Libretto’s thundering, street-savvy flow trades blows with gritty funk breaks — similar to the Lifesavas (whose Jumbo the Garbageman guests on “Volume”) or Michael Franti on some gangsta shhh…
Kennedy
Space-folk-gospel-disco pop, with a hint of The Who. It’s all here, kitchen-sink rock. Gotta hear it to believe.
Broken Spindles
Joel Peterson, aka Broken Spindles, runs the gamut of electronic music; from chilled-out synth symphonies to dark, bass-heavy grooves, he serves up a fitting soundtrack to our post-everything lives.
The Bronx
Full-disclosure: Matt, the singer, used to intern for me. Used to. That fact alone may get me ink in The Rock ‘n’ Roll History Book. The Bronx are that good.
Clorox Girls
Clorox Girls take it back to ’79 and reclaim the “pop-punk” genre just as it’s teetering on the brink of utter destruction.
Read Yellow
[Insert Fugazi comparison here.] But seriously…call it a perfect storm of blistering energy, precision angst, and angular hooks; call it just what I need to make it through the news these days.
Dios
Modern Americana blues from Hawthorne, CA — home of Black Flag and the Beach Boys, though these guys sound more like Grandaddy.
Thavius Beck
Collages of stuttering breaks and swirling samples, along with extended doses of “spoken word” culled from the underbelly of American pop culture. A potentially played-out formula turned downright entrancing.
Weevil
Lonely, loping folktronica with a healthy shoegazer sheen.
Audio Learning Center
Audio Learning Center were once members of grunge-era misfits Pond and Sprinkler, bands that disappeared before anyone could notice. “Stereo,” pairing anthemic crescendos with Chris Brady’s endearingly fragile vocals, may just right that wrong.