independent thoughts on indie rock, alternative, and indie pop music
We’ve all had that moment: shuffling through a bunch of new music and clicking through a bunch of stylistic clones. Then something catches your attention, so different that it freezes your finger hovering above the skip button. Before you know it, you’re three tracks into an album and still listening. Be prepared—Get Well Soon, the... Continue Reading →
Our consumption of music has changed. Digital downloads, and now, streaming services, have placed a premium on the rapid-fire release of singles over the carefully and complete idea of albums. Every detail of Leon III’s Antlers In Velvet feels like a time-warp to when listening to music was the main event, not just some background... Continue Reading →
There’s a pattern I always follow when starting an album review. When dealing with hundreds of daily submissions, an album usually only has a minute or two to catch my attention to make it onto the potential review list. Full exploration of the album doesn’t happen until much later, when a final version is submitted,... Continue Reading →
Well before my time writing for East of 8th, I was a music lover. That led me to music festivals, and from there to the sometimes fun, sometimes educational, often horrifying world of music festival message boards. This back story is relevant to this review because it was in the pandemonium of a well-known Bonnaroo... Continue Reading →
Sometimes you listen to an album that single-handedly raises the bar for what we should expect from new music. However, those moments don’t usually come from an artist’s debut EP. On Falling Asleep at the Wheel, Holly Humberstone presents us with an emotionally deep, sonically mature, and thoroughly enjoyable album. On one hand, this should... Continue Reading →
In these current times we are all looking for connection. We search for the things that bind, that make us feel like we’re all going through the same thing. Music is a tool for this, and Mabes delivers, meeting this longing with her new EP Keeping The Noise Down. Mabes came on to the scene... Continue Reading →
In a world riddled with uncertainty, one thing is always consistent for many of us: music. New music reminds us that no matter is happening in the world, time keeps moving forward; at times, music is a snapshot of the current state of the society in which it is released or which inspires it,... Continue Reading →
Life offers up some great things from time to time—a true, full-length, proper album being one. Unfortunately, this concept is going the way of the dinosaur. Luckily for Lettuce listeners, this is not the case proven by their upcoming release Elevate, their first LP since the incredible Crush album in 2015. Lettuce’s originals are peppered... Continue Reading →
Some have said that rock n' roll is dead. If you’ve ever voiced that particular complaint, you should know that you’re wrong. On their new album Don’t Go Out Tonight, Atlanta trio Bad Spell gives you all the proof you need. You hear it right from the opening notes of “Gotta Put You Down,” a... Continue Reading →
Some might say that we live in dark and troubled times, and, maybe those people are right. While a good funk-soul album may not cure all the world's ills, it certainly can boost the mood for even the gloomiest of the doomy types--especially if it's a live album like the latest from eight-piece British funk... Continue Reading →
