Alongside bands like Polvo and Superchunk, Chapel Hill, N.C.’s Archers of Loaf helped popularize a geo-specific sound during the early '90s that blended buzzy guitars with a healthy dose of melody. It’s a formula that’s since become common in indie rock, but you rarely hear it replicated with the Archers of Loaf same spark. It [...]
The sixth annual Pitchfork Music Festival wrapped this weekend. Dismemberment Plan smiled the whole way through. Attendees got mad at Odd Future for saying offensive things. Face paint sales throughout the Midwest rose. It was dusty. It was hot. It was fun. I learned a few things that concert-goers, specifically those who have tickets to [...]
You Know You're a Molly if...: As far as cloying Monica Hesse topics go, American Girls dolls are way less annoying than, you know, transplanted New Yorkers who hate paying sales tax on newspapers, but I at least was able to make it through the latter article. Her American Girls anthropology in today's WaPo Style [...]
Seven months after the band released its debut album Goes Canoeing, D.C. new-old-emo act Monument is back at it with a new cassette, Sweatpants Fever. The eight-song effort has four original tunes and four covers, each selected by a different band member. The release's cover even comes with a tongue-in-cheek tease: "Monument plays the hits of [...]
Good morning, D.C.! Yesterday's big news was suspiciously similar to last Monday's big news: Dismemberment Plan tickets went on sale! Again! This no doubt pleased those who missed the three-minute availability window last Friday. It especially pleased policy wonk Matt Yglesias, who feels that something needs to be done about the way indie rock shows [...]
Nine years. Nine years is a long time for pretty much anything, but, apart from The Wrens, nine years between records for an intact band is not the norm. But Superchunk, who visited the 9:30 Club on Friday in support of its first full-length since 2001, Majesty Shredding, has never fallen into the "norm" category. [...]
Think of all the truly awesome things that Merge Records has accomplished in its 20-year existence. Not only has the label—founded in the late ’80s by Superchunk members Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan—released countless 7" singles, LPs, and at least one boxed-set by myriad worthy artists, but they've pulled off a few truly improbable feats. [...]
