the EP, "Wish You Lived Alone" below and go to their website to sample more tracks from Snow Falling, tour dates, and a gallery of photos by one of QRO's contributors, Autumn Andel.
After a seven year hiatus from releasing materal, Berlin's Masha Qrella is back with a nine-track studio album called Analogies, which is out June 5th on Morr Music. She's also known for her work as Contriva (album review).
The first single is "Crooked Dreams" and it's an uptempo blend of folk, disco and art-rock smothered in the trademark smoothness that both Qrella and Morr are known for. It's an exciting step back into spotlight for her, and hints of a deeply intriguing album.
Since independence twenty years ago, Estonia has always tried to stand out from its peers, more Scandinavian than Eastern European, more Finno-Ugric than Slavic, an early adopter of the Euro (though that's not such a positive these days...) but also instituted a flat tax - and is a pioneer in government-on-the-internet (so much so that its government websites were attacked by Russian hackers).
So it's no wonder that they'd get in the indie game, ane one of their best is Picnic , who are putting out a limited edition seven-inch, "We've Only Just Begun", on local label Seksound as well as Shelflife in the U.S.A.
Picnic covers two sweet classics, "We've Only Just Begun" by Roger Nichols & Paul Willaims, and "Say a Little Prayer" by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, giving them the expansive, enchanting Baltic Sea spin the group did on their 2010 full-length, Winter Honey (QRO review).
The Walkmen will soon release their sixth album, Heaven, nearly a decade after their debut, and the opening track from it indicates a tremendous amount of maturity since then. "We Can't Be Beat" is a calm, yet hearty, acoustic track that's a far cry from the loud, gritty rock from ten years ago - but no less solid. From there, the new album could take any number of directions, making for one of the most interesting releases of the spring.
After three years since the release of their breakthrough album, Manners, Passion Pit are finally following it up this summer with Gossamer, and this is the first glimpse they're giving us. "Take a Walk" features the same uptempo, synth-driven bop but most noticeably turns the pitch down on singer Michael Angelakos' vocals. The song touches on topics of family, poverty, and regeneration with a strongly optimistic tone driven by a Coldplay-esque chanting refrain. With soaring energy continuing to inspire their music, look for them to be one of the summer's most sought-after tours.
Portland has a reputation for alt-folkiness with images of bearded guys in a Paul Bunyan-esque garbs. But lately, the city of roses has seen a rise of dream pop love (i.e. Blouse), and 
After a seven year hiatus from releasing materal, Berlin's Masha Qrella is back with a nine-track studio album called Analogies, which is out June 5th on 
Since independence twenty years ago, Estonia has always tried to stand out from its peers, more Scandinavian than Eastern European, more Finno-Ugric than Slavic, an early adopter of the Euro (though that's not such a positive these days...) but also instituted a flat tax - and is a pioneer in government-on-the-internet (so much so that its government websites were attacked by Russian hackers).
Fueled with Voodoo Doughnuts, Alcoholic Faith Mission
delivered to a rockin' crowd in Portland.
Those lucky enough to
enter the House of Blues Boston took a spacey journey
that felt like one long dream starting with opening act I Break Horses.
The student-filled O2 Academy in Manchester started heaving
forward the instant the visual art showed "The Cribs" on the backdrop.
