Bobby Conn, 'King for a Day' (Thrill Jockey)
Crazed chameleon bares his soul with utter abandon.
By J. Niimi 03.30.07 3:00 AM
Chicago rock-onteur Bobby Conn has donned many masks: ex-con financial guru, glammed-out conspiracy theorist and "antichrist," anti-Bush soul crusader.
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The Higher, 'On Fire' (Epitaph)
Sin City kids gleefully do the blue-eyed shuffle.
By Mikael Wood 03.29.07 3:00 AM
The Besnard Lakes, 'The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse' (Jagjgauwar)
Another entrancing band from the Great White North.
By Brian Raftery 03.29.07 3:00 AM
Given how many indie rock ensembles are crossing the border from Canada these days, you'd be forgiven for thinking that all the musicians in the country live within three blocks of one another.
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Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, 'Living With the Living' (Touch and Go)
Brilliant Jersey rocker, not the same as the old Boss.
By Joe Gross 03.28.07 3:00 AM
About 20 years ago, when the speedy strictures and moral panic of Washington, D.C. hardcore gave way to more expansive music and politics, the scene's unofficial motto went from "Out of step / With the world" to "Live the Life," per the old Thomas Dorsey spiritual.
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On the Cover: Modest Mouse
Get a sneak peek at our April cover story and find out how Isaac Brock really met Johnny Marr.
By Spin Staff; Will Hermes 03.27.07 3:00 AM
Modest Mouse's 2004 album, Good News for People Who Love Bad News (a high-water mark of ’00s indie-minded major-label rock), sold more than 1.5 million copies domestically on the strength of "Float On," an indelible single whose success seemed to validate its serendipitous stoner-optimist outlook. So what did Modest Mouse's leader, Isaac Brock, do after this breakthrough?
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Antibalas, 'Security' (Anti-)
Worldly New Yorkers catch a subtly militant groove.
By Rob O'Connor 03.27.07 3:00 AM
Antibalas' Afrobeat sound scatters into so many hyphenated juxtapositions— polyrhythmic-Afro-Cuban- funk-dub-jazz?—that they've practically become their own genre. The bandk's fourth album, recorded with Tortoise's John McEntire, is surprisingly subdued, considering the current events it attempts to address.
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