Seems like Nick Cave has had enough of being quiet. The standout track of CARNAGE, his new LP with long-time collaborator Warren Ellis, has to be “White Elephant”. Halfway through the menacing sounding song, the whole thing turns into a full fledged gospel hymn and we’re left wondering whether Jason Pierce is pulling the strings behind the scenes. It was then we knew it would be fairly easy to pick our album of the week.
Is there anything more typical of music publications in the 21st century than waiting for an indie rock band to fail miserably with the release their second record? Don’t let them tell you “Sideways to New Italy” is lacking something important. The new Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever album has all the melodies and hooks you need to survive this festival-less summer so you can pretend everything’s fine. We’re adding a fourth sentence to this paragraph because it seems like it’s mandatory to reference the Go-Betweens and/or the Feelies every single time we talk about this band.